Amazon Paul Black Books Category:  Science Fiction Publisher: Novel Instincts ISBN-10:  0972600701 Type: Fiction Pages: 300 Copyright: July, 2003 The Tels is the award-winning paranormal urban thriller that won Writer's Digest's Book of the Year. IT’S THE NEAR-FUTURE A new revolution has spread across the human landscape. The Biolution and its flood of technology have changed almost every aspect of life. Also changed, is the face of terrorism. Throughout his life, Jonathan Kortel always sensed he was different, but never imagined how different, until two rival factions of a secret group called the Tels approach him out of the shadows of government. He has a gift that could change his life, and possibly the world, forever.  This is his story. A battle for the loyalty of a man who could change the course of human evolution. And the struggle inside this man as he comes to terms with his destiny. Deeply intriguing and powerfully suspenseful, Paul Black has created a future described as “one of the best science fiction novels” by Marilyn Meredith of Writer’s Digest. Part X-Files, part cyber-thriller, Paul Black unveils a dark and compelling view of a world. Excerpt Jonathan hung back, soaking in the energy of the main floor. Dancers were spinning or hanging, and the whole place undulated to the intense bass rhythms of the latest chart risers from Africa, Cuba and the Pacific Rim. Liquid Courage was like a circus gone horribly wrong. It occupied the space between reality and fantasy. Beautiful women hung in the air, their bodies floating, and nothing more than crystal sequins covered what the imagination already had seen. The floor dancers intertwined themselves around men and women who where either riding or drunk. Everyone’s chip cards had already been swiped at the door, so freedom ruled.

The Dallas Morning News
“Dallas writer Paul Black makes his first foray into the world of science fiction with The Tels. It’s a highly original novel set in the near future and it moves at lightning speed. Mr. Black has quite an imagination and puts it to good use. The mind-bending plot centers on Jonathan Kortel, who is approached by a shadowy group called the Tels, who covet his telekinetic gifts. The ensuing action is bizarre enough to read like something straight out of The X-Files.”

Writer's Digest
“(The Tels) is written so splendidly, at times I forgot I was reading science fiction – with the emphasis on fiction. The characters are realistic, and the hero is someone you relate to, worry about and wonder if he’s going to be able to cope with the reality that is set before him. This is definitely one of the best science fiction novels I’ve ever read...the book is
remarkable.”

Midwest Book Review
“A riveting science fiction novel by a gifted author...The Tels would prove a popular addition to any community library Science Fiction collection and documents Paul Black as an imaginatively skilled storyteller of the first order. Also very highly recommended is the newly published second volume in the Tels series, Soulware, which continues the adventures of Jonathan Kortel in the world of tomorrow.”