Down to Heaven

"Down to Heaven" was published in four languages and was a smash hit in Holland.

Shangri-La in Two American scientists survive a helicopter crash atop a South American jungle mesa, where they discover a 500-year-old Chinese colony hidden in a deep valley. The city, called Jou P’u T’uan (Prayer Mat of the Body), is a society based on the Taoist practice of sexual soul-awakening through physical ecstasy. But the population is dying because of its lack of male offspring. As the scientists puzzle out the mystery of the all-female society, a beautiful servant girl named K’un-Chien entangles the pair in an erotic triad that could heal their souls—or end their lives.

Historical Joseph Campbell and other prominent anthropologists have written convincingly of their belief that the ancient Chinese visited both North and South America, beginning centuries before the voyages of Columbus. This novel plays upon that speculation.