The Presence — 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.