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

In 1927, Hollywood studio fixer Mary Rourke is called to the home of silent movie actress Norma Carlton, who has been found dead. Rourke suspects that the movie, The Devil's Playground, is cursed and sets out to find the only copy of the film that is rumored to still exist. In 1967, film historian Paul Conway is on the trail of a rumor that a single copy of the film may exist in an isolated hotel in the Mojave Desert. As Rourke and Conway search for the truth, they begin to suspect that the real Devil's Playground is Hollywood itself.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 464 pages
Publication date: 07 March 2024
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Amazing: I would give someone else's right arm to write so beautifully! Sarah Pinborough's The Devil's Playground is a masterpiece that takes imagination to new heights. The Devil's Playground is a terrifying tale of the true power in Hollywood, written with Russell's precise, gorgeous prose that shines. The New York Times praised it as a masterpiece, capturing the essence of Hollywood lore with its captivating authenticity. Chris Brookmyre described it as an addictive novel, the most sheerly entertaining one he had raced through in at least a year. The author's fresh, forceful, elegant, but wild writing style is evident throughout the book. The Devil's Playground is definitely on the shortlist for the best mystery of the year, according to Bookpage.com. When it comes to Gothic crime, Craig Russell is peerless. Absolutely stunning! M W Craven praised The Devil's Playground as another dark, gripping masterpiece from the CWA Dagger and Double McIlvanney Award winner Craig Russell. The Devil's Playground is a dark, riveting thriller set in 1920s Hollywood about the greatest horror movie ever made, the curse said to surround it, and a deadly search, decades later, for the single copy rumored still to exist.

1927: Hollywood studio fixer Mary Rourke is called to the palatial home of the most desirable woman in the world, silent movie actress Norma Carlton, star of The Devil's Playground. When Rourke finds Carlton dead, she wonders if the dark rumors she's heard are true: that The Devil's Playground really is a cursed production. But nothing in Hollywood is ever what it seems, and cynical fixer Rourke, more used to covering up the truth for studio bosses, finds herself seeking it out.

1967: Paul Conway, film historian and fervent silent movie aficionado, is on the trail of a tantalizing rumour: that a single copy of The Devil's Playground - a Holy Grail for film buffs that was supposedly cursed and lost to time - may exist. H. is determined to find it, no matter the cost. As he delves deeper into the mystery, he uncovers a web of lies, deceit, and murder that threatens to destroy everything he holds dear. With the help of a young journalist named Alice, Paul must navigate through the treacherous waters of Hollywood and uncover the truth behind the cursed movie before it's too late.

Weight: 318g
Dimension: 127 x 197 x 32 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780349135267