Otherworld

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This New Age fantasy lesbian mystery assumes that chatting with spirits--in person and on the telephone--is part of everyday life. On Halloween, travel agents Stoner McTavish and Marylou Kesselbaum are at Disney World along with Stoner's lover, Gwen, and her psychic aunt, Hermione. Soon after their arrival, Hermione warns, ``Someone here is in danger.'' In fact, Stoner has been receiving calls from a woman begging for help; the calls cannot be traced, and Stoner is the only one who hears the woman's voice. Then Marylou is abducted from EPCOT. A lesbian couple, George and Stape, whom Stoner met on the monorail, begins a traditional investigation in the mundane world while Stoner, who has some psychic ability, searches the grounds for ``vibrations'' from her vanished friend. The intrepid tourists finally learn that the reasons for the abduction reach into Stoner and Marylou's past, and they make a scenic but grueling journey through a parallel universe in which EPCOT rides come to life. More bizarre than entertaining, Dreher's ( Captive in Time ) story makes Fantasyland look like suburbia. (July)