Espiridion

DOPS IV is the finest of the series so far--and probably the funniest, despite Abel's often-blood-curdling lost temple/deep jungle adventures, which actually comprise the majority of the book. Cass and Lawrie initiate the action with a mutual, reality-bending zone-out of the sort that's become the unspoken norm for life in Pilothead Sound as lived by the spiritually discerning who can't seem to fit in anywhere else. Mario and Cato, however, share in a most unpleasant discovery which blows the cover off the "Tunnel Beast/Yellow Poppy Journal" dilemma and pulls Justin into the thick of it, along with veterinarian Emerie Hartleib and editor-in-chief Lou Saperstein. To top it off, Cass finally reveals his agonizing secret to Lawrie and his other closest friends, despite fearing that they'll never regard him in the same light again. Lawrie does likewise--but only to Cass and only in part, leaving the gossip-mongers and legend-miners still guessing but now a bit more apprehensive. Meanwhile, Abel's travels take him through hidden regions of the Amazon Basin, a region as large as the continental United States where mysteries still abound in the form of hidden temples, buried cities, giant critters and mind-bending time-shifts. Determined to better understand the legacy of his legendary family, the "Deliverers" who appear every few hundred years and are collectively known as the "Espiri," Abel seeks to better understand himself as well as his beloved older twin, who has "defected" only to re-surface outrageously on film and TV screens everywhere. But in Pilothead Sound and the rest of the Quad, Cass and Lawrie must deal not only with the unwelcome ongoing mystery of the Yellow Poppy Journal but the unwelcome re-emergence of the creatures that inhabit the tunnels mapped by its contents. Cass adjusts to Cato's holistic help with the painful condition for which he's decided he'll no longer seek treatment, and Lawrie's reaction is a mixed bag indeed, for it forces him to come to terms with the confusing feelings he's had for awhile toward his often-exasperating housemate...but, even more traumatic is Cass's exploration of his own emotions regarding the revelation, and his fears that Lawrie may ultimately feel the need to put distance between them in order to sort things out. Filled with unexpected twists and turns, DOPS IV is completely different from the preceding books in the series, as its one-word title attests; it introduces characters who are both legendary and long missing, and culminates in a partial answering of Abel's most fervent prayer...along with the revelation that even Pilothead Sound's most beloved landmark is in no way what it seems!