I loved this book, although it was very different from my usual reads. Sylvie is a 13 year old girl who is trying to come to terms with what happened the night her demonologist parents were murdered. She has had an unusual upbringing and the kids in town view her family as strange. Although I found some parts a bit scary it is not a horror novel by any means. I felt that I was right alongside Sylvie as she begins to learn the truth. The novel switches back and forth from the present to the months leading up to the murders. I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

This book never really connected for me, even though it was well written (reasoning for 3 stars), I just didn\\\'t feel the need to bother with ever turning the page. It might be that supernatural beings/forces has never been my thing. Not sure, I just wasn\\\'t a huge fan.

HELP FOR THE HAUNTED is not your typical coming-of-age story, but it is an intriguing story. Add in elements of mystery and the paranormal and it becomes so much more than a basic coming-of-age story. Mr. Searles has an amazing talent with descriptions and setting scenes and this takes the story up a level. Yes this is story has dark and twisted elements, but at its core it is a story about a girl coping with the loss of her parents and dealing with being a teenager.

(BTW, if you get the opportunity to Skype with the author TAKE IT! Mr. Searles is charming, funny, and oh-so personable. A great addition to your discussion of the book.)

We had a Halloween theme Book Club Meeting. Our facilitator had a luncheon catered for the event. We had it at our clubhouse on the veranda and we had a lovely lunch and a lively discussion about the book. Out of 16 women 15 liked the book very much. We would recommend to other book clubs for there is a lot to discuss.

This was what I needed. A different story that grabbed me enough to want to know what would happen next. This was entertaining and smart. The characters were interesting and believable. All were infallible. The male author did a very good job of capturing the persona of a teen girl! I liked that it wasn’t easy to predict, yet what wasn’t totally out of line with what you might discern.

The story dragged a little bit. I loved the cliff hangers at the end of each chapter because they made me want to keep reading, but ultimately it was kind of anticlimactic. The book had sooo much potential that I felt was just a little untapped. The writing was very descriptive though which I liked, but I think some of the time used to develop the background stories could have been used to keep the more of the suspense in the book. Every time I felt a bomb was about to drop, it didn’t.