Ladder to the Sky

Andrea Drake, a psychologist, and her mentor, a Taoist master and Chinese healer commonly-called Uncle Chi write a book teaching people how to access the universal energy called Chi. Richard Harrington, an American publisher wants to publish it and a love story develops between Andrea and Rick. Complications arise when a Tong master in Chinatown (the Chinese Mafia), ancient adversary of the Taoist master, misunderstands the nature of the book and thinks it contains hidden secrets of immortality. His efforts to steal the manuscript fill the story with a full gamut of exciting encounters, pitting the ruthless tactics and manpower of the Tong against the ingenuity and luck of Rick and Andrea, and the skill of Uncle Chi. But a greater danger than the Tong lurks in the wings. Uncle Chi is actually a member of the High Council of the Immortals of Peng-Lai. In Chinese history and largely unknown in the West, the Taoist immortals live in the Islands of the Blessed, three islands hidden in the Eastern China Sea which have preserved the high secrets of Taoist practices for thousands of years. The Islands are the Chinese equivalent of Shangri-La, and are an authentic Taoist legend. Uncle Chi has been sent to the West to introduce Taoist healing practices, and more importantly, to develop the link between the High Council and the Hsien Brotherhood, a world-wide humanistic but secret organization of men and women devoted to the practices and ideals of Taoist philosophy. Because of the threat from the Tong master in New York, Uncle Chi is forced to tell Rick and Andrea about the Hsien Brotherhood and the imminent threat to the Islands of the Blessed from a proposed nuclear blast by the Chinese government. As the story becomes more complicated, the momentum alternates between the plot line and the gradual explication of Taoist philosophy and energy practices. The story shifts between the contemporary world of New York City and the legends and lore of Chinese history and the Hsien Brotherhood. Ladder To The Sky concentrates on outwitting the threat from the Tong master, and prepares the reader for the sequel, Islands Of The Blessed, which continues the action in the Eastern China Sea with a new set of adversaries, and a new level of teaching, introducing the reader to energy practices involving human energy fields. Both novels link the contemporary world of New Age thought and healing with the ancient world of Taoist energy teachings, pointing towards the potential for physical, mental and spiritual growth. Each book offers a specific rational for understanding and practicing various methods for accelerating that growth through accessing the universal energy.