John Searles is an American writer and book critic. He is the author of four novels: Her Last Affair (ISBN 0-06-077965-9), Help For The Haunted (ISBN 978-0-06-077963-4), Strange But True (ISBN 0-06-072179-0) and Boy Still Missing (ISBN 0-06-082243-0). His essays have appeared in national magazines and newspapers, and he contributes frequently to morning television shows as a book critic. He is based in New York City.[1]

Life

Born and raised in New England, Searles is the son of a truck driver and stay-at-home mother.[2] After high school, Searles worked at the DuPont factory close to his hometown[3] of Monroe, Connecticut.[4] He went on to pursue an undergraduate degree from Southern Connecticut State University, becoming the first member of his family to attend college, before entering a graduate program at New York University on a writing scholarship,[5] where he won a number of fiction awards[3] and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing.[1][6]

Career

After completing his master's degree, Searles took a job at Redbook magazine reading fiction submissions.[3] He soon moved on to a part-time job in the books department at Cosmopolitan, where he went on to hold many positions including Books Editor, Executive Editor, Editorial Brand Director[3] and Editor-at-Large.[6]

Upon the 2001 publication of Searles' first novel, Boy Still Missing, Time named him a "Person to Watch"[7] and the New York Daily News named him a "New Yorker to Watch."[8] His second novel, Strange But True, was named the best novel of 2004 by Salon.com.[7] Searles' novel Help for the Haunted, published by William Morrow/HarperCollins[7] in September 2013, won the American Library Association Alex Award, was named as an Amazon Top 10 Mystery and Suspense Novel of 2013, a Boston Globe Top 10 Crime Novel of 2013, and an Entertainment Weekly Top Ten Must Read,[9] and was hailed by author Gillian Flynn as "dazzling… a novel both frightening and beautiful."[7]

His essays have appeared in The Washington Post, the New York Times, and other national magazines and newspapers. He has featured frequently as a book critic on morning television shows including NBC's Today Show,[7] CBS's The Early Show,[7] Live! With Regis and Kelly,[7] Charlie Rose, and CNN[7] to discuss his favorite book selections.

In 2019, a film adaptation of Strange But True was released by Lionsgate and CBS Films.

References

  1. 1 2 "John Searles". HarperCollins.com. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  2. ↑ Searles, John (September 16, 2013). "Gillian Flynn and John Searles on "Help for the Haunted"". Omnivoracious: The Amazon Book Review (Interview). Interviewed by Gillian Flynn. Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  3. 1 2 3 4 softlightmedia. "John Searles". www.john-searles.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  4. ↑ Valluzzo, Andrea (2022-03-04). "Monroe's bestselling author John Searles chats penning his first books on wallpaper and his new thriller". Connecticut Post. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  5. ↑ Cutolo, Ruby. "Mystery Man: John Searles". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  6. 1 2 "Algonquin Talks with John Searles, Today show Book Critic and Cosmo Editor-at-Large". Algonquin Books - Books For A Well-Read Life. Workman Publishing Company. 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "A Conversation with Novelist John Searles". Stay Thirsty Magazine. Winter 2016. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  8. ↑ "50 NEW YORKERS TO WATCH IN 2001". New York Daily News. 2001-01-01. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  9. ↑ Hallie Ephron. "Best 2013 crime fiction". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
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