4.5 rounded up to 5

This was my first Danielle Trussoni book and definitely won’t be the last. And yes, I have a countdown going on until the release of book
2 featuring Mike Brink, The Puzzle Box!

As someone who absolutely loves mind puzzles, I was immediately intrigued by this premise. I love stories that challenge my mind to bend in unexpected ways in order to not miss any details. Brain is such a fascinating organ and Mike Brink’s sounds especially so! A traumatic brain injury which resulted in his brain being capable of solving puzzles in a way ordinary humans couldn’t.

This one will demand your full attention but in return you will be rewarded with part thriller, part a quest with a touch of mystical. I really enjoyed on this thrilling ride with the main character and hope you will too!

A huge thank you to Random House and NetGalley for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review!

The cover and the synopsis drew me in since I love a story where you are solving the mystery with the MC. Unfortunately, this fell short on me. I found the writing to be repetitive, especially with the MC. The author would delve into their past more than my liking. Whenever, we experienced these flashbacks it drew away any suspense Trussoni was building. I then found it odd with how quick the MC falls for Jessica. I wouldn't have mind if they fell in love but it was too insta-love for my liking. Overall, I didn't like this book and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

I was SUPER into this book at the beginning, and for about the first 50%. However, as the story went on, it kind of went off the rails and it also did a lot of "telling" instead of showing. Overall this was a miss for me.

I loved Angelology, the second book was not as strong. I would still recommend Angelology.
I also read her bio about her Dad, it was good. There is something about this author, she can put the finger on somethings........

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This book started out as a really strong mystery, but then tried to cram too many genres into the end. Like, there are ancient demons mixed up with futuristic tech and tied together with a porcelain doll?

Mike Brink is the MC of the story, a savant able to decipher pizzles, and as such is trying to help a woman he feels is wrongly convicted of her boyfriend's murder. He also the most passive character ever! He even actually relies on the flip of a coin to make life-altering decisions. Everything just happened to him, other people dictated his actions, and he just went with the flow. At one point he just went willingly along with people, the villains if you will, who had previously kidnapped him and held him at gunpoint.

Other characters were one-dimensional and each felt they just had the purpose of giving twisty little history lessons, making the character interactions feel artificial and very contrived, bringing me out of the story. Like the museum expert who just met Mike then stole an artifact & took off with him was so implausible. And when the villains explained their grand plan to Mike, their kidnap victim, it felt like a scene right out of a James Bond film.

However, I did enjoy this author's descriptive writing style. But I felt that much of this story was told to us, rather than shown because of the complex ideas the author was trying to convey.

So, after reading this book, I could not really explain to you what happened at the end. I think I did get what happened with the doll & Jess (all that tragedy due to a typo!?), but still not quite sure about the tech part at the very end, and how it related back to the whole doll situation. But I'm not super tech savvy so that could totally be a "me" thing.

Overall, this was action-packed (at one point Mike hadn't slept in like 3 days!), and it would be a good choice for someone maybe more tech-minded than I am. 3.5 stars.

ᴡᴇ ɢᴇᴛ ɪᴛ! ʏᴏᴜ’ʀᴇ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴀᴀᴀᴀʟʟʟʏ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴀᴛ ᴘᴜᴢᴢʟᴇs 😅 ɪ ʜᴀᴅ ᴀ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ʜᴀʀᴅ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ɢᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴏᴏᴋ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ɪᴛ ғᴇʟᴛ ᴠᴇʀʏ ʀᴇᴅᴜɴᴅᴀɴᴛ ᴅɪsᴄᴜssɪɴɢ ʜᴏᴡ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴏғ ᴀ ᴘᴜᴢᴢʟᴇ sᴀᴠᴀɴᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɪɴ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ, ᴍɪᴋᴇ ʙʀɪɴᴋ ɪs. ɪᴛ ᴊᴜsᴛ ғᴇʟᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀs ᴛʀʏɪɴɢ ᴡᴀʏ ᴛᴏᴏ ʜᴀʀᴅ! ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀs ᴠᴇʀʏ ɪɴᴛʀɪɢᴜᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ sᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪᴛ ᴅɪᴅɴ’ᴛ ᴅᴏ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ғᴏʀ ᴍᴇ. ᴏᴠᴇʀᴀʟʟ, ᴛʜɪs ғᴇʟᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀ ᴋɴᴏᴄᴋ-ᴏғғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀ ᴠɪɴᴄɪ ᴄᴏᴅᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴘɪᴄᴋ ᴜᴘ ᴀɴᴅ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅɴ’ᴛ ᴡᴀɪᴛ ғᴏʀ ɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴏᴠᴇʀ.

