Three low-income families have been given a handsome retainer to join Geraldine Borden for a day at her cliffside estate. All the parents must do to collect the rest of their money is allow their children to test out the revolutionary playground equipment Geraldine has been working on for decades. But there’s a reason the structures in the bowels of her gothic castle have taken so long to develop—they were never meant to see the light of day. Nola is a new voice on the scene, but has already gotten noticed by the awards. Bishop is an impressive book that promises much more great writing to come.

The reader is also excellent, giving each character a unique voice to make you connect with them even more. Their narration felt like someone holding my hand to help me through the experience. Not to say that he is a writer of children’s stories, a conveyer of fun in the sun and a chronicler of innocence; Bradbury documents the autumnal child, that channel towards adulthood that remains long after the ascent to older age has been accomplished. When you have two precious bits of porcelain and one is broken and the other, the last one, remains, where can you find the time to be objective, to be immensely calm, to be anything else but concerned? No, he thought, walking slowly, in the hall, there seems to be nothing I can do except go on being afraid and being afraid of being afraid.” –Charles Underhill Recommendation: I rate this book 5 stars. Not only is it a great plot in the three dimensions, it is a wealth of knowledge and facts about Hollywood’s Golden Age with fictional characters nicely integrated with lives of well-known and misbehaving stars. Unike Hyde, the author’s previous novel which I thought was a real snoozefest, The Devil’s Playground strikes a good balance between atmosphere and action. I found myself swept up in the puzzle that was Norma Carlton’s death, and Mary Rourke was the perfect amateur detective to lead the investigation. Despite the book’s horror tag, the murder mystery was where I found the most enjoyment. There’s also something so apropos about the setting, where nothing is as it seems. Hollywood, where make-believe comes to life and anyone can become anything they wish to be, was even more duplicitous during the silent film era before the talkies changed the landscape of the movie industry. Pretty much everyone is keeping a secret or wearing a fabricated identity; the mystery practically writes itself as Mary dives headfirst into this roiling whirlpool of unreality and falsehoods.

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La necesidad de Underhill de proteger a su hijo, Jim, de la horrible realidad de la vida es tan profunda que quizá uno tendría que ser padre, o madre, para entenderlo completamente, por lo que el amor de los padres es un elemento tan crucial en esta historia como la crueldad infantil. This story is what you'd get if you forced children through a series of SAW traps, with all of the tragedy with how you'd expect that to play out.

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.” With Playground, Aron Beauregard transcends himself, delivering a genuinely chilling, uncomfortable novel that will make even the most jaded horror fan squirm. A harrowing, relentless read that left me breathless." (Brian Keene) The plot does feel very busy, but eventually all the pieces come together relatively neatly considering all the moving parts of this story which span decades and multiple locales. While some of the revelations were telegraphed early, they didn’t manage to spoil the bigger surprises, and I can always appreciate a good standalone horror. Geraldine Borden: The mastermind behind the revolutionary playground equipment and the host of the fateful day at her estate. To be completely fair to this book, it may be unfortunate that I read it immediately after finishing The Garden on Sunset by Martin Turnbull, which chronicles the same era, and includes many of the same real people in a fictional story. That book was excellent and really brought the golden era of film to life with relatable characters, easy-reading dialogue and a much smoother flow than The Devil's Playground offered. The comparison really made the - for me - short-comings of this book more unfortunate than might have been the case had I not read the two books one right after the other. As it is, The Devil's Playground suffered mightily in comparison.Thomas R. Clark is not new to writing, and it’s not fair to say he’s new to publishing anymore, because he’s currently showing all his potential as a storyteller. Bella’s Boys, Good Boy, and The God Provides showcase what he has on offer, with the promise of more to come. Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Librarians Group is the official group for requesting additions or updates to the catalog, including:

I have to say this isn’t my usual type of read, it came highly recommended so curiosity got the better of me. A masterwork. . .This is a terrific blend of historical fiction, with its depiction of classic Hollywood, and chilling supernatural elements. We go along for the ride.” The writing is great too. Everything, even the things you don't want, is described in such detail that you feel like you're in the room with the characters. The character's actions also feel consistent with how they're depicted too. The ending also feels appropriate for how the story led up to it. It’s 1953 and Ray Bradbury wrote a story about parenting and playgrounds. The main character – Dad – is a widower. He may have had a hard time grieving or taking on the role of being a single parent. His sister has been living with him for six months now to help. That seems - but don’t know 100% sure - to have gone well until today. His son is three years old and she left him in the park play ground when she went shopping. The Dad freaks out on that. Why is the question of the day! Did he think his son was too young for this? (I did but the story isn’t about me!) Was he projecting his past? Is it his cascade of unhappy memories or fear or guilt from his childhood memories that haunts him and makes him take the actions he does? Or is it a quasi-observation on parenting and the bullies and rough kids that came out of the fog of his dream mind and took over? Or did his sister make a bad choice that scared him “almost to death”?Do you remember what it was like to be a kid? The fears of children are varied and this novelette by Ray Bradbury crystallizes a child and a parent’s fears in a tight, disturbing, trippy story that will send a shiver up your spine. 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. I can say I didn’t expect his choice. But parenting can be difficult especially if you weren’t parented well yourself - just a side comment - it may or may not have had anything to do with the story. Ray Bradbury’s short story left us with questions. The more I write this the more I liked the story. The narrator hired for the novel was honestly the highlight. Likewise the children in the book are written pretty accurately to their ages. I think those two things are about all the positive things I can say about it though.