Looking at the file via Finder -> Show Package Contents shows me a typical epub layout with files and directories. When I check the file with -d, it comes back positive as a directory, but of course searching within it does not show me a single file. I'm beginning to wonder if the original epub file has something compromised.

If you can "Show Package Contents" on an "epub" then you are dealing with an application, not an epub file. I would inspect that package very carefully before running it. Maybe it's a self-reading epub app or maybe it's posing as epub for less benign reasons.

In reply to Re^5: copy an epub as a file, not a directory by Anonymous Monk
in thread copy an epub as a file, not a directory by Trudge

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