📖 ʜᴜɢᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏ @randomhouse ᴀɴᴅ @netgalley ғᴏʀ ᴛʜɪs ᴀʀᴄ ᴄᴏᴘʏ ɪɴ ᴇxᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ғᴏʀ ᴀɴ ʜᴏɴᴇsᴛ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ 📖

I enjoyed the premise of this book and really wanted to love it. The puzzles got to be a little much for me and distracted my focus away from what was actually happening in the plot itself. Loved the main character, though!

All the world is a puzzle, and Mike Brink—a celebrated and ingenious puzzle constructor—understands its patterns like no one else. Once a promising Midwestern football star, Brink was transformed by a traumatic brain injury that caused a rare medical condition: acquired savant syndrome. The injury left him with a mental superpower—he can solve puzzles in ways ordinary people can’t. But it also left him deeply isolated, unable to fully connect with other people. Everything changes after Brink meets Jess Price, a woman serving thirty years in prison for murder who hasn’t spoken a word since her arrest five years before. When Price draws a perplexing puzzle, her psychiatrist believes it will explain her crime and calls Brink to solve it. What begins as a desire to crack an alluring cipher quickly morphs into an obsession with Price herself. She soon reveals that there is something more urgent, and more dangerous, behind her silence, thrusting Brink into a hunt for the truth. This story is the perfect combo of mystery, supernatural and gothic horror. While it is not really my normal read I couldn't help but get swept up in it and I highly recommend it. It will keep you up at night.

The Puzzle Master is about Mike Brink, who has acquired savant syndrome; it's made him a genius with patterns and puzzles. He also has a dog named Conundrum, whom I love. Brink finds himself wrapped up in a conspiracy filled with puzzles, murder, creepy dolls, religion, technology, and danger.

I had a lot of fun with this book. I was hooked within the first five pages and ended up getting the audiobook from my library so I could listen to it when I didn't have time to read. Never at any moment could I have guessed what would happen next, or even the direction the story was taking! It's one of those books that makes you just admire storytellers.

I found Brink to be extremely likeable, and the acquired savant aspect isn't too unrealistic. I mean, with the type of thriller it is, of course the story in general isn't realistic, but I didn't scoff at how he solved puzzles. Trussoni did a good job of making it an interesting character trait without Dan-Brown-level ridiculousness.

The middle lags a bit, and it was difficult to stay interested in the long epistolary sections, especially when they were from or about characters I didn't like. I also think it veers a little bit into biting off more than it can chew. But it's a well-written, fun, unique thriller, and I enjoyed it. I'll definitely be reading more from Trussoni!

This was just so bad. So very bad. The characters were unsympathetic, the plot was contrived... I wanted so much more from this. The characters were particularly frustrating: perhaps crafted with a little too much perfection, to the point where one felt compelled to roll one's eyes so frequently that without appropriately training in advance, one risked permanent ocular injury.

A suspenseful and intricately plotted thriller about a puzzle genius who investigates mysteries that go all the way to humanity’s origins.

I hate puzzles. I don't enjoy logic puzzles. I barely do crosswords and yet, 'The Puzzle Master' by Danielle Trussoni took me on an unexpectedly delightful journey. Trussoni's skillful construction of the novel, incorporating letters, dreams, alternating points of view, and of course, puzzles, was an unexpected surprise.

While it wasn't something I would exactly pick up (puzzles), I enjoyed the craftsmanship of the writing. It was an ambitious plot and I thought Trussoni pulled it off in a way that was satisfying. If I had to make comparisons I would say this novel is reminiscent of Dan Brown's 'Angels and Demons' intertwined with one of my favorite novels Marisha Pessl's 'Night Film,' and a dabble of "The Silent Patient."

While I was enthralled by the complexity of the storyline, there were moments that I found a bit less interesting, the doll maker for example. It's a risk in any novel to be so ambitious and I think my admiration for that overwhelms my loss of attention in some areas.

Overall, 'The Puzzle Master' is a testament to the joy of a well-constructed novel, offering readers a captivating blend of mystery, suspense, horror, and intrigue. Despite not being a puzzle person, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and eagerly anticipate reading the sequel.

