“A masterclass in suspenseful character-driven prose fiction. Simply exceptional.”

FRANK DARABONT – Writer and Director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

“A wildly entertaining story that grabs you on page one and drags you into its dark world kicking and screaming.”

NEW YORK TIMES (EDITORS’ CHOICE)

“A blood-pumping, nerve-shredding thriller–elegant, edgy, ingenious . . . as exciting a house of horrors as I’ve ever visited. You’ll enter both with dread. You’ll dwell in them with relish.”

A. J. FINN - #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

“A truly frightening story, one that gets under your skin slowly, then goes deep, like the tip of a butcher knife.”

NEW YORK TIMES (EDITORS’ CHOICE)

“Gloriously diabolical. A terrifying thrill ride through the hidden chasms of the human soul.”

CHRIS BROOKMYRE

Award-winning author Craig Russell’s novels have been translated into twenty-five languages worldwide. Five of his novels have been made into movies (in one of which Craig Russell makes a cameo appearance as a detective). The Devil Aspect was optioned by Columbia Films/Sony Pictures, and Hyde is currently under option for a returning TV series.  He also writes speculative fiction as Christopher Galt.

Craig Russell’s literary rights are represented by Esmond Harmsworth at Aevitas Creative Management, Boston.  Film and TV rights are represented by Georgina Ruffhead at the Haworth Agency, London/Joel Gotler at Intellectual Property Group, Hollywood. 

Latest News | Social Media

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Another fantastic review for THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND— https://t.co/blNn2c2rjp
Thank you so much @bethsy !
Beautifully designed @doubledaybooks edition of THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND just arrived. Set in Golden Era Hollywood and out June 20—and available for preorder now. https://t.co/AjlXrDdoo7 TheCraigRussell photo
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Craig Russell Books
Craig Russell Books11 hours ago
Wishing Craig Russell Books a very happy publication day! #TheDevilsPlayground is another dark and gripping masterpiece from international award-winning author Craig Russell. Perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman, Caleb Carr and Stephen King.

Read it now - amzn.to/3WWWysg
Craig Russell Books
Craig Russell Books2 days ago
Fantastic review of THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND at Jenmedsbookreviews.com! So nice to read this.
Craig Russell Books
Craig Russell Books4 days ago
Newly released on the 8th June is a riveting 1920s Hollywood thriller about the making of the most terrifying silent film ever made, and a deadly search for the single copy rumoured to still exist, from the internationally acclaimed author of The Devil Aspect, Craig Russell Books .

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 rumoured 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 rumours could be true.

1967: Paul Conway, a journalist and self-professed film aficionado, is on the trail of a tantalizing rumour. 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.

Reserve your copy at Warwickshire libraries: #recordId=1.830861&srchDb=1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">https://library.warwickshire.gov.uk/iguana/www.main.cls?surl=search&p=ec959c66-8eae-11e1-8539-1c0cc229eddc#recordId=1.830861&srchDb=1

#rugbylibrary #mysteryfiction #lovereading #fictionbooks #thrillerbooks
Craig Russell Books
Craig Russell Books1 week ago
Delighted that the The New York Times has chosen THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND as one of its nine most anticipated books this June! Doubleday Books Aevitas Creative Management
Craig Russell Books
Craig Russell Books1 week ago
Fantastic, beautifully designed Doubleday Books edition of my new horror/mystery novel THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND, set in Golden Era Hollywood. Out June 20, and available for preorder now. Aevitas Creative Management
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TV and Film

CARNEVAL – Trailer

Tivoli Films/ARD movie of Craig Russell’s CARNEVAL

Brandmal Film Trailer

German film version of Craig Russell’s ETERNAL (BRANDMAL in German) Film-Trailer für Craig Russells BRANDMAL

Wolfsfährte – Trailer

TivoliFilm

“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.  Playground is a guaranteed one-sitting read…  Bravo!”

Jeffery Deaver#1 bestselling author 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 — 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 Reichsauthor of the Temperance Brennan series

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 … fresh, forceful, elegant but wild.”

A.J. Finnauthor 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

“Brilliantly written, with repeated surprises.”

The Critic

“THE DEVIL ASPECT is a wildly entertaining story that grabs you on page one and drags you into its dark world kicking and screaming. Russell has created a truly frightening story, one that gets under your skin slowly, then goes deep, like the tip of a butcher knife. I read the novel one snowy night by the fire, unable to sleep until I finished, then unable to sleep once I had.”

NEW YORK TIMES (EDITORS’ CHOICE)

“A tour de force: a clever and visceral thriller with a one-two-three knockout of an ending that left me dazed. The brooding backdrop of a Czechoslovakia on the brink of World War II just adds another layer of atmosphere to an already nightmarish read.”

LINCOLN CHILD - #1 New York Times bestselling author

“A crime story that transcends the genre. Craig Russell brilliantly uses the character of his tough, funny and hopeful man Lennox to give us the eyes and ears on a time and place. This is storytelling at its very best!”

Michael Connelly

“Steeped in the chilling folklore of Eastern Europe and echoing the dread of a barbaric war to come, The Devil Aspect snatches the reader by the lapels for a thrilling, twisting trip through the darkest corridors of the human mind.”

Daniel H. Wilson - New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse

“A blood-pumping, nerve-shredding thriller–elegant, edgy, ingenious. Craig Russell conjures not one but two unforgettable settings: Prague between the wars, pulsing with menace, and a Gothic mental asylum, as exciting a house of horrors as I’ve ever visited. You’ll enter both with dread. You’ll dwell in them with relish.”

A. J. Finn - #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

“Deep, dark, and twisty, The Devil Aspect will keep you up all night reading… With all the lights on. Russell has created a gripping masterpiece of a thriller!”

Alex Grecian - New York Times bestselling author of THE YARD

“A distinctive and exciting new voice in crime fiction… this is gritty, authentic and disturbing stuff”

Mo Hayder

“Lennox is a private eye for the ages. Tough, uncomprising and insightful, with concrete fists and a heart of gold. Russell has brilliantly captured post-war Glasgow and the vulnerability of those left to pick up the pieces.”

Michael Robotham

“In 1935 Prague, vicious murders are linked to a medieval castle housing an insane asylum outside the city in this well-crafted gothic crime tale…. A seasoned writer, Russell keeps the police case moving at a good clip…but nothing to match the ending, which offers more twists than a Chubby Checker album. A smart, atmospheric, and entertaining read but not for the Jung and easily Freudened.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Scalpel-sharp dissection of the nature of evil. A splendidly Gothic story. It is breathtaking.”

DAILY MAIL

Russell writes a pacy, ever-twisting mystery that will keep you turning the pages.

Ian RankinBestselling author of the Rebus series