The Presence

by Paul Black

THE WORLD IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS. North America is one union; trade in illegal cloning is thriving; and the Biolution has changed all the rules. It s a dark new world in the 21st Century, and National Security Agency profiler Sonny Chaco is fed up with swimming the Net. His latest assignment is Alberto Goya, billionaire CEO of global media giant AztecaNet. The NSA thinks Goya is involved with racketeering, but Chaco knows that he has ties to the Mexican Mafia. Chaco s information is coming from Deja Moriarty, one of AztecaNet s brightest reality producers. Deja wonders if she s really helping her country, while Chaco seriously questions his feelings for his sexy informant. Just when Chaco thinks he s got the goods on Goya and is ready to pounce, his superior assigns him to investigate a mysterious and powerful man who has appeared on the grid. It s Chaco s first field assignment, but everything goes sideways when he discovers that Deja knows the mystery man. AztecaNet s head of security is soon on to Chaco and Deja, and there s nothing he won t do to stop them from bringing down his boss. Armed with only his wits and a cast of unlikely accomplices, Chaco soon realizes that the mystery man isn t just a threat to the nation...but the world.

312 pages, Paperback

First published August 23, 2010

About the author

Paul Black always wanted to make movies, but a career in advertising sidetracked him. Born and raised outside of Chicago, he is the international award-winning author of The Tels, Soulware, Nexus Point and The Presence. Today he lives and works in Dallas, where he manages his graphic design firm, feeds his passion for tennis and dreams of six figure movie deals. His new book, The Samsara Effect, is now out in stores and online. He is currently working on a new book of fiction tentatively called Cool Brain.

Update: The Samsara Effect won the 2012 London and 2013 New York City Book Festivals for general fiction!

Update: The Samsara Effect won the 2013 Great Southwest Book Festival for general fiction!

Update: The Samsara Effect won the gold medal for Science Fiction in the 2013 Independent Publishers Book Awards!

Update" The Samsara Effect took second place for ForeWord Magazine 2013 Book of the Year for Science Fiction!

Reviews

[Jaleta Clegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Presence is near future science fiction. Sonny Chaco is an agent of the NSA, a net jockey, surfing the expanded and intricate waves of the future version of the internet. He's set on bringing down Albert Goya, big businessman with links to organized crime. He romances his information source, the beautiful Deja Moriarty, trying to walk the line between milking her for information and falling in love with her. Enter a mysterious man that has no past, no records, nothing, and a beautiful and highly illegal clone of Goya's wife, and the story spirals out of control, pushing the characters into places they never expected to go.

The book is fast-paced and well written. Paul pulls futuristic tech into a believable and seamless world. Although it was a bit confusing at first, because the characters understand the tech and feel no need to explain it, the story pulled me in, submersing me in the world Paul created. I'd recommend this book for anyone who wants a fast read with a complex world and storyline. It's not a thick book, but it's loaded with action.

One warning, the book uses the f-bomb, sometimes to excess.

[Trina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got the impression that this book use to be several stories that somehow got condensed into one. The author gives you clones, aliens, technologically/cosmetically enhanced humans and the notion of God but he never fully commits to one which leaves the reader excited but frustrated. The world he envisioned is great; the stuff of science fiction dreams. The people who inhabit it on the other-hand lack focus and are a let down in the climax. The tech introduced makes the book worth reading; the ending however is abysmal and should be skipped!

[Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Thought it'd be cool but was kinda disappointing, the story was hard to follow then it just ended with really no resolution. Not a fan.