#ThePuzzleMaster by @danielletrussoni is what I finished today! Many thanks to the author for sending me this lovely signed book! There is a sequel that is coming out this fall and I’ve already preordered it so I’m very excited - called - The Puzzle Box !! This story really went places that I was not expecting it to go - for example - I know this author’s books usually have an either magical realism or supernatural elements - but this also had religious mysticism and sci-Fi elements. On top of all that, it has so much intrigue, a secret society, and lots of action. The main character - Mike Brink - has been called by a prison psychiatrist about her patient. Mike gained acquired savant syndrome from a traumatic head injury and has become a mathematical genius and master puzzle master/decoder. The psychiatrist says her patient who will not speak has requested him to help her solve a puzzle. This winds up being not a just a puzzle but a key to something huge. I can’t say more - I hope I didn’t say too much. I’m curious where the next book will go and I’m hoping that one problem will be solved by just hitting CTRL-ALT-DLT buttons Hahahha. If you know you know !!! Read the book then dm me about the ending so I can tell you how badly I want to do that as well!!!! #scifi #supernatural #kabbala #mideveil #puzzles Check this one out, the sequel will be out this fall!

Acquired savant syndrome—in which some traumatic brain injury results in sudden new abilities or perfect recall—affects only a few dozen people on the entire planet in real life, but about 30% of mystery/thriller protagonists in my recent reading. It’s an understandable trend, because someone like David Baldacci’s Amos “Memory Man” Decker is basically a regular guy with superpower, so you get all the irresistible thrills of a superhero story in what is otherwise am appealing police procedural. In The Puzzle Master, Mike Brink suffers a football injury that leaves him with a sudden extreme aptitude for solving and constructing puzzles. He becomes involved in a mystery when a prison psychiatrist calls him to examine a puzzle drawn by an inmate convicted for murder who has remained silent for the entire first 5 years of her sentence. The puzzle is so captivating that Mike can’t resist trying to understand what is going on and quickly comes to the attention of some bad guys who absolutely don’t want him to figure it out. So far, so great: puzzle genius, threatening bad guys, mysterious codes, the potential to solve an unexplained murder. At some point after this solid beginning, the Da Vinci code of it all sort of veers off the rails. I mean, if you just told us the puzzle's solution gave the key to world domination or something, we’d say OK to this bit of sc-fi, suspend disbelief, and enjoy watching everyone chase the intellectual MacGuffin. Instead, the exact purpose of the code seems to keep shifting and vaguely acquiring more quasi-religious meaning until the whole effort starts to seem a little silly. Readers don’t have the information needed to solve most of the puzzles presented, so there is little satisfaction in seeing Mike reveal the answers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for a digital advance review copy.

This book had a really interesting premise, but it ended up going a bit off the rails. It just kept getting more and more complicated and esoteric, and it was tough to follow everything that was going on. I also felt there were a few too many characters getting involved in what was supposed to be a super secret affair, and with every new character, it got even more convoluted. It was overall interesting enough to keep me reading, but by the last quarter I was really ready for it to end.

2.5⭐️
This was not for me. I had high hopes going into it but the religious references alongside murder just didn’t sit right with me. I was interested in the main character and his amazing abilities but that was all that intrigued me. Unfortunately, I will not be trying any other books by this author.

DNF@40%

This book was intriguing at the beginning but then it started to get boring and I honestly just stopped caring about everything that was going on. The action scenes should've picked things up but instead it made me even more bored some how.

Mike Brink, a football player, suffered a traumatic brain injury that caused a rare medical condition. Now, he can solve puzzles in ways that other people cannot.

Jess Price, imprisoned for murder, has not spoken a word since her arrest. After she draws a puzzle, her psychiatrist calls in Mike to help out.. After meeting her, he becomings intrigued by her and her puzzle.

What follows is a quest to solve a puzzle of all puzzles. This book is a mash up of several genres: science fiction, romance, mystery, thriller, supernatural, etc. all of which I personally enjoy!

Original, thought provoking, and well written. 4 stars!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Probably more like 3.5 stars. I definitely didn’t hate it, but it was not quite as thrilling or involved as a Dan Brown, which is the style I was hoping for. I enjoyed Mike Brink as a character and getting inside his brain a bit; but, the other characters weren’t quite as easy to know/care about as I would prefer. I will probably still read the second one since I’ve been granted access for an advanced copy, and hope for a but more depth.