3⭐️ Going into this book I thought it was going to be similar to the escape room movies but it was completely different and was much darker. This book is about a group of people who get invited to go over a will of a Master Puzzle Maker where they are said to be beneficiaries and will get some money. This turns into the house being a set of different rooms that are puzzles they have to solve to get the money. But not everything is what it seems and things start to happen. This book definitely didn’t have a dull moment and I was invested in what was going to happen which made this book very fast paced and a quick read which I liked. There was a turn in this book that I was not expecting and it left me with questions and the way the book ended made me confused but also interested in what is going to happen next. This book had a lot of gore and horror aspects I didn’t expect but if you like that mixed with escape rooms/puzzles I would recommend this.

Six strangers, a chance to win $150M, a puzzle house. Sounded like an interesting horror/mystery book, but it picked me up and dropped me off in outlier alley.

This sounded intriguing and piqued my "trapped/escape house" interest. This book started on a high note. Six individuals receive notice that they are beneficiaries of Alexei Vasiliev, a puzzle master. They need to come to his house for the reading of his will. For his estranged wife, it makes sense to be there, but the others do not know Alexei Vasiliev or why they are in the will but with a lot of money on the line they agree to attend.

When they arrive, they learn that they must complete six puzzles/escape rooms and that they can leave at any time. But as they begin to play, things prove to be deadly. Already I was annoyed, they are told they are inheriting money and then there is the whole well......you need to do this first, take your chances, and see what happens....

This started strong for me as the author introduced the six strangers and had them arrive for the reading of the will. But as they begin to play alone and 'escape' the puzzles/escape rooms, things began to go downhill for me. Toward the last fourth of the book, things get even more deadly and bizarre. The book takes a few big turns, and they just didn't work for me. I went from enjoying the book to feeling quite meh about it.


Others are enjoying this book more than I did, so please read their reviews as well. It has shock value, I will give it that but at the same time, when it took a turn, I was ready to tap out.

Six strangers arrive at the house of Alexei Vasiliev, the puzzle master, for the reading of his will. They have been named as beneficiaries following his untimely death. All is not what it seems. In order to obtain his vast wealth, they must complete 6 puzzles and survive.

Wow, I read this book in one sitting. It's a mash between Escape Room and Saw, but it's unique in its own way. I was hooked from page one and couldn't put this twisted thriller down. It's relatively fast-paced, but the ending did feel a bit rushed. It took a very weird turn at the end that I completely did not see coming. It was a pleasant surprise. It has an excellent setup for book 2, and I can not wait to see what happens next.

I enjoyed the different POVs and the introduction to 3 of the characters at the beginning. It allowed me to engage with them and had a little background on the characters before the puzzle began. We are then introduced to the other 3 characters in the puzzle, which, for me, added to the suspense. In addition, I really enjoyed the puzzles. At times, it felt like I was one of the characters racing against the clock to solve the puzzle at hand. There's a lot of ancient history and mythology in this book, which at times got a bit confusing to follow. But once you wrap your head around it, it was very interesting.

So if you enjoy a dark and gruesome thriller , this is a must-read.

I love a good puzzle and a good survivor horror. This blends both. There are a few unexpected twists that added versus detracted to the story for me as well as interesting scenarios that kept me from putting it down. The ending did feel abrupt but i’m ready for more, so please tell me there is a second book coming although I’ve no idea what that one would read like. This was a fast read that I tore through so I could see what would happen to our puzzle participants. Recommend.

Read via #NetGalley with expected publishing Sept 15, 2023 by Wicked House Publishing.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. It was fast paced and I wasn’t sure what would happen next. I went into this relatively blind and had expected it to be more puzzle focused instead of, someone will have to die. I had hoped Any deaths would be an effect of the puzzle rooms, not the reason for the puzzle rooms. The amount of mythology and ancient history also made it slightly hard to follow along with the clues since i do not have background knowledge on the subjects. I also felt like there was a lack of detail during some of the action scenes and I found it hard for my imagination to follow along with the story.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

While I really enjoyed the premise of the story I felt as though the "puzzles" were just plain gruesome and not really puzzles. I really liked the idea of this book but it failed for me on the execution. I would recommend this to anyone looking for an easy quick read that has a really dark storyline.

I will say the ending leaves me wanting closure as well as I was a bit confused with its ending and found it to be a bit abrupt.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy.

Upon reading the book I did find it to be a bit more of a thriller with horror elements to it. It is a pretty quick read and I finished it in two sittings, wanting to find out what happened next. The characters were well thought out but I didn’t feel particularly connected to one of them. However, it was almost predictable Henry would be last because he seems to be mentioned the most and since he is described as the leader.

Some of the cons to me were the involvement of ancient history. Although very thought out, it’s just not my favorite thing and was a bit confusing at some points. I also would’ve liked a bit more detail to some of the scenes especially how they come up with the answers to the puzzles. It may just be my lack of history knowledge but the pieces weren’t connecting together for me.

I would love to read a second book because now I’m on edge wanting to know what happens next.

This book was really good. Glad I got the chance to read on NetGalley early. I definitely agree with other reviewers that this felt like a book version of Saw meets The Cube, but it didn't feel derivative. Lots of new ideas were in this book. The puzzles in it were unique, although I wish they were a little more elaborate. In any case, it was a really good story, and the ending was fantastic. Ralston should definitely write a sequel where he explores that world in more depth.

“𝒢𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒻 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓈𝑜𝓃,” 𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹, 𝑜𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶 𝓈𝒶𝒹 𝓈𝓂𝒾𝓁𝑒. “𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓀𝑒𝓎 𝒾𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹.”

