The Hunt for Xanadu: A YA Thriller
We’ve all heard of the mythical city of Xanadu appearing in literature and movies. It’s an exotic utopia first described by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a nineteenth century English poet, in his 1816 poem, “Kubla Khan.” Author Elyse Salpeter has embraced the myth and expanded the concept of Xanadu to a higher plane in her first book in the Kelsey Porter Series. The Hunt for Xanadu includes vigilante justice, is a paranormal thriller, mystery, is peppered with Buddhist folklore, and is a love story all rolled up into one fantastic novel.
Kelsey Porter was victim to a heinous crime when she was a child of ten. Terrorists killed her parents, raped and beat Kelsey until the child was near death. Due to the help of Buddhist monks at the Bodhidharma Monastery near her parents’ home in Tibet was she able to survive. Mr. and Mrs. Goldman, her godparents, took custody of the child and successfully nursed Kelsey back to health.
Now a young adult, Kelsey knows who is responsible for her parents’ death and her beating—Raul Salazar, leader of the Columbia drug operation in the United States. Salazar is obsessed in finding Xanadu and robbing the mythical city of its riches, and Kelsey is fixated on revenging her parents’ murder.
With a descriptive writing style, an exciting plot, and interesting characters, Salpeter keeps her audience engaged from first page to last doing an amazing job of research, especially in Buddhist rites, rituals, and mythology.
As a student of Chinese History and Asian Philosophy, I found The Hunt for Xanadu unforgettable, and look forward reading Book #2 in the Kelsey Porter Series, The Quest of the Empty Tomb.
About the Author
On her bio page on Amazon.com Elyse Salpeter writes, “…Salpeter is an author who loves mixing ‘the real with the fantastic’ in her books. She likes nothing better than taking different scenarios and creating worlds where things just aren’t what they appear to be.”
Her 5-book Kelsey Porter series, THE HUNT FOR XANADU, THE QUEST OF THE EMPTY TOMB, THE CALL OF MOUNT SUMERU, THE HAUNTING OF CRAGG HILL HOUSE, and THE SEARCH FOR STARLIGHT are about a brilliant and fearless young woman whose life is steeped in Buddhist spiritual mysteries and she is constantly discovering the world around her is not what she believed it to be.
Thank you so much for this fantastic review Michael and I’m so glad you enjoyed the novel!
Sounds like a good way to get acquainted with Buddhist rituals and mythology.