Born and raised in New England, Searles is the son of a truck-driver father and stay-at-home mom. After high school, Searles worked at the DuPont factory close to his hometown. He quickly realized that the job wasn't for him and set his sights on becoming the first in his family to graduate college. He earned an undergraduate degree from the state university in Connecticut before moving to New York City to attend New York University on a writing scholarship. His stories were quick to receive recognition at the school, winning two top literary awards. After completing his MFA, Searles took a job at Redbook magazine reading fiction submissions for fifty cents a story. He soon moved onto a part-time position in the books department at Cosmopolitan, where he is now the Editorial Brand Director overseeing the magazine's numerous off-shoots as well all book coverage.

Upon the publication of his first novel, Time named him a “Person to Watch” and the New York Daily News named him a “New Yorker to Watch.” Strange But True was also named the best novel of 2004 by Salon.com. Searles appears frequently on morning shows such as NBC's Today, CBS's The Early Show, Live! with Regis & Kelly and CNN, to discuss his favorite seasonal book selections. He is at work on his third novel to be published by William Morrow/HarperCollins in 2011.