The Devil’s Playground

Four years ago, I loved Craig Russell‘s novel, The Devil Aspect. As a big horror fan, it was exactly what I was looking for, and I’ve been eager to read more from the author ever since. He now has a new book out, The Devil’s Playground, and it brings all the mystery, horror, and intrigue I’d hoped for, this time in an Old Hollywood setting.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Summary

In 1927, a Hollywood production of a film called The Devil’s Playground is thrust into a dark mystery when its leading lady is found dead. At first thought to be suicide, it’s later discovered to be murder, but no one can know that just yet. Mary Rourke, a Hollywood “fixer,” is ordered to quietly investigate the murder, but as she does, the sense of danger starts to increase. And when more people start dying, rumors of a curse on the movie spread across the tabloids.

Fast forward to 1967, and the legendary film has been lost to time. Paul Conway has been hired to find it, and he may have done just that in a secluded part of the California desert. But will the curse strike him, too?

Review

After loving Craig Russell’s The Devil Aspect, I had high hopes for his latest novel. The Devil’s Playground is a very different story, but it brings forth the sense of evil and horror that I’d anticipated.

This story is primarily set in 1927, and I found these chapters to be the strongest. It starts when Mary Rourke, a studio fixer, finds a movie starlet dead. It appears to be a suicide, so she “fixes” it, but she later learns it was murder. Now she and her boss have a bigger problem on their hands, and Mary is sent out to investigate who did this to Norma Carlton. Unfortunately, people in Hollywood have a lot of secrets and aren’t much help. The mystery only gets more complicated and dangerous, especially when more people start dying and attempts are even made on Mary’s life. The film that Norma was starring in, titled The Devil’s Playground, is now rumored to be cursed, but is that really what’s happening?

Some chapters take place in 1967, when Paul Conway hunts down the only surviving copy of this fabled horror film that’s been lost to time. Other chapters take us back to the 1890s in both Louisiana and Kansas. How do those chapters connect with everything else?

One thing I loved about The Devil’s Playground is how it primarily stars women characters. The real protagonist is Mary Rourke as she investigates the shady things lurking in Hollywood’s shadows. In Louisiana, a mother and daughter are also the central characters of those chapters. Many of the themes here fall back on how women and girls are treated by society; it shows both the vulnerability and the power.

I also enjoyed the secrecy and complexity of the Hollywood setting and characters. A lot is eventually woven in, bringing some big surprises. How do the seedier sides of the entertainment industry are exposed, but how much of that connects to the bigger evil making its way across the Devil’s Playground movie set?

At first I wasn’t sure what to think of the chapters set in the 1890s. Who were these characters? How were they relevant? These chapters were also written in a more sophisticated, atmospheric style, adding a layer of complexity and mystique. However, in time, I grew to like the Louisiana chapters and the themes it brought out.

As winding as the roads are, eventually it all comes together into a thrilling end.

Final Thoughts

Overall, The Devil’s Playground feels more like a mystery than a true horror. I do wish it went deeper into the devilish angle, though I also liked how it brought about a different sort of darkness. I still greatly enjoyed this book for what it is and will definitely read more from Craig Russell.

Get the Book

You can buy The Devil’s Playground here – it’s available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

The Devil’s Playground by Craig Russell
Audience	Adult
Genre	Horror; Mystery
Setting	Hollywood
Number of Pages	368
Format I Read	ebook (NetGalley)
Original Publication Date	June 20, 2023

Official Summary

A riveting 1920s Hollywood thriller about the making of the most terrifying silent film ever made, and a deadly search for the single copy rumored still to exist, from the internationally acclaimed author of The Devil Aspect.

“A masterful thriller.” —Lincoln Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“A guaranteed one-sitting read.” —Jeffery Deaver, author of The Bone Collector and Hunting Time
“The most sheerly entertaining novel I’ve raced through in at least a year.” —A.J. Finn, author of The Woman in the Window

1927: Mary Rourke—a Hollywood studio fixer—is called urgently to the palatial home of Norma Carlton, one of the most recognizable stars in American silent film. Norma has been working on the secret film everyone is openly talking about… a terrifying horror picture called The Devil’s Playground that is rumored to have unleashed a curse on everyone involved in the production. Mary finds Norma’s cold, dead body, and she wonders for just a moment if these dark rumors could be true.  

1967: Paul Conway, a journalist and self-professed film aficionado, is on the trail of a tantalizing rumor. He has heard that a single copy of The Devil’s Playground—a Holy Grail for film buffs—may exist. He knows his Hollywood history and he knows the film endured myriad tragedies and ended up lost to time.  

The Devil’s Playground is Craig Russell’s tour de force, a richly researched and constructed thriller that weaves through the Golden Age of Hollywood and reveals a blossoming industry built on secrets, invented identities, and a desperate pursuit of image. As Mary Rourke charges headlong through the egos, distractions, and traps that threaten to take her down with the doomed production, she discovers a truth far more sinister than she—or we—could have imagined.