Well, both have trials so I suggust you try both of them. The main difference between Torque and DarkBasic(Pro), is the syntax.
If you have previous programming experience in C++, I'd go with torque.
If you've never programmed before, I'd go with DarkBasic Professional. DBP uses an easy to understand syntax, and can be used to rapidly develop games/applications. It will more than likely take longer to develop a game with Toruqe, but it all comes in practice I suppose.
The communities at both places are very helpful and there's plenty of tutorials floating around.(My site
http://curvedbasic.dbspot.com )
You can't go wrong with either one, but since I'm a DarkBasic user, I'd definitly suggust DarkBasic for beginners otherwise, try out the torque demo.
DBP trial:
http://darkbasic.thegamecreators.com/?f=trial
Torque Demo: (You'll need to use Notepad or another IDE to try out the syntax)
http://www.garagegames.com/pg/product/view.php?id=1
A book? I hate book. Book is stupid.