The start of the book was brilliant written, characters was well developed, the plot had promises. As I was reading the book towards the end, I was very much disappointed on the direction it took. The end was very sloppy finished and felt rushed.

Such a disappointment.

This book started off brilliantly, it was exciting, innovative and I was invested in a few of the characters but half way through I started to worry about its direction.
There is little context, a lot of mismanaged character traits and absolutely no substance.
When I got to the last 10% I was completely lost and annoyed and that ending was shockingly bad.
I was left thinking, what was the point?

So much promise, so little delivery. I’m gutted I couldn’t recommend this.

I’ve already DM’d poor Duncan asking for a sequel after finishing this ARC! Puzzle House was a fantastic, twisty read that kept me guessing along the way. Six strangers are invited to the estate of deceased multi-millionaire Alexi, including his ex-wife, a doctor and a convicted criminal. The winner of the 150 million is the sole survivor of the estate turned escape room.

We are along for this bloody ride, rooting for a winner and getting lost along the way. I really enjoyed this short read, and I liked the ending a lot! I didn’t predict it, and I love a twisty and bleak style ending.

Thankful to NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

"puzzle house" is a saw/cabin in the woods type horror novel. when alexei, a puzzle master, dies, he creates an elaborate and dangerous final last escape room and invites his ex wife and some other literally random people to compete for his multimillion dollar estate. when they all arrive in the house, they clearly realize that they all will die, save for one winner.

this book is not scary or gory. it really has no stakes because you don't care about any of the characters at all. there is no context behind anything, especially why the random people were invited. the ending is so bizarre and a major let down. the most interesting part of this novel was the research into ancient religions and demonology, though most of it seems completely incorrect and exoticism at its finest. all of these characters are white. the slavic names are spelled incorrectly. it's not very entertaining and many deaths are not on the page. the ending is not at all what you expect, and there is no closure.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Duncan Ralston, and Wicked House Publishing for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Puzzle House: A Novel. I received an advanced review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Where to start? This book had it all. Interesting cast of characters, world building, mind games, and a plot that keeps you coming back for more. It is short and fast paced.

This book reminded me of Saw, The Da Vinci Code, and a bit of National Treasure in a way. A movie based on it would be a heck of a lot better than the movie that was called Escape Room, which does have a lot of similarities to this book.

I hope there is a sequel that follows the survivor navigating the strange, new world that was described at the end.

"Six strangers arrive at the home of preeminent puzzle master Alexei Vasiliev for the reading of his will. Among them are the deceased's widow, who'd already begun divorce proceedings, a virologist troubled by actions in his past, and a convicted murderer on day release. The potential beneficiaries will split Vasiliev's $150M fortune if they participate in his last great work."

So many unexpected things happened throughout the book, it really kept me on edge. There was no lull throughout the whole book, and the character introductions were so good. fast-paced escape room-type horror that definitely went in directions I did not expect.

Holy shit, this shit gave me STRESS. The puzzles were so intricatedly crafted. I loved every second of this book. I would LOVE a part 2!

That ending 🤯 I was so surprised by this little book! A very fast paced, short read that will absolutely have you unable to put it down! Had in not been for *life things* getting in the way, I definitely wouldn’t read it in one sitting 😂
Big content warning—this was way more dark and gruesome than I anticipated it to be! First book I’ve read by this author, I am pretty sure the other books by him are similarly dark and twisted 😆 I just did not anticipate it to go in the direction it did. But I’m glad it went that way…the “why” of why all these people are trapped in this puzzle house & what occurs afterwards. Creepy & scary for sure 😳 I only feel like the ending could’ve been fleshed out a little more, felt rushed through to me!

4.5 ⭐️ - I was able to read this as an ARC from NetGalley and wasn’t disappointed. It’s more mild horror which was nice to get back into the genre without being completely overwhelmed with gore. The puzzle rooms were clever and reminded me of if you combined Saw and Cube together. Easy and quick read - took me about 2 sittings after work to finish it. The ending was a bit abrupt but sets the scene well for a sequel.

Not for the faint of heart, Duncan Ralston has done it again. Deplorable, gag worthy, haunting horror wrapped in a nice little package - I ONLY recommend this to those that have a true taste for horror!

Six strangers arrive at the home of preeminent puzzle master Alexei Vasiliev for the reading of his will

I haven't read a ton of Ralston's books, but I always find their descriptions intriguing. This book was a very fun horror novel that kept me on my toes the whole time.

This was a fun, and sweaty read. A lot of excitement. Seems like mixing a gory horror film with an adventurous storyline. Really enjoyable.
Ralston knows how to say the right things for your insides to do the wrong things.

Loved this I got thriller with a side of mystery and of course puzzles. Very much Da Vinci code vibes but a tad more fun. I did like the characters a lot but I wish I could relate to them more. The story as a whole was really well thought out and written and I couldn’t put the book down I finished it in one day

It started well for me as the author introduced the characters with their backstory. However the ending was a bit meh and left me feeling "is that it? Is that all?" I hope there will be a sequel as there are still more questions remained unanswered. All in all, I enjoyed how dexterously the author combined horror, gore and suspense elements with details that I didn't expect throughout the story.

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up!

Definitely a good quick read! I felt like I was reading it to find out the ending, more than reading it for enjoyment. I found myself skimming over some parts to see how the different puzzles ended. I had a hard time remember each of the characters’ stories, but found them all to be pretty enjoyable!

I really enjoyed the aspect of the book and I recommend it to anyone who loved escape rooms!

six strangers are informed that they are the beneficiaries of a famous puzzle master and given the opportunity to win millions of dollars from his fortune. but, in order to collect said millions, first they must go through a series of puzzle and escape rooms where they are left to make certain decisions to survive. it seems like the perfect setting for a thriller/ horror book. it is probably a little more horror than thriller since it reminded me a little bit of the saw movies with the puzzles and repercussions if the puzzles weren't solved correctly within the given timeframe. the end of the book was rather abrupt and took an odd turn that left things hanging, so i don't know if there is going to be a sequel or not and being that i am not a fan of ambiguous endings that don't provide closure, the ending was a little bit disappointing. overall, it was a fast-paced quick read and a decent thriller despite the gore and lack of closure ending, so it was still worth reading.

thank you to netgalley and wicked house publishing for allowing me the privilege to read an ARC of this book.

This book was fine, I just couldn’t get into it

~This was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in return for my honest review. I absolutely found this incredibly enjoyable from start to finish (well…almost). My biggest gripe was that the novel concluded on somewhat of a cliffhanger - I would have gladly enjoy another 100 pages as the world Ralston provides us with after Henry arises from Puzzle House is incredibly intriguing. I sincerely hope there is a follow up to this entry where some plot lines can be concluded. I also wanted it to be just a tad (or a lot) more gruesome. When Oscar is assisting Joy in extracting his own bladder - absolutely brilliant. I wanted more!!! And poor Joy…I didn’t think she would bite the bullet so abruptly. However, Nungals demons have assembled and exited Puzzle House and, are set free to this new world.

This is exactly the type of book and escape room genre I am constantly searching for. This did not disappoint at all and in fact, I am very interested in reading more from Duncan in the future. I do hope he decides to continue this story and we can see how Henry navigates in his revenge with Infiniti and if he can find his wife Mercy; if she or anyone else is still alive.

Highly recommend this one. Cheers!

Puzzle house had a great concept. Strangers choose to enter a house with various escape room type puzzles. If they can survive and solve the puzzles they split a vast fortune. The characters had interesting enough stories, but I was lost in the background of the puzzles and extreme horror involved in solving them. About two thirds in it became difficult to see it through, but at the same time I wanted to know the ending.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley, thank you! This book was unhinged (and thankfully, not realistic) in the most fun possible way. It reminded me of Moriarty/the episodes of Criminal Minds in which an evil genius is targeting the whole team, which is to say, it’s unabashedly batshit, and I couldn’t put it down. It goes in a decidedly supernatural direction that I didn’t expect, and I love an ambiguous ending! Really enjoyed it, much more than I expected to.