What Strange Creatures by Emily Arsenault

What Strange Creatures by Emily Arsenault
Published by William Morrow ISBN 978-0-06-228324-5
Trade paperbacks, $14.99, 368 pages

What drew me to Emily Arsenault's book was that it revolved around an adult brother-sister relationship. That's not something you see all that frequently; there are many books with sisters' stories- Lisa See's Shanghai Girls, John Searles' Help For The Haunted and Louisa May Alcott's classic Little Women to name a few- but stories featuring brother-sister relationships are not as numerous.

Arsenault's book pulled me in from it's opening line: "What are you supposed to do on the second night your brother is in jail on a murder charge?" Like Searles' brilliant novel, What Strange Creatures successfully combines a murder mystery with a family character study that makes your heart ache for the people involved.

Theresa Battles is a thirty-something divorced woman who has been working for seven long years on her doctoral thesis about Margery Kempe, who is credited with writing the first autobiography in the English language. Kempe was a religious pilgrim, who had visions and believed that Jesus spoke to her. She was not a popular woman in her community, as her wailing and crying disturbed the neighbors.

Theresa's brother Jeff is one year older than her and he's "supposed to be some kind of genius." Theresa believes that "while Jeff has many enviable skills- creativity, origami skill, loyalty, and superfast metabolism", she has never thought him a genius.

Jeff drove a school bus for awhile, and then an ice cream truck. Now he was unemployed and spent his days drinking and his nights at Theresa's, hoping she has leftover takeout in her fridge. He finally has a girlfriend, Kim, who leaves home to visit her sister one weekend and never returns.

Kim's body is found in a wooded area. A screwdriver with her blood on it is found in Jeff's car trunk and he is arrested for her murder. Theresa doesn't believe her brother is capable of killing Kim, and sets out to find the real murderer.

Jeff seems to to think there is nothing he can do to help his situation. He lets things happen to him, instead of making things happen for him. Their last name "Battles" is ironic here; Jeff does nothing to fight for himself. He just wallows in his defeatist attitude about his life.

Theresa says of their family dynamic:

"Driving home, I considered the concept of enabler. It was something I'd been thinking about a lot lately. I never meant to be one, you see. I've noticed there is little sympathy out there for enablers. Not that there should be a great deal, but this is something I wish people understood: It's a role that sneaks up on you."

and

"If we were a family that talked directly about feelings or worries or troubling behaviors or anything at all, really, this would perhaps have been when we talked about it. But we don't, so we didn't. That's how it sneaks up on you, see?"

When Jeff is arrested, Theresa says "We're used to disappointment." They believe their family motto should be "We're Battles. What chance did we have?" Their propensity to believe that bad things will happen to them is maddening and sad. We never discover where exactly this attitude comes from, and I was pleased not to find some deep, dark secret behind it. They are the way they are, and though their divorced parents can be difficult to deal with, they are no more difficult than anybody else's parents.

They mystery of who killed Kim is satisfying and a careful reader may pick up on clues to the conclusion, although there is no shortage of suspects. Theresa gets herself into some tight spots trying to save her brother, and the sense of dread and panic builds as the story goes along.

 The title What Strange Creatures comes from a Jane Austen quote in Mansfield Park- "What strange creatures brothers are!" This is an astute, sharp psychological mystery that captured me from the opening line and didn't let go until the very end. The brother-sister dynamic is so heartfelt and realistic, I felt like I probably knew Jeff and Theresa Battles somewhere along the way.

rating 5 of 5

Emily Arsenault's website is here.
My review of John Searles' Help For The Haunted is here.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Emily Arsenault's tour. The rest of Emily's stops are here.

Emily’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, July 22nd: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Wednesday, July 23rd: Booksie’s Blog

Thursday, July 24th: Kritters Ramblings

Monday, July 28th: From the TBR Pile

Tuesday, July 29th: BoundbyWords

Wednesday, July 30th: Book-alicious Mama

Thursday, July 31st: Vox Libris

Monday, August 4th: bookchickdi

Wednesday, August 6th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Thursday, August 7th: Book of Secrets

New in Paperback- Help For The Haunted by John Searles

Reprinted from auburnpub.com

Help For The Haunted by John Searles

Published by William Morrow Paperbacks ISBN 978-0-06-0779641

Trade paperback, $14.99, 368 pages

The recent movie The Conjuring recounts the story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a Connecticut couple who specialized in ridding homes of demons and ghosts. Author John Searles grew up in the same town as the Warrens and recalled seeing them at church and in the grocery store.

His new novel, Help For The Haunted features a fictionalized version of the Warrens, Sylvester and Rose Mason. The Masons have made a living helping people who feel there are demons or ghosts in their home, or have family members possessed by some evil force.

