John Searles

John Searles is an American writer and book critic. He is the author of three novels, the bestselling Boy Still Missing (ISBN 0-06-082243-0), Strange But True (ISBN 0-06-072179-0) and Help For The Haunted (ISBN 978-0060779634), published in September 2013. 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.

Life

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

Career

After completing his master's degree, Searles took a job at Redbook magazine reading fiction submissions. 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 and Editor-at-Large.