At no point did I know what was going to happen next. And not in a good way. What an absolute mess of a book. I feel like Stefon on Weekend Update. This book has everything! A lead character called Brink (I could only picture Erik von Detten), haunted dolls, golems, religion, Lilith, succubi, sex dreams, a God puzzle, a trans god. And much more! The one thing in short supply here? Puzzles. This book is Dan Brown on acid and mushrooms and cocaine. The first bit was okay, and then it devolved into a completely deranged fever dream in the last half especially.

The whole thing was trying to do WAYYYY too much. It was completely incohesive. The characters were super flat. There was an uncomfortable forced "romance" that developed mostly during succubus sex dreams. And I don't know enough to really say, but it felt at least vaguely antiSemitic. No thank you. Not for me.

Mike Brink, once a rising football star who suffered a traumatic brain injury, now has a rare medical condition due to that injury: acquired savant syndrome. He is now a genius when it comes to seeing, solving, and creating puzzles. But he is now socially awkward and isolated, as well.

Brink is invited to meet with Jess Price - a woman sentenced to thirty years in prison for murder. She hasn't spoken in five years - since she was incarcerated. But she has created, by drawing, a complex and confounding puzzle. Price's psychiatrist has invited Brink to meet with Price and to try to solve the riddle of her puzzle - a puzzle with links to an ancient mystery.

He can't stop himself from exploring the meaning of the puzzle, but it's his obsession with Jess herself that might get Brink into his deepest trouble.

Although I'm not particularly good at puzzles myself, I do enjoy the challenge of them, which is what drew me to this book.

The first third of the book or so was full-on engaging and exciting. Being introduced to the characters, getting the initial puzzle established, and the first hint of danger, was all well-handled and a real page-turning read. But as the story got deeper into te more ancient mysteries, it took a Da Vinci Code-like turn which I did not find nearly as interesting. I guess I wanted the threat to be more immediate and local, which I think would have felt more believable.

None of this is helped by the characters.

Again, our first take with Mike and Jess, and even with Jess's psychiatrist, is believable and intriguing. We know there's going to be something here between them, but what? This is where the story lies! But with Jess in prison, her ability to really make an impact remains quite diluted. Too bad, because she's probably the most interesting character here.

I do tend to find that nearly all mysteries have a moment or two of luck involved with the protagonist seeing or catching something. In this case it's a tattoo that plays too big/easy a role in finding a connection. I won't say too much about it in case you choose to read the book.

All in all, an exciting beginning and well plotted, but the story gets too deep in the attempt to be a real thriller, and the characters never grow into or beyond our initial impressions of them.

Looking for a good book? The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni is a tightly plotted thriller with characters that have great possibilities but aren't fleshed out enough to really shine.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent closed door mystery with an intriguing hero. Recommended for everyone from Agatha Christie readers to Dan Brown fans.

Thank you Random House Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

This book hooked me. I was very intrigued by the premise and the beginning of this book. However, the last half really lost me. I did finish it. However, I was quite confused and had lost a lot of the interested I had found at the start. I thought that the story idea was such a great one. I just did not feel like the execution in parts was very well done to keep attention of the reader.

This is the story of Mike Bink an ingenious puzzle constructor. He understands patterns like no one else can. Mike was once a successful Midwestern football player. However, his world is transformed after a traumatic brain injury. He develops a rare medical condition called savant syndrome. This syndrome is his super power to solving puzzles and other patterns. However, it also leaves him quite isolated at times. Social situations and other circumstances often leave him unsure how to respond. When Brink meets Jess Price, a woman serving a 30 year sentence for murder who hasn't spoken in the years since her sentence, his world changes. He becomes obsessed with solving Price's puzzles and solving the case. Can he solve the hardest ones? Or will the truth be left undiscovered?

