John Searles

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. 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, where he won a number of fiction awards[3] and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing.[1][4]

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.[4]

Upon the 2001 publication of Searles’ first novel, Boy Still Missing, Time named him a “Person to Watch”[5] and the New York Daily News named him a “New Yorker to Watch.” His second novel, Strange But True, was named the best novel of 2004 by Salon.com.[5] Searles’ novel Help for the Haunted, published by William Morrow/HarperCollins[5] 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, and was hailed by author Gillian Flynn as “dazzling… a novel both frightening and beautiful."[5]

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,[5] CBS’s The Early Show,[5] Live! With Regis and Kelly,[5] Charlie Rose, and CNN[5] to discuss his favorite book selections.

In 2019, a film adaptation of Strange But True will be released by CBS Films.