‘Help For The Haunted’ by John Searles.

Published by Sphere 11 September 2014. ISBN: 978-0-7515-5590-5

I loved this book. You delve into the world of Sylvie who is the ‘Good Daughter’ her sister turns, not only into a difficult teenager fighting against her parents life choices but also a teenager, that through no fault of her own can’t accept her parent’s beliefs.

The chapters alternate between past and present. Through the eyes of Sylvie, each chapter gives you a little more information.  This is a psychotically thriller about a dysfunctional family and the consequences that derive from that dysfunction.

I would recommend this book to readers who like to be kept guessing whilst perched at the end of their seat, to be finally brought into the light of knowing with an unexpected and harrowing revelation.

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Reviewer: Nicky Cooper Brown

John Searles is the author of the bestsellers Boy Still Missing and Strange but True. He appears as a book critic on NBC's Today Show, and his essays have been published in the New York Times and Washington Post. He has a master's degree in creative writing from New York University and lives in New York City.

 

Nicky Cooper Brown came late to this game we call writing. Growing up, up North, she was always praised for her talents with her hands, rather than her mind, she harboured an artistic flair often drawing and painting into the night. It wasn't until she moved south to the Beautiful picturesque New Forest that she took pen to paper so to speak. Now Nicky enjoys writing short stories and articles and has a funny and light hearted style, but when it comes to her novels she displays a darker side and a taste for psychological thrillers.