First printing (thus) first published as a Manor Book. Tight, flat, square, sharp book. Toned pages. Owner's and book store marks on the front free end paper and inside front cover. [Front Cover] "Alone on an alien planet where every living creature was an enemy." [Back Cover] "A place of crawling spiders and poisonous snakes where nightmares came true ...that was 'The Black,' where men were punished for challenging minds more powerful than their own. The detective from Earth feared The Black more than any torture his own planet could conceive. But he had to uncover the sinister plot that threatened Earth and all its people." A mix of science fiction with a sort of buddy cop thing going on. Unlike a lot of science fiction the reader is gently introduced to a new world through the eyes of the main character Detective Morgan Sellers. He is sent to the planet of the only alien race that earth is aware of to search for thousands of humans who have disappeared. The Rigen people are telepathic and have a very different society with power based on the number of minds a person can control. As a human Morgan is completely defenceless, which is why a Rigen called Jael is assigned to be his team mate and partner. Their arguments and the gradual building of grudging respect, the unusual family dynamic that started off as horrifying but became something warm. Morgan was wonderful as despite being completely helpless in such a society (and knowing it) he was still full of drive and a hundred plans to find his people and get them home.