The Devil's Playground: Where horror is silent . . .

Product Information

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? Conway drives through the inhospitable landscape to reach his destination: Hidden Lake, a manmade enclave in the middle of nowhere. It was built by a delusional financier who hoped to create a second Hollywood. Those hopes were buried when the lake dried up: Craig Russell's "The Devil's Playground," is a wonderful noir mystery that's set in the Golden Age of Hollywood when the silent films are changing to talkies. What an amazing time period for such a mystery. Russell's non-linear plot moves between two time periods: the 1920s and the 1960s. One of the strengths of the book is his ability to combine events from these times to create a solid story of decadence, murder, and early Hollywood. He brilliantly describes the movies studios and how they relied on money, power, and appearance. Mary Rourke, a "fixer" for Carbine Studios in 1927, is the main character who finds the dead body of gorgeous actress, Norma Carlton. Her death appears to be connected to the terrifying silent film, "The Devil's Playground." According to the PR mill, it has a "curse" on it.

In 1967, Paul Conway, a film expert is looking for what is rumored to be the only copy left of "The Devil's Playground." His search leads him to several of the characters who are still alive from the 1920s. The twists and turns of the plot were fantastic, and Russell uses an especially amazing twist near the end. 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. 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.In 1927, the Golden Age of Hollywood, Mary Rourke is a studio "fixer" for Carbine International Pictures. Cover up a DUI? Have a sexual scandal on set? Rourke is the woman who's called to take care of it. She is summoned by the powers that be to the mansion of actress Norma Carlton, one of the biggest stars in silent film. Norma has been working on a terrifying horror film called The Devil's Playground, and it's rumored to be cursed. When Rourke arrives and sees Norma dead, there's a little part of her that wonders if the rumors could actually be true. Fast forward to 1967... Paul Conway, a journalist and huge film buff, has heard a rumor that there is one copy of the horrifying movie The Devil's Playground left, and he is determined to discover if the rumor could possibly be true. Does he really want to find out?

The Devil's Playground by Craig Russell is my first book by this author. The story was mesmerizing, and I was kept guessing throughout. I am thrilled that I discovered Mr. Russell's previous books are in the my towering to-be-read file. Squeeeee! Definitely something to look forward to with excitement. Forty years earlier, studio fixer Mary Rourke, known as the most connected person in Hollywood, is trying to solve the murder of Norma Carlton, the star of “The Devil’s Playground.” Unfortunately, the studio initially labeled the death a “natural causes” story and only later discovered it was indeed murder. This puts both Mary and the studio at risk of criminal charges themselves — for covering things up. Mary’s boss, Harry Carbine, realizing a murder could ruin his already financially tapped-out studio, sends her to find the killer. In 1927, a Hollywood fixer is called yet again to take care of a situation that will look bad for a film studio. Mary Rourke arrives at the home of gorgeous star Norma Carlton to find that she’s committed suicide. Norma had been filming a horror movie, The Devil’s Playground, that’s now rumored to be cursed. When the situation turns out not to be exactly as it appeared, Mary is given a new assignment as a secret investigator. It leads her down a lot of dark alleys and gets quite complicated — and dangerous. The book opens — and, more critically, closes — in 1967 in the Mojave Desert with film historian Paul Conway. An anonymous client has paid him handsomely to find the only remaining copy of “The Devil’s Playground,” a 1920s silent film reputed to be the scariest horror movie ever made.

Member Reviews

At times, Russell’s taut dialogue and visual storytelling feel like watching a movie. (In fact, several of the novels in his German detective series, Jan Fabel, have either been made into movies or are in production.) The same descriptive skill comes to the fore when heintroduces Kansas-born Boy Lindqvist in an 1897 storyline. Lindqvist runs away to join the Dahlman and Darke Magic Lantern Phantasmagoria circus after witnessing its sleight-of-hand act “where a dark shape spread itself wide. Revealed its true form.” That form was Satan. And Satan spoke to him. If, as I am, you’re a cinema buff, if you like historical fiction and stories that dance on the line between horrific and suspenseful, and are never less than thrilling, not to mention gorgeously written, this book is for you. Mary moves through the underworld of studio power and a corrupt Los Angeles Police Department as she digs into Norma’s death.Threatening incidents rattle even Mary, whose cynicism and toughness are hard-earned. Yet she is a strong protagonist with a noirish air who inspires hope that she’ll inevitably outwit her enemies.