Title: The Dead Children’s Playground (American Horrors #1)

Author: James Kaine

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Childrens-Playground-Supernatural-American-ebook/dp/B0CLL1WXNZ

Summary

A cemetery filled with innocents. A ghostly chill in the air. Will a short walk through the woods awaken a dark power?

Kylie Macklin is eager to live a normal life. Freshly moved from Florida to Alabama and finally in remission from cancer, the optimistic nine-year-old is used to dodging her overprotective mom’s warnings. So when a new playmate invites her to hang out, the happy girl thinks nothing of the playground being located in a graveyard for young victims of the Spanish Flu… and a local serial killer.

Kayla Macklin hates starting over. Forced to relocate after her little sister’s recovery, the sullen nineteen-year-old despises her new home more when she sees a terrifying vision in the nearby crypt. And as kids around town start to fall gravely ill, she begins to suspect there is something sinister at play.

Tormented by a frightening specter’s ever-closer appearances, Kylie turns to her older sibling for help. But as Kayla digs into the history of the haunted ground, the twisted truths she discovers hint at a bloodthirst that can never be sated.

Can they face down the malevolent force without tripping into their own graves?

The Dead Children’s Playground is the bone-chilling first book in the American Horrors series. If you like dark twists, scary puzzles, and poignant moments, then you’ll love James Kaine’s supernatural spine-tingler.

My Review

5/5 Stars

After surviving cancer, Kylie and her family make a move to a new town, and she’s eager to finally get to live as a normal kid. Imagine her excitement when she sees a playground right outside and even more than that? Friends. But this town has a dark past, and you know what they say about history. It has a way of repeating itself.

Creepy ghost kids and an ancient demon? Count me in!

I loved literally everything about this book. I’m usually not a big fan of ghost/demon stories, but this one blew me away. The way the author all the paranormal elements together I thought was very well done.

I think what really made this story work so well was how carefully he crafted the characters, particularly Kayla and Kylie. They felt like real people and their bond really made the suspenseful parts of the story that much more intense.

That ending was completely unexpected. It isn’t very often that a book makes me weep, but that last chapter? Yep. That did it.

All in all, this was a wonderful book. Very suspenseful and emotional. Dare I say haunting? Looking forward to more books in the series!