-
“I was completely consumed by Help for the Haunted; I read it in one sitting. I just can’t decide what I loved the most: its perfectly pitched teenage narrator; the ghost story that kept me riveted; the thriller that made me say, ‘Oh, just one more chapter.’”
— Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author
-
“A quickly paced and boldly rendered ghost story, Searles’ dark novel about a young girl haunted by the murder of her parents had me up reading all night. And checking the doors. I found it impossible to put down.”
— Sara Gruen, New York Times bestselling author
-
“Wonderful.…A coming of age tale that is poignant and touching…and will scare the living hell out of you. I loved every page of this novel: I loved the sisters and the story and the page-turning mystery. I just may never go downstairs into my basement again.”
— Chris Bohjalian, New York Times bestselling author
-
“The chills deliver, but the depth of the story is what really sets this book apart.”
— Amazon.com, editorial review
-
“Disturbingly
engrossing.”
— People
-
“A
masterful genre mash-up that’s part paranormal thriller, part coming-of-age story,
part crime fiction, Searles’ eerie novel about a young girl uncovering the
mystery of her parents’ murders builds to a stunning and poignant conclusion.”
— Entertainment Weekly
-
“The family
demons are more troubling than the supernatural ones in John Searles’ new
novel...Sylvie’s flashbacks and exploration of her mom and dad’s relationship
will haunt readers’ hearts after they turn the final page.”
— USA Today
-
“[Searles]
has crafted a strange, spooky world that is absolutely believable. Sweet,
precocious, desperate Sylvie is a memorable young striver in the tradition of
Scout Finch, and Help for the Haunted
is an exceptional piece of storytelling.”
— Washington Post
-
“A poignant
story of a family, of parents navigating an odd and dangerous career, of
daughters shaken by doubt and loss and grief—and the gulf that widens between
them all...A compelling mystery.”
— Miami Herald
-
“The
perfect Halloween read for those with a taste for haunted basements, creepy
always-smiling dolls, and weirdly dysfunctional families...Searles brings the
torture of adolescence, the scourge of notoriety, and the pain of being young
and different vividly to the page.”
— Boston Globe
-
“Full of
terror, totally compelling, believable, and ghostly chilling...The horror that
stocks this page-turner is so adroitly grounded in things ordinary and real
that the reader almost suspends disbelief and comes to think that maybe there
are malevolent spirits out there.”
— NPR
-
“John
Searles wrapped a ghost story inside a mystery, and the result is a worthy
thriller...Help for the Haunted’s alternating chapters are cleverly split in
time to reveal what came before and after a deadly tragedy at the heart of this
captivating story.”
— Minneapolis Star Tribune
-
“Involves
both classic horror elements (a malevolent rag doll, a stolen diary, a hatchet,
a scary basement) and contemporary ones (a prescription for Vicodin). Searles
controls the plot with a sure hand and wraps up the situation on Butter Lane in
a satisfying and believable way.”
— New York Newsday
-
“[Help for the Haunted] is no simple ghost
story...As the story zips back and forth through time, it’s rarely clear what’s
real and what’s not, though one thing is for sure: the ‘literal’ bedevilment
the Masons cast from other houses is nothing compared to what’s in their own.”
— Chicago Magazine
-
“Searles
expertly manages his cleverly conceived plotline as he alternately withholds
and doles out key information in tantalizing fashion. Amid the fascinating cast
of characters, including her ne’er-do-well uncle, a kindhearted school
counselor, and the specter of her supportive mother, is the unforgettable
Sylvie. Somewhat geeky and blind to her own family’s dynamics, Sylvie manages
to figure out the hows and whys behind the catastrophic event that changed her
life forever. Superlative storytelling.”
— Booklist (starred review)