The Masons have two daughters: Rose, an angry young woman at war with her parents, and teenage Sylvie, who tries always to be the good daughter. A local reporter wrote an unflattering book about the Masons, questioning whether the Masons actually helped people or it was all a ruse.

The book opens with the Masons getting a late-night phone call, which happened often. This time, though, it was young Rose who had been sent away to boarding school. She wanted her parents to come meet her at an abandoned church to talk over their problems.

Sylvie goes along and waits in the car with her mother while Sylvester goes to talk to young Rose. A long time passes and the older Rose goes inside the church to see what is happening. Sylvie falls asleep and is awakened by two gunshots. She rushes inside and finds her parents dead.

The rest of this terrific novel mixes a murder mystery with a coming-of-age story, adding a dash of the supernatural and generally scaring the heck out of the reader. Sylvie ends up living with her sister, who is still angry and barely cares for herself, let alone her young sister.

Sylvie had named the man whom she believed she saw in the church after her parents’ murder and he was now in prison. But Sylvie was having doubts. Did she really see this man or was this something she had been led to believe? She must discover the truth.

We see Sylvie’s life with her parents told in flashback. Her parents were devoutly religious, and they traveled the country speaking about their work, as well as helping people who send for them.

One young girl is particularly troubled. Her father sends for the Masons, and as a last resort, the Masons bring the girl to live with them. The girl stays in their basement, where Sylvester has set up his “office”.

The basement plays a big role in the novel, almost a character unto itself. Also involved in the mix is an oversized Raggedy Ann doll, which ends up locked in a cage. (Searles got the idea for the Raggedy Ann doll from one his own mother had.)

The genius of Help For The Haunted is that Searles successfully combines so many genres. He gives you a heroine to care about and empathize with, some scares and chills along the way, a dysfunctional family with a secret, all the while trying to solve a murder mystery. The solution to the mystery is surprising, and I doubt that many people will have figured it out before the big reveal.

Sylvie is an intriguing young heroine; she belongs up there with Stephen King’s Carrie, Roald Dahl’s Matilda and even Harper Lee’s Scout Finch. Searles has written such a real, honest, believable character. Her outsider status is one that many readers can identify with.

All of the characters are richly developed here. Even a minor character, like Dereck, an old high school boyfriend of Rose, is so fully realized and I admit to a little bit of a crush on him. Uncle Howie is an interesting character as well; we don’t really know what the deal is with him. Does he love his brother or despise him?

With Halloween on the way, this is the perfect time to read Help For The Haunted. If you like a brilliantly written scary book, one with interesting characters and a puzzle of a mystery, pick this one up. Just be sure to leave all the lights on while you read. And lock the basement door.

rating 5 of 5 stars

To celebrate the paperback release of Help For The Haunted, John Searles is going to Skype/Facetime/Meet in person with one book club in every state- for more info click here.

Searles spoke with author Wally Lamb about his book last October in New York. My post about that is here.

John Searles and Wally Lamb Discuss Help For The Haunted

John Searles' first book in nine years is Help For The Haunted, a spooky coming of age story with a murder mystery as its catalyst. To celebrate the publication of this terrific novel, author Wally Lamb and Searles discussed the book at the Cherry Lane Theatre last month.

Photo by Joe Noga, Cleveland.com

Lamb opened by joking that they are "both obviously good looking, slim, fit and have a full head of hair." Then he removed his hat to reveal his bald head. He told a story about the first time he met Searles, offering him a ride in a blizzard to Searles' first ever book reading for his novel Boy Still Missing. (Because of the blizzard there were four people at the reading- Searles, his mother, the bookstore manager and Lamb.)

Wally Lamb

Searles quipped from the audience that "I put my hand on his leg", with Lamb piping in "And I liked it!", leading to guffaws from the sold out crowd. Then Lamb clicked on a graphic that opened up onscreen above the stage; instead of the book cover, a cover for the book The Haunted Vagina popped up and Searles yelled "I will explain!", with Lamb stating "You'd better explain!" Again the audience exploded with laughter.  A friend of Searles sent him a link to the book, which has as its tagline- "It's hard to love a woman whose private parts are a gateway to hell."

John Searles

More pictures were shown, including a short video of Searles as a child holding a tiny notebook and pen, proving that he always wanted to be a writer. We saw a photo of his first childhood short story collection from 1976; the first story was titled "Over the Rainbow", the second one "Behind the Rainbow". He joked that even after this, his parents were shocked to discover he was gay.

Things got serious when Searles talked about being bullied as a child; he wasn't athletic and spent a lot of time in the library. He began to pursue writing as a career after his younger sister died, knowing that life is too short not to try.