Wow this book was so much fun, I had the best time reading this novel!

The whole story is captivating, six strangers, six puzzles to solve, six ways to die. It was dark, action packed and fast paced. I couldn’t put the book down. The characters were interesting, they all had their own unique background stories that someways added to the puzzles. I especially loved Henry’s character.

I have read a few books previously by Duncan Ralston but this definitely was my favorite so far! I love everything related to escape rooms and puzzles in books and movies and when I realized what this book is about it gripped me immediately!

I highly highly recommend reading this book! I definitely would love to read a sequel to this one, I need more to this brilliant story!

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @userbits for providing me an ARC of this brilliant book in exchange for my honest review.

The description of this book hooked me right away, it sounds like mix of an Escape Room and Saw. The plot and characters hooked me right away, as the beginning of the book gives the readers just enough information to be intrigued but not enough to know what is going to happen. The book read like a B-Horror movie (in the best way possible) I very rarely enjoy movie adaptations of books but this one would be really fun to watch. At times the specific details to describe the scenes got a little muddy, but overall this was a very enjoyable thriller to read!

DNF’d the book at 63%

So one thing I really don’t like so far is we’re about halfway through this book so far and there’s no hint as to why this guy is doing this to any of these people so far. I’m also not sure if I’m supposed to care about any of them either and I don’t. I’m not even sure if I like any of the characters tbh.

Then I agree with another one of the reviews I read that there are a lot of facts about ancient civilizations and gods that don’t really seem important to the book. In fact, it kind of makes it a little confusing as I don’t see exactly what all of it has to do with the book? Then they’re trying to place magic from my understanding in this book as well which makes sense and doesn’t really hint at it until this far in the book.

Sometimes things like that in a book is a good surprise. This far into the book I find it makes the book already seem even more ridiculous. I wanted to like this book so much but found it a disappointment from the premise I thought would be promised.

This was a compelling escape room/murder mystery that kept me turning the pages. But, not familiar with the author’s genre, I was taken aback by the sudden turn to the occult/supernatural and disappointed with the abrupt ending

I absolutely love Duncan Ralston's previous works- Ghostland trilogy, Try Not to Die at Ghostland and Woom so I had high expectations for this book but unfortunately I didn't like it.

The premise made me think it would be similar to Saw crossed with The Collector but the puzzles weren't that gruesome and had more of a logical aspect to them like an escape room.


The characters were unlikeable so I didn't really care what happened to them and the puzzles concept felt a bit rushed for each stage of the game.

A fun and very readable escape room type horror novel. We follow a group of seemingly unconnected characters as they attempt to escape Puzzle House with some rather gruesome results. This was reading as a solid 4 star read ...fun and engaging but somewhat predictable....but then we hit the ending and suddenly it became a 5 star read. A twist that really caught me by surprise even though there was a decent amount of foreshadowing along the way. Excellent read!
Big thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an ARC of this title free of charge. I'm leaving an honest review voluntarily.

Thank you for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

This is about a puzzle maker who passes away and will be leaving his estate to 6 possibly very lucky people. The book draws you in with the first character it introduces.

WOW couldn’t put it down, such a cliffhanger

I won’t lie and try to understand everything that happened in this book, but it was amazing. I read through it in one sitting, and Ralston kept me pushing forward with his intriguing ideas and twisty puzzles. Thanks for allowing me to read this!

Fast paced escape room with vibes of House on Haunted Hill and Cabin in the Woods. Was definitely entertaining and a departure from the gore soaked writings if you’re coming to this book straight from Woom. There were a lot of interesting ideas and characters however it felt like it was too much. It left the characters relatively flat, the conspiracies half formed and the mythos, which was extremely intriguing, very lacking which was unfortunate. The end part caught my attention since it had some amazing build up for what I thought would be an epic battle of will with doom impending. Even with all that I did read this quickly and it did hold my attention.

Thank him to Netgalley for the advance copy to review !

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.

I did not realise at the time that this was the same author who wrote Woom which is one book I will never get a particular image out of my head. Initially this started out really well. I loved the premise behind the story, it was clever and totally drew me in. The first 50% it was really good, moved along at a fast pace and I was captivated. The strength and depth of the characters was impressive and I thought I was in for an absolute gem of a story. Then it all got a bit too much for me as I thought it all became a bit ridiculous. The other reason I am lowering my rating of the book is that there will obviously be a sequel and I was disappointed that I did not receive all the answers to the questions that remained.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book, all opinions are my own.

This is the perfect quick, creepy read at only around 150 pages. This book was my first by this author and I will definitely be reading all of their others. 6 virtual strangers, one house, who will survive? This is perfect for fans of the movie escape room, or who enjoy doing escape rooms themselves. Usually I don’t enjoy cliffhanger endings but this one ends at just the right moment

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Wicked House Publishing, and Duncan Ralston for the opportunity to review an ARC of Puzzle House: A Novel. After the supposed death of puzzle master Alexi Vasiliev, six strangers are brought together for the mysterious reading of his will. Little do they know that they have instead been summoned to complete Vasiliev’s most complicated– and most deadly— puzzle yet. Will they be able to work together to make it out alive?

I would rate Puzzle House by Duncan Ralston 5 out of 5 stars. My only complaint is that I wish it had been longer so I could know what happens next! This book had my heart racing the entire time. Each page held a new terrifying scene waiting to be read. There were so many plot twists that I couldn’t see coming. I absolutely loved this book and would love to read Ralston’s future works as well.

If you like escape-room-based horror books, you need to check this one out. Honestly, if you like any horror books, you need to check this one out. It releases September 15, 2023, and I think it will be one of the best new horror books this fall.