Content: Swearing, recall of violence

Read if you enjoy:
Mysteries
Puzzles
Thriller
Savant Syndrome Rep

This book was a lot of fun and a wild ride! The Puzzle Master makes you really slow down and think about what you're reading and what is going on in the story which I appreciated. Also, the puzzles scattered throughout the book were so fun to run into.

The Puzzle Master a the story about Mike Brink, a man who suffered a traumatic brain injury playing high school football. Due to this injury, he was able to solve and create complex puzzles. He is called upon to help crack a mysterious code transcribed by convicted murderer, Jess Price, in order to get to the bottom of the crime. The author takes us on a roller coaster ride! This book is a wild from start to finish. An unusual and exciting plot with lots of history and science thrown in, the character of Mike and his new abilities is fascinating. I was fortunate to receive this novel from Netgalley as an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This novel checked a lot of boxes for me at the beginning. I was unfamiliar with acquired savant syndrome, and the premise fascinated me. The author explains how those who have it can be affected differently and the toll it can take on their lives if undiagnosed. Mike Brink is a likeable guy, and I loved being in his head when it came to solving and creating puzzles. I’m a sucker for including pets in a story, and I adored his dog Conundrum (perfect name, but Connie for short). Jess Price’s story intrigued me, and I was anxious to learn why she asked for Brink after years of little communication with her therapist and other prisoners. Pacing moves along nicely and kept me flipping the pages.

Once I got to around 50% and the God Puzzle is mentioned, that’s where the story occasionally lost me. What starts as a mystery with historical and paranormal elements turns into long passages of religious references, artificial intelligence, and quantum physics. While I enjoy novels about these heavy, complex topics, it can be overwhelming when they’re blended into a single story – especially when it’s not a direction I’d expected. I skimmed through more than a few pages.

The last 15% is full of action, and I wasn’t sure how the story would end. It leaves the possibility of a sequel open, but I’m not sure if one is in the works. If you’re a fan of blended genres and stories that tackle complex topics, The Puzzle Master might be the read for you.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Puzzle Master is an inventive thriller I have read in a while! Loved the addictive storyline with alternate timelines and multiple povs. Under 400 pages, this story packs a punch and honestly would make a great movie! 4.25/5

eArc provided by Random House via Netgalley

4 puzzling stars
“What had begun as a puzzle had become a deeply personal quest. “

“He didn’t believe in stolen elections, that the apocalypse was coming, or that aliens had been visiting earth for decades. He believed in numbers and facts, that two plus two always equals four, that gravity makes an apple fall. He believed in logical solutions and that, with the right method, the truth could be known. The world’s mysteries were really no different from a puzzle. They were all around us, and it was up to us to put the pieces together.”

The Puzzle Master began as a 5-star read for me, well-paced, with intriguing characters. Trussoni builds suspense without being overly graphic. Layers of mystery with everything from a bit of the occult to antique dolls to powerful computers entice the reader. I appreciated well-defined shifts in places and times.
The ending dragged on – 3 stars , averaging to 4 geometrical objects that shine in the night sky.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

There was A Lot happening in this book - puzzles, crime, billionaires, AI, dreams, religion, porcelain dolls, rare manuscripts, and really a lot of driving back and forth from one place to another. I can’t say that I fully understood most of the way it all came together, but I can say that I was very worried about Conundrum the dachshund.

The Puzzle Master follows Mike Brink, a man who suffered a traumatic brain injury in high school that results in a condition called savant syndrome. Brink can see patterns in everything and is now obsessed with puzzles and is known as a creative puzzle maker for the New York Times. He is asked by a psychiatrist in a women's prison to speak to an inmate that is obsessed with both puzzles and Mike Brink himself. Brink is asked to solve another puzzle that the inmate has presented that relate back to a brutal murder during a house sitting job that sent the woman to prison. From there, the book takes many surprising twists and turns.

