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Reviewed by Keith Mbuya for Readers' Favorite
When Mason Sax, a deputy at San Miguel County Sheriff’s office, and his partner Rex “Rowdy” Waller, respond to a disturbance call involving cougar attacks at an old man’s ranch, Mason is not ready for the discovery he is about to make. Tracking the cougars in the wild, the duo ends up at an abandoned lodge that sits on a cave. The same cave that was behind the tragedy that had befallen Mason’s small town of Lazarus twenty years ago, leaving him scarred and traumatized. Only thirteen years old then, Mason had dived into the cave to help save his brother, who with other kids, had been trapped. But then, he had been forced to blow the mouth of the cave closed to prevent the evil residing in it, which was believed to have abducted the kids, from ever coming out. It is how he had painfully lost his father and brother. Now to his horror, the lodge was being renovated by an investment company, which also planned on reopening the cave. Mason’s efforts to stop them proved futile. Will Lazarus survive what is coming its way? Find out in J. L. Engel’s Where the Children Don’t Play.
The macabre storyline had me on the edge of my seat. Paying great attention to detail and with vivid depictions, Engel hurled me into the complicated world of a small-town deputy where work, office politics, and love drama competed with the agony and trauma denying his life any progress. Ironically, it is the same love that Mason draws strength from to carry on. Just like his girlfriend Betsy, Mason’s past has been haunting him, and this time round there is no escape from facing the skeletons in his closet. Engel brings out the cast’s emotions, juxtaposing their complex traits. Accompanied by introspection, this allowed me to connect with them. Mason and Rowdy are an interesting dynamic pair you will quickly grow to love, and watching their friendship journey will leave you with nothing but respect for them. Rowdy with his “life of the party” personality would never have survived a day on the job without the cool-headed and experienced Mason on his side, yet he gets Mason through some of his lowest and darkest moments. J. L. Engel’s Where the Children Don’t Play will have lovers of slow-burn horror and mystery novels hooked, flipping through page after page.
