John Searles

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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]

Contents

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] He is married to theatre director Thomas Caruso. [7]

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" [8] and the New York Daily News named him a "New Yorker to Watch." [9] His second novel, Strange But True, was named the best novel of 2004 by Salon.com. [8] Searles' novel Help for the Haunted, published by William Morrow/HarperCollins [8] 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, [10] and was hailed by author Gillian Flynn as "dazzling… a novel both frightening and beautiful." [8]

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 , [8] CBS's The Early Show , [8] Live! With Regis and Kelly , [8] Charlie Rose ,[ citation needed ] and CNN [8] to discuss his favorite book selections.

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

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. ↑ Bartell, Gerald (2022-03-31). "LI author talks about "Her Last Affair"". newsday.com. Retrieved 2025-06-09.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "A Conversation with Novelist John Searles". Stay Thirsty Magazine. Winter 2016. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  9. ↑ "50 NEW YORKERS TO WATCH IN 2001". New York Daily News. 2001-01-01. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  10. ↑ Hallie Ephron. "Best 2013 crime fiction". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
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