Sylvie Mason's world was destroyed by a phone call.....
The Mason family was never your typical family. Sylvie's parents assisted those who were hindered by the supernatural, offering prayer and perhaps some solace for desperate individuals. Unfortunately, everything changed one bleak night and now Sylvie's parents are dead and Sylvie is in the custody of her older sister. However, there are family secrets that are about to surface....
Told through alternating flashbacks with the present day, HELP FOR THE HAUNTED weaves an eerie tale of dysfunction. There are touches of horror, particularly the creepy rag doll, but there is also a deepening mystery as to what really happened that cold, snowy night. John Searles does a marvelous job at keeping the reader guessing as to just where HELP FOR THE HAUNTED is headed. I kept expecting the paranormal role of Sylvie's Ghost Hunter parents to take over the storyline but John Searles kept the tale solidly grounded in Sylvie's world.
Sylvie is an unusual character, a girl used to being the "good girl" and always having the right answer. HELP FOR THE HAUNTED is as much a coming of age story for her as it is a mystery as Sylvie learns hidden family secrets and truths. I like how John Searles showed us both the love and the damage inflicted on Sylvie, both by her parents' chosen profession and the resulting choices they made.
HELP FOR THE HAUNTED is an oddly enjoyable tale, one that keeps the reader guessing throughout. I must admit, however, that I figured out the "big reveal" for the ending but that in no way spoiled my enjoyment of the story. Rather, I enjoyed the depth of the character development even for secondary characters such as Rose, Dereck, Howie, and Arnold Boshoff. The richness of the character development is what makes HELP FOR THE HAUNTED such a deeply moving tale, even with the trappings of the supernatural. HELP FOR THE HAUNTED is both creepy and unnerving as the darkest places of the heart are explored.
It begins with a call one snowy February night. Lying in her
bed, young Sylvie Mason overhears her parents on the phone
across the hall. This is not the first late-night call they
have received, since her mother and father have an uncommon
occupation: helping "haunted souls" find peace. And yet
something in Sylvie senses that this call is different from
the others, especially when they are lured to the old church
on the outskirts of town. Once there, her parents disappear,
one after the other, behind the church's red door, leaving
Sylvie alone in the car. Not long after, she drifts off to
sleep, only to wake to the sound of gunfire. As the story
weaves back and forth through the years leading up to that
night and the months following, the ever-inquisitive Sylvie
searches for answers and uncovers secrets that have haunted
her family for years. Capturing the vivid eeriness of
Stephen King's works and the quirky tenderness of John
Irving's novels, Help for the Haunted is told in the
captivating voice of a young heroine who is determined to
discover the truth about what happened on that winter night.
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