This was the first book I have read by Duncan Ralston. I do have his book Woom on my TBR and I will be reading that now that I know he is the author of it. This is fun with a unique horror premise to it. I felt like this was a fast pasted book with lots of twists. I like that it was a shorter book so you got through it pretty fast. This is a perfect book for spooky season. I would definitely recommend this book.


Thank you NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

I love any book by this author and he hit it out of the park with this one. This book started out with great characters who I was able to engage with. the puzzles were explicitly described to the point I could visualize them. I really enjoyed this book and will continue to recommend it to others.

Thank you to NetGalley, Duncan Ralston and Wicked House Publishing for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a quick and gory, twisty read. I sat down and read this whole thing in one sitting. It reminded me of saw with the gore and I love saw. I loved the storyline and how fast this gets crazy.

I’m so glad I discovered Wicked House Publishing. They have a great selection of real horror novels. And they had my favorite horror author, Duncan Ralston. Finally! I got a horror novel that I could really sink my teeth into.

I became a fan of Ralson after reading Ghostland. I really enjoyed it because of the gore, and horrific scenes which true horror novels must have. And like Ghostland, Puzzle House did not disappoint with its graphic depictions similar to Saw.

The plot follows a locked room mystery. But it had a lot of gore and brain teasers that tested my deductible reasoning skills. I wasn’t surprised at the finale. But the journey was well worth it.

The characters could have been more developed. And I suspect that if the novel had been longer in length, the characters would have been fleshed out better than they were.

The finale was a bit open ended. Could a sequel be in the works? I hope so. Ralston is currently my go-to horror author. And I look forward to reading more of his works. 4.5 stars rounded up.

I received a DRC from Wicked House Publishing through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

I've always been a fan of escape room horror so when I saw this one I knew I had to read it. The beginning of the story and the horrors of the puzzle house were wickedly entertaining. I really enjoyed this one...until I didn't. It took an abrupt turn into a type of horror I just don't enjoy. Definitely a case of it's not you it's me. If you like Saw type horror and/or escape room horror I definitely suggest giving this one a go.

While I didn't love this book, I do look forward to reading more by this author.

Puzzle House follows six strangers as they arrive at the house of a puzzle master for the reading of his will. Each person comes from a different place in life (the puzzle master's widow, a virologist, a murderer, a politician, etc).. If the strangers decide to participate in the puzzle master's final puzzles, they have the potential to split a $150 million dollar fortune. They all have a choice to make - either they all participate or they all leave empty handed. The players quickly learn that the house is not quite as it seems and the puzzles are tricky and deadly.

This was my first Duncan Ralston and I really enjoyed it. It left me questioning everyone's motives, intentions and back stories. Everyone has their secrets and as we discover them one by one it makes you question even more aspects about each player. I enjoyed the pace at which the puzzles were played and exactly how each player's story was gone through. It was fast paced and jaw dropping at times. I'd love a sequel!

I would definitely recommend this! It will not be my last by this author!

I had such high hopes for this book. The premise of an escape room with Saw vibes was immediately intriguing to me. However, beyond the initial premise, the book fell flat for me.

I found characters backstories to be lacking in detail and, while the reader learns the puzzle house participants had a connection to puzzle designer Alexei, there was no mention of why those particular people were chosen or their connections to each other.

As soon as there was mention of ancient religions, cults, and demonology, I began to lose interest. Those subjects simply aren't my jam (although they may be yours!) and I was caught off guard since nothing in the book summary hints at those themes.

The end of the book was a complete let down and left me wondering why the author went that direction when he started so strong with the deadly puzzle house setting to begin with. Unfortunately, the ending felt rushed and disjointed from the first half of the book and gave me dark fantasy vibes rather than the horror and thriller I was expecting.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book had a great premise. Execution unfortunately wasn't that great. There was so much unnecessary things in the book and some things not talked about enough. I also thought the line about Henry looking up Ileana's skirt was really weird and had absolutely no reason to be there. It wasn't awful but you could probably skip it.




Thank you to NetGally for the ARC!!

I would like to thank Wicked House Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

As a person who loves horror, and thrillers, and puzzles and escape rooms, I was VERY excited about this book. Six people are brought to a strange house by deceased "Puzzle Master" Alexei in order to hear his will and receive their money, 150 million dollars. The catch is that they have to solve a series of puzzles to get it. As a group. And while he first puzzle seemed easy enough, it only gets harder and more deadly from there.

We're thrown into the game with six strangers: Henry (a convicted murderer), Atkins (Henry's guard), Joy (Alexei's ex-wife/widow), Ileana (a senator), Rudy (a scholar), and Jessica. Together they have to make it through a series of dangerous interconnected rooms in "Puzzle House" and learn they may not be total strangers after all. They all have a very deadly link in common, but will the figure it out in time to win the game? Can they solve the puzzles surrounding ancient and mythological gods?

