He Drinks Poison

An FBI agent tracking two separate serial killers must access a dark and sensual power to find justice. When FBI agent Priya Conlin-Kumar tracks two different serial killers hunting in the same city, she sees visions from The Ramayana, an ancient Hindu epic about the demon king Ravana. As each new vision creeps further into the physical world, it seems that demons have arrived in Wheeling. But one is a serial rapist who kills to prevent his victims from identifying him. The other is a superpredator who fetishizes his victims and their manner of death. He becomes fixated on Priya, believing her to be his perfect woman. Killing her will bring him the ultimate satisfaction. While one killer stalks the other as a bizarre kind of courtship, Priya falls in love with the county sheriff…and welcomes his kinky streak. Each night his knowledge of bondage opens her to pleasures she has always desired and the trust she has always craved. Their loving BDSM activities stand in stark contrast to the sexualized violence of the murders. To find justice for dozens of women, Priya must access the dark, sensual power of the goddess Kali. Her nights with her lover grow ever more intense until her shakti, her female power, shakes the mountains. Only then can she face the demonic superpredator on his own terms. The dark Swedish noir of Erik Axl Sund's The Crow Girl shadows America's Allegheny Mountain Range in this atmospheric page-turner of a thriller. A blistering police procedural and the FBI profiler hunt for two serial killers interweave while the killer's countermoves recall the dark intensity of Poppy Z. Brite's Exquisite Corpse. Combined with a supercharged erotic love story, this complex and entertaining novel from award-winning author Laine Cunningham reveals the real horror story embedded in serial killer psychology. Shortlisted for the Pirate's Alley William Faulkner AwardRecipient, Vermont Studio Center Residency and GrantRecipient, Wildacres Arts & Humanities Center Residency