Review of Xanadu's Cavern
Posted: 16 Aug 2021, 18:13
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Xanadu's Cavern" by Mallory M. O'Connor.]
On Amazon, the author says that Xanadu's Cavern is "the third book of Mallory O'Connor's occult thriller series," but I prefer to categorize it as C/T/M/H. And for what reason? Well, the book has a little bit of crime, thriller, mystery, and horror. The story is complex, but it's not hard to understand. Epiphany Mayall is the main character. She is a psychic medium who has frightening dreams and makes prophecies. These visions turn out to be helpful in unraveling crimes even before the investigators have proof of who the culprits are.
The plot develops from the disappearance of professional diver Piers Waldon. A recognized environmental activist, Piers' disappearance appears to be linked to a possible discovery that villains were stealing fossils that had high market value. I want to avoid spoilers, but I must say that the possible villains include billionaire Derrick Rarian and even Chechens.
What is most remarkable about this book is that it is unique in its genre. I had never read a C/T/M/H book that involved thugs stealing fossils to be sold on the black market. Much less a book in which a psychic medium helps former FBI agents. I felt sorry for the environmental activist, but we live in a world where the interests of those with money prevail over ecological interests. All this made the book very easy to read and made it a real page-turner.
On the downside, character development is not something to write home about it. What I mean is that we can believe that billionaires and terrorists don't mind harming the environment to make a profit. It's even reasonable to expect that billionaires don't care too much about ecology and that, when they seem to care, it's mostly about personal marketing. However, the book's main antagonist appears to be a sadist who takes pleasure in seeing nature burn and be destroyed. The way the author introduced him, he seems a clichéd character. In order to improve this aspect of the book, it would be interesting to explain in more detail the psychological effect on the young Derrick of not feeling loved and fully belonging to his very distinguished family. That would well explain his anger at the world and thirst for destruction.
All things considered, Xanadu's Cavern by Mallory M. O'Connor deserves three out of four stars. Although the book is innovative and addictive, it has flaws regarding character development. There is only one grammatical error in the entire book, and I recommend it for mystery book lovers, especially those who enjoy paranormal activities.
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Xanadu's Cavern
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
On Amazon, the author says that Xanadu's Cavern is "the third book of Mallory O'Connor's occult thriller series," but I prefer to categorize it as C/T/M/H. And for what reason? Well, the book has a little bit of crime, thriller, mystery, and horror. The story is complex, but it's not hard to understand. Epiphany Mayall is the main character. She is a psychic medium who has frightening dreams and makes prophecies. These visions turn out to be helpful in unraveling crimes even before the investigators have proof of who the culprits are.
The plot develops from the disappearance of professional diver Piers Waldon. A recognized environmental activist, Piers' disappearance appears to be linked to a possible discovery that villains were stealing fossils that had high market value. I want to avoid spoilers, but I must say that the possible villains include billionaire Derrick Rarian and even Chechens.
What is most remarkable about this book is that it is unique in its genre. I had never read a C/T/M/H book that involved thugs stealing fossils to be sold on the black market. Much less a book in which a psychic medium helps former FBI agents. I felt sorry for the environmental activist, but we live in a world where the interests of those with money prevail over ecological interests. All this made the book very easy to read and made it a real page-turner.
On the downside, character development is not something to write home about it. What I mean is that we can believe that billionaires and terrorists don't mind harming the environment to make a profit. It's even reasonable to expect that billionaires don't care too much about ecology and that, when they seem to care, it's mostly about personal marketing. However, the book's main antagonist appears to be a sadist who takes pleasure in seeing nature burn and be destroyed. The way the author introduced him, he seems a clichéd character. In order to improve this aspect of the book, it would be interesting to explain in more detail the psychological effect on the young Derrick of not feeling loved and fully belonging to his very distinguished family. That would well explain his anger at the world and thirst for destruction.
All things considered, Xanadu's Cavern by Mallory M. O'Connor deserves three out of four stars. Although the book is innovative and addictive, it has flaws regarding character development. There is only one grammatical error in the entire book, and I recommend it for mystery book lovers, especially those who enjoy paranormal activities.
******
Xanadu's Cavern
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon