The Devil's Playground

Praise

“Superb! The Devil’s Playground is imagination on steroids! This breathtaking tale–set against America’s favorite backdrop, Hollywood–seamlessly blends noir, gothic, and mystery in a way that’s unique to crime fiction. Populated with a truly memorable cast, Playground is a guaranteed one-sitting read…and how can you resist a novel about the scariest movie of all time? Bravo!”
—Jeffery Deaver, author of The Bone Collector and Hunting Time

“Craig Russell walks a razor’s edge between gothic suspense and horror. The Devil’s Playground conjures rich and riveting elements – 1920’s Hollywood, a terrifying silent film, an elusive and inscrutable killer, and an eerie sequence set in the Louisiana bayou – all of which come together to create a masterful thriller.”
—Lincoln Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“A blend of murder, noir, and horror set against a fascinating time-trip through Hollywood. The Devil’s Playground is totally engaging.”
—Kathy Reichs, author of the Temperance Brennan series

“I’ll read anything Craig Russell writes. Indeed I’ve read everything he’s written. His are secret-ingredient thrillers: robustly mainstream novels – readers of Preston & Child, Dean Koontz, and Steve Berry, form an orderly line – charged with a special dark energy, like some elusive taste in a spiked cocktail. It’s addictive. The Devil’s Playground, set partly in a richly evoked 1920s Hollywood, plays like Chinatown meets The Ring, and it’s the most sheerly entertaining novel I’ve raced through in at least a year. In an age when far too many same-old-same-old books are clogging the charts, The Devil’s Playground – fresh, forceful, elegant but wild – deserves to crash the bestseller party.”
—A.J. Finn, author of The Woman in the Window

“Extensively researched… A large cast of characters and extensive use of red herrings make this a complex and atmospheric novel, perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia.”
—Library Journal

“There’s witchcraft and Voodoo, gunplay, arson, and premature burial…nothing is what it seems to be amid the artifice of Hollywood…. Intriguing and entertaining.” 
—Kirkus Reviews