The best way that I can describe this book is a mix of Da Vinci Code and National Treasure blended together. I did not find this blend to work very well. The characters felt very one-dimensional. For all of the talk of Mike Brink solving puzzles, he didn't seem to solve many puzzles in this story. It felt like the author had a bunch of great ideas but tried to combine too many things together here. There was a cringy romance plot that didn't really fit very well either. On the whole, this was a fast moving book with long breaks for explanations. It started off very interesting and then turned into a completely different direction. It just didn't come together for me.

I really enjoyed this unusual story! It was full of twists with some touches of the paranormal. I found the first half of the book more engaging and interesting. It was more focused on Mike's bizarre abilities, acquired after an accident. Overall a quick and easy read!

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for the advanced reader's copy!

DNF @ 55%

I really wanted to love this. It sounds like a unique and entertaining story. Puzzles, dreams, secrets, and mysteries!

But unfortunately I just felt like there was too much unnecessary and over the top details. It felt like it was proving to be smart? Whimsical? It just lost me.

Lots of plot holes with lots of details that didn’t seem to connect. I think if the beginning tone would have been set, it would have been a different story. I’m not sure!

This book was wild, and not in a good way. I was looking forward to a great story; instead it was all over the place, very disjointed. Super hard puzzles take seconds to finish - in what world? DNF @ 40%

This was a really fun book! I bought it for my husband for Christmas because it's something he would love, being a huge sci-fi/fantasy/adventure fan. It's a twisty, fun, surprising story about a man who specializes in solving puzzles and a woman who creates one that needs to be solved. And she just happens to be in prison serving a long sentence. If you like unpredictable stories and have no problem suspending your disbelief when you read, you'll love this mystery.

3.5 This one is a wild ride that I cannot even begin to summarize but know this book has savants, classic dolls , demons , gods , puzzles and so much more. This one was a tough one for me I was intrigued at first but this book goes out there and maybe a little to far for me which left me feeling lost at times. It was just a lot but with that being said I felt like it was a fast paced read and I really enjoyed the first half. I am interested in picking up more from this author as I did enjoy the writing . I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

You will enjoy this book if you have liked stories such as “The Da Vinci Code” or movies like “National Treasure”. The main character is very likable and believable. He makes some of the less realistic or enjoyable elements of the story not such a big deal. The pacing is good until the middle of the book and then slows down but picks up again towards the ending. The ending is where I had some challenges with the story but not enough for me to dislike it as a whole. I love the idea of solving puzzles in a great action-packed story but I have trouble when it is permeated with the occult and spiritism. I was hoping it would be more of a way to misguide the reader than a reality.

This book was fun but overall I started to disengage towards the middle end of the book and the ending felt a little lackluster. I loved the twists and turns the book took but overall it was ok. Trussoni is a good writer though and I look forward to what she puts out next! Great ideas just didnt enjoy all of the executions.

This book really grabbed me at the beginning. Towards the middle I found myself wondering and losing focus. I was determined to finish this book because I wanted to find out what was going on with the mystery aspect. There were definitely some themes that really turned me off to this book. I finished but parts of it just weren’t for me.

It didn’t need to be this complicated. It didn’t require the intense detail or the logarithmic exploration. It was a interesting, solid, fast moving mystery-thriller without all the genius speak. “That is the nature of the puzzle: to offer pain and pleasure by turns.” I was in way over my head except for the human element which felt about right.

I like stories with damaged characters and this one has it. I enjoy a well done conspiracy with its myriad webs and tangles. Employing the past and present can be a successful writing tactic if the writer pays careful attention to detail. The Puzzle Master has all this and yet while is channels a little of Dan Brown and a smidgeon of Helene Wecker in her book “The Golem and the Jinni” it falls short of satisfying. There were too many moving parts, too much esoterica, mixed in with too many others things like religious mysticism and arcane references. It mostly kept my attention and much of the books was a serious page turner but the places where I got bogged down stole the momentum. I felt my time was well spent but wished that Trussoni hadn’t felt the need to throw in the kitchen sink.

I am rounding up for a very inventive plot although at times jumbled and abused. Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for a copy.