The Tao of Poison

“An erotic, action-packed historical novel set in an unexplored period and centered on a powerful heroine.” — BlueInk Review

“The bold characters, kinetic plot, unconventional take on justice, and rich sense of atmosphere make this epic tale a studied contemplation of how beauty can usher in tragedy and sorrow.” — BookLife Reviews by Publishers Weekly

“The racing flow of Isham Cook’s wicked sensuality sweeps his heroine through Qing Dynasty China’s deep interior….The Tao of Poison will not stand in for socio-sexual history; it is too entertaining.” — Hill Gates, author of China’s Motor: A Thousand Years of Petty Capitalism

A poisonous maiden, a Daoist sex cult, and a violent insurgency. Polyandry—one or more males moving in and sharing the wife’s bed with her husband’s consent in exchange for money or labor—was common among the impoverished in Imperial China, though illegal, and the polyandrous Yan family in rural Shaanxi Province take in two carpenter brothers. When one brother is convicted of murder after killing their neighbor in a dispute, a constable threatens to expose the family’s rumored polyandry and extorts sex from their beautiful 17-year-old daughter, Qiezi. She happens to be addicted to the psychoactive, poisonous datura flower, and the toxins in her system are fatal to the constable. Now on the run as a murder suspect, Qiezi leaves a trail of sexual carnage wherever she goes. But a larger cataclysm awaits her when she gets caught up in the White Lotus Rebellion (1796-1804), which caused the deaths of 200,000 rebels, government troops, and civilians. Picaresque action, dark humor, and irony unfold in this visceral and cinematic novel.