Help Wanted by Richie Tankersley Cusick

 

A gothic family melodrama for the YA crowd, HELP WANTED is a surprisingly grim and gritty book about secrets, tragedy, and what happens when the past repeats itself. Robin is just an ordinary girl, looking to make some extra money to live her life. So when she sees a "help wanted" ad promising quick money, she jumps.

It turns out the ad has been put up by Hercules Swanson, the patriarch of the creepy old Manorwood house, and grandfather of the hottest boy at school, Parker Swanson. Herk wants Robin to categorize the books left behind after his daughter-in-law's mysterious death. But the house is intimidating and filled with mysterious and unexplained happenings, and Parker's half-sister, Claudia, claims that she's been seeing her mother's ghost.

Richie Tankersley Cusick is honestly one of the better YA horror authors out there, imo. She has a formula she tends to stick with and it works: girl with single mother walks into a creepy haunted place filled with family drama that goes back generations. Girl meets two creepy and suspicious hot guys who may or may not be involved. There's always a creepy doomsaying old person who is also suspicious and may or may not be involved. Cusick also delivers on the chilling scenery, surprisingly humorous inner monologues, and some zinging one-liners.

This really reminded me pleasantly of some of my favorite 70s gothic romances, especially with the tug of war between the rich brooding guy and the working class brooding guy, and the crumbling manor in the middle of the woods. There are some pretty chilling scenes in this one that you wouldn't see in a Point Horror imprint (this isn't Point Horror, BTW), but the gruesome stuff is mostly implied.

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars