Help for the Haunted

"You know the truth already. What I will say is this: each of us is born into this life with a light inside of us. Some, like yours, burn brighter than others. You don't see that yet, but I do. What's most important is to never let that light go out, because when you do, it means you've lost yourself to the darkness. It means you've lost your hope. And hope is what makes this world a beautiful place."

And that is exactly the advice that Sylvie Mason has to hold onto. When she was nine years old, she left with her parents on a cold night in the snow to attempt to meet with her oldest sister Rose who had left home in hopes of reconciling the issues between her parents and Rose that cause her to leave. Only little did Sylvie know that that would be the very last time she would ever see her parents alive. Left alone in the car and having fallen asleep she hears the sounds of a gun being fired and finds her parents murdered on the steps of an old church and her sister is no where to be found. Yet all she remembers is that they were not alone. Someone else was there and it's that someone that is haunting the memories of Sylvie late at night.

In the latest novel by John Searles, Help for the Haunted is a suspense thriller that takes you on an unforgettable ride into the darkest places of a persons soul. She knows her parents help troubled people that no one else can and has been the reason for people treating her and her sister Rose different from other kids you'd know in school. Most people in school avoid Sylvie and give her plenty of room whenever she walks into a room. Most are simply afraid of what they don't understand and since the deaths of her parents, most people believe that the people the Mason's helped carried some evil right alongside them. It was that evil that they hoped to find relief from when all other attempts had failed. Now the basement is the only place that has been left virtually undisturbed and both girls were warned by their parents to stay out. But just what is happening in the basement now, sounds that seem to emanate from beneath the house, it seems like something below is not happy that Sylvie's parents are no longer among the living and are deeply upset with the current state of things.

I received Help for the Haunted by John Searles, compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review and received no monetary compensation for a favorable one. This one literally gave me what I was expecting and then some. Rave reviews comparing John Searles work with that of Stephen King is what drew me to read this one. I was not disappointed. 90% of the way through this novel that author creates such a suspenseful atmosphere you think you have it figured out, you're just waiting for an unveiling. This one really creeped me out and for me, that's the perfect sign of an amazing suspense novel. The ending I truly did not see coming and it's true that there is always more to the story than what you see. I rate this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars and look forward to many more novels from John Searles in the future.

For more information about Help for the Haunted, John Searles or where you can preorder a copy of this novel that is due out in mid September of 2013, please click on the links below:

Help for the Haunted by John Searles

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ISBN: 9780060779634; ISBN10: 0060779632; Imprint: William Morrow ; On Sale: 9/17/2013; Format: Hardcover; Trimsize: 6 x 9; Pages: 368; $26.99; Ages: 18 and Up; BISAC1:FIC019000; BISAC2:FIC022000; BISAC3:FIC043000