Xanadu's Cavern is the third book of Mallory O'Connor's occult thriller series. The book continues to follow the adventures of psychic Epiphany Mayall as she confronts art theft, environmental destruction, and murder.
For thirty years, Epiphany Mayall has worked as a psychic medium in the small Spiritualist community of Watoolahatchee, Florida. But when a renowned cave diver and environmental activist goes missing, Epiphany is asked by her friend, Alexa Destin, to help find him. His disappearance coincides with a fight between local environmentalists and an Australian developer who wants to build an up-scale subdivision and golf course on 2500 acres adjacent to fragile springs and caves along the Watoola River in Florida. Epiphany suspects foul play, but there’s nothing to connect the diver to the developer. Epiphany decides to ask for help from Maro Gaido, a Chicago-based PI and ex-FBI arts crimes investigator who has previously worked with her on art theft cases. They soon discover that the diver’s disappearance is also somehow connected to the illegal removable of valuable fossils from the same springs and caverns where the diver went missing.
As Maro and Epiphany dig deeper, they also find that RAce Energy, a rogue energy company headed by billionaire Derrick Rarian, is also involved. They have encountered RAce Energy several times during their investigations into the international black market in stolen art and antiquities, and they understand what they are up against. Nevertheless, they are determined to continue their investigation.
Cassadaga, Florida, was the inspiration for the village of Watoolahatchee. Known as “the psychic capital of the world,” Cassadaga is home to the oldest Spiritualist community in the Southeast, with more than twenty working “mediums.” O’Connor has been visiting and conducting research there since 1980.
Xanadu’s Cavern blends literary style with a paranormal/cli-fi twist. This novel will appeal to readers who love a literary page-turner, as well as those who have an interest in paranormal phenomena and environmental issues.
