The Devil's Playground

Contents Cover Other Titles Title Page Copyright Contents Dedication Frontispiece Part One Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Part Two Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Part Three Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Part Four Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Epilogue Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Acknowledgments About the Author Landmarks Cover Cover Title Page Contents Start Copyright Print Page List iii v vi vii ix 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 133 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 235 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 301 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 351 353 
 
 
 
 
 Also by Craig Russell
 The Devil Aspect
 Hyde
 The Fabel Series
 Blood Eagle
 Brother Grimm
 Eternal
 The Carnival Master
 The Valkyrie Song
 A Fear of Dark Water
 The Ghosts of Altona
 The Lennox Series
 Lennox
 The Long Glasgow Kiss
 The Deep Dark Sleep
 Dead Men and Broken Hearts
 The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid
 Written as Christopher Galt
 Biblical
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 Copyright © 2023 by Craig Russell
 All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, and distributed in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto.
 www.doubleday.com
 Doubleday and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
 Cover photographs: (film strips) © MarsBars / E+ / Getty Images; (snake) © Graphic Compressor / Shutterstock
 Cover design by Michael J. Windsor
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
 Names: Russell, Craig, [date] author.
 Title: The devil’s playground : a novel / Craig Russell.
 Description: First Edition. | New York : Doubleday, [2023]
 Identifiers: LCCN 2022039193 | ISBN 9780385549011 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780385549028 (ebook)
 Subjects: LCGFT: Novels.
 Classification: LCC PR6118.U85 D49 2023 | DDC 823/.92—dc23/eng/20220831
 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2022039193
 Ebook ISBN 9780385549028
 ep_prh_6.1_143817173_c0_r0
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Also by Craig Russell
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Dedication
 Frontispiece
 
 
 Part One
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 Chapter 2
 
 
 Chapter 3
 
 
 Chapter 4
 
 
 Chapter 5
 
 
 Chapter 6
 
 
 Chapter 7
 
 
 Chapter 8
 
 
 Chapter 9
 
 
 Chapter 10
 
 
 Chapter 11
 
 
 Chapter 12
 
 
 Chapter 13
 
 
 Chapter 14
 
 
 Chapter 15
 
 
 Chapter 16
 
 
 Chapter 17
 
 
 Chapter 18
 
 
 Chapter 19
 
 
 Chapter 20
 
 
 Chapter 21
 
 
 Chapter 22
 
 
 
 Part Two
 
 Chapter 23
 
 
 Chapter 24
 
 
 Chapter 25
 
 
 Chapter 26
 
 
 Chapter 27
 
 
 Chapter 28
 
 
 Chapter 29
 
 
 Chapter 30
 
 
 Chapter 31
 
 
 Chapter 32
 
 
 Chapter 33
 
 
 Chapter 34
 
 
 Chapter 35
 
 
 Chapter 36
 
 
 
 Part Three
 
 Chapter 37
 
 
 Chapter 38
 
 
 Chapter 39
 
 
 Chapter 40
 
 
 Chapter 41
 
 
 Chapter 42
 
 
 Chapter 43
 
 
 Chapter 44
 
 
 Chapter 45
 
 
 Chapter 46
 
 
 Chapter 47
 
 
 Chapter 48
 
 
 
 Part Four
 
 Chapter 49
 
 
 Chapter 50
 
 
 Chapter 51
 
 
 Chapter 52
 
 
 
 Epilogue
 
 Chapter 53
 
 
 Chapter 54
 
 
 Chapter 55