There were many friends and family in the audience, including his parents and brother, co-workers from Cosmopolitan magazine, his editor and others from his publisher William Morrow, fellow writers from Yaddo, bloggers he has met, and perhaps most telling about what kind of guy he is, two friends who worked with him at a restaurant when he was in high school were there. If you still have friends from high school willing to drive a few hours on a Monday night to hear you speak, you are a good guy.

While working at the restaurant, Searles would write notes on napkins, and he recently found them in a box of his stuff packed away. They came up onscreen, and they were hilarious and sad all at the same time, showing his frustration and talent. (One note described a rude woman who insisted on discussing the crouton count of her salad with Searles, claiming that "six croutons on a salad is a ripoff." Anyone who has worked in the service industry knows this woman.)

This was one of the most entertaining, enlightening evenings I have been to in a long time. Lamb (everyone's idea of the perfect high school English teacher- I'm seriously jealous of any student who had him as a teacher) asked great questions about where Searles dark stuff comes from, how long it took him to write this book, his process and where his wicked sense of humor comes from.

Lamb closed the evening by telling us to go read Help For The Haunted because "I f*#king loved it!" I read it too and totally agree with Lamb's assessment. It has everything you want in a good read- suspense, a murder mystery, a coming of age story, interesting characters and brilliant writing.

My review of Help For The Haunted is here.
Wally Lamb has a new book, We Are Water, publishing this month and you can get more info here.

Lamb and Searles

Help For The Haunted by John Searles

Reprinted from auburnpub.com

Help For The Haunted by John Searles

Published by William Morrow ISBN 978-0-06-077963-4

Hardcover, $26.99

 368 pages

The recent movie The Conjuring recounts the story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a Connecticut couple who specialized in ridding homes of demons and ghosts. Author John Searles grew up in the same town as the Warrens and recalled seeing them at church and in the grocery store.

His new novel, Help For The Haunted features a fictionalized version of the Warrens, Sylvester and Rose Mason. The Masons have made a living helping people who feel there are demons or ghosts in their home, or have family members possessed by some evil force.

The Masons have two daughters; Rose, an angry young woman at war with her parents, and teenage Sylvie, who tries always to be the good daughter. A local reporter wrote an unflattering book about the Masons, questioning whether the Masons actually helped people or it was all a ruse.

The book opens with the Masons getting a late-night phone call, which happened often. This time, though, it was young Rose who had been sent away to boarding school. She wanted her parents to come meet her at an abandoned church to talk over their problems.

Sylvie goes along and waits in the car with her mother while Sylvester goes to talk to young Rose. A long time passes and the older Rose goes inside the church to see what is happening. Sylvie falls asleep and is awakened by two gunshots. She rushes inside and finds her parents dead.

The rest of this terrific novel mixes a murder mystery with a coming-of-age story, adding a dash of the supernatural and generally scaring the heck out of the reader. Sylvie ends up living with her sister, who is still angry and barely cares for herself, let alone her young sister.

Sylvie had named the man whom she believed she saw in the church after her parents’ murder and he was now in prison. But Sylvie was having doubts. Did she really see this man or was this something she had been led to believe? She must discover the truth.

We see Sylvie’s life with her parents told in flashback. Her parents were devoutly religious, and they traveled the country speaking about their work, as well as helping people who send for them.

One young girl is particularly troubled. Her father sends for the Masons, and as a last resort, the Masons bring the girl to live with them. The girl stays in their basement, where Sylvester has set up his “office”.

The basement plays a big role in the novel, almost a character unto itself. Also involved in the mix is an oversized Raggedy Ann doll, which ends up locked in a cage. (Searles got the idea for the Raggedy Ann doll from one his own mother had.)

The genius of Help For The Haunted is that Searles successfully combines so many genres. He gives you a heroine to care about and empathize with, some scares and chills along the way, a dysfunctional family with a secret, all the while trying to solve a murder mystery. The solution to the mystery is surprising, and I doubt that many people will have figured it out before the big reveal.

Sylvie is an intriguing young heroine; she belongs up there with Stephen King’s Carrie, Roald Dahl’s Matilda and even Harper Lee’s Scout Finch. Searles has written such a real, honest, believable character. Her outsider status is one that many readers can identify with.

All of the characters are richly developed here. Even a minor character, like Dereck, an old high school boyfriend of Rose, is so fully realized and I admit to a little bit of a crush on him. Uncle Howie is an interesting character as well; we don’t really know what the deal is with him. Does he love his brother or despise him?

With Halloween on the way, this is the perfect time to read Help For The Haunted. If you like a brilliantly written scary book, one with interesting characters and a puzzle of a mystery, pick this one up. Just be sure to leave all the lights on while you read. And lock the basement door.

rating 5 of 5 stars

Diane LaRue is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and blogs about books at http://bookchickdi.blogspot.com. You can follow her on Twitter @bookchickdi and she can be emailed at laruediane2000@yahoo.com.