Xanadu's Cavern

What is the connection between a missing cave diver and the fossilized head of a pre-historic dire-wolf? That's the question psychic Epiphany Mayall is asking herself in Xanadu's Cavern, Book Three of Mallory O'Connor's occult thriller series. A thousand miles away in Chicago, PI Maro Gaido hears about a valuable fossil that has been smuggled out of Florida by a Russian businessman. He decides to give Epiphany a call. Once again, Epiphany and Maro team up to try to put together the pieces of a convoluted puzzle involving a shady real estate deal, illegal fossil harvesting and the shocking disappearance of an environmentalist leader in the cave diving community. When Maro and Epiphany find out that RAce Energy corporation is involved, they know who's working behind the scenes to steal the fossils, assist in an environmentally dangerous development project and line the pockets of a corrupt lobbyist. But just how can they stop a billionaire like Derrick Rarian?

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.

Award-winning author Mallory McCane O'Connor, Professor Emerita of Art History, Santa Fe College, is an author, curator and educator. She received a B.F.A. in art with Honors, an M.A. in American History, and an M.F.A. in art history from Ohio University, Athens, and taught courses in art history at the University of Florida (1969-1978), and at Santa Fe College (1995-2005). She also served for ten years as director of the City of Gainesville's Thomas Center Gallery (1984-1994). Mallory is the author of two books on Florida art and culture, Lost Cities of the Ancient Southeast and Florida's American Heritage River, both published by the University Press of Florida. She has organized numerous exhibitions and has received grants from the Southern Arts Federation, the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida Humanities Council. Since 2006, Professor O'Connor has participated in the Florida Humanities Council Roads Scholars Program, lecturing on Florida art and artists at museums and libraries throughout the state. Since retiring from her position at SFC, Mallory has written five novels. The American River Trilogy, Book One, American River: Tributaries, was published in 2017 and recently won First Prize in the Fiction Category from Northern California Publishers and Authors. Books two and three of the trilogy were also recently released. She then began work on a new series of "occult thrillers." Epiphany's Gift was published in 2019. Book 2 of the series, Key to Eternity, was published in 2020. Book three, Xanadu's Cavern, will be released this summer. Born in Illinois and raised on a ranch on the American River in Northern California, Mallory now resides with her husband, artist John O'Connor, in Gainesville, Florida. For a more comprehensive review of Mallory's career, please visit her website at www.mallorymoconnor.com