I really enjoyed this book, as it had major SAW vibes. However, in the last 1/3 of the book or so, it began to take Lovecraftian turn which almost made the plot kind of bizarre. The characters themselves were a little cliche, but still carried my interest. The escape rooms were very clever and the twists were exciting. The ending was a little anticlimactic and I felt left readers hanging a little bit. But it's hopefully a setup for a sequel. Overall I liked this book, and while it has a very specific target audience, I will definitely be recommending it to my horror friends.

I would love to thank Duncan Ralston, Wicked House Publishing and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Alexei Vasiliev just died, leaving a high amount of money to 6 people, most of them strangers. But they all have one thing in common.

We have a former detective who is in jail for 2 years, an actress who is Vasiliev's ex-wife, a virologist that has a deadly problem and three other characters we meet later on.

They all arrive at Vasiliev's mansion for the reading of the testament, when Alexei appears on a screen, apparently recorded before, with instructions of a game.
He was the best puzzle-maker and he set one last game for these people to win and leave with the money.

However, as they progress through this maze of a home, they get to meet each other better, finding secrets of one another and soon they discover that someone is watching them while they die one by one in each room they encounter.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about this one.
I really liked the overall vibe, the creepiness I was feeling, especially when reading at night and being afraid of things in the dark.

I liked Henry, the murderer, Joy the widow, Oscar the virologist and Rudy, an old guy who knew a lot about ancient history.
Other characters were annoying. But that's not the thing I didn't like.

The story is progressing fast and it doesn't bore you out. But I think this made me connect less with the story itself.
It was gory and I enjoyed this.
But what was off for me was the ending. It went far off from what it was at first, and not necessarily in a direction I enjoy.

It has an open ending. Maybe the author will write a continuation of it. I will be curious of reading it. But there are a few things left unanswered, and those upset me a bit.
The twists weren't that shocking overall.

But the story is nice and I recommend it for fans of locked-room mysteries, cults and the feeling that you're watching a movie ("Saw" vibes).
My rating is 3.5 stars rounded to 4.

3.5 or 4

Six strangers, six escape rooms… $150 million to split! But Puzzle House is something none of them would have imagined. Deadly… at the risk of life or death.. money and determination how will this insane story unfold!?

(But I will need a second to know where this story goes from here!!! We can not be left hanging like that.)

If you are a fan of Saw, Puzzle House is for you!

I was glued to this story. There were things I didn’t care for but overall this was the perfect spooky season read.

*Be aware that it does have graphic details but what horror story doesn’t?* I am so glad I read this during October.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Wicked House Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. This was not my first book from Ralston and definitely won’t be my last.

what in the saw escape room did I just read?! lmao this wasn’t what I expected but it was a great read. absolutely perfect for spooky season. I love a good escape room but this was some next level sh*t hahah
imagine being named in a will by someone you have never heard of and being promised 150 million bucks BUT you have to solve his puzzles to win. I was glued to these pages, it gripped me in. it’s a quick, entertaining read and full of secrets + twists. def check this one out!

This book reminded me of the film "Cube". Six strangers arrive to a house where they are told if they are able to solve the escape rooms within the house they have arrived at, they will split $150 million.
What they don't know is that with each escape room, a death will occur. The last one standing is pretty easy to figure out. The ending is not what I imagined at all. This is a must read for any horror/gore fan.
This is a fast read and I would recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Arc provided by NetGalley!

This book was good! I think I went into it with higher expectations than what they could reach, but that's a little more my fault than the books.

The premise was really good - a group of strangers, a huge inheritance, a house of puzzles? It sounds great!

I think what it ended up reading like - at least to me - was a sort of Saw fanfiction. I had to suspend pretty much all belief in anything in order to enjoy this story. I just couldn't imagine what was actually happening in the story as something that could actually happen... like how could he have all this set up the way that he did? His ex was living there not that long ago??? What?????

And the ending... I don't think that the ending was very well thought out at all. It was almost one of those situations where it seems like the author may not have known how he wanted to end it but needed to do SOMETHING. It just wasn't explained at all.

All that is to say... it wasn't bad. It was fun, if you didn't think too much about it. Did I enjoy it? .... meh. But that could just be me, and I'd still recommend for people looking for something that is horror that has more of a thriller vibe instead.

Thanks to NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for this ARC.
I expected this book to be great, but I liked it more than I thought I would. It isn't the typical "solve this puzzle or be brutally murdered" type escape room book. The story elements related to the house were well-researched and clever. The conspiracy runs deep.
The ending. SO GOOD. I need another 500 pages. It's hard to go into any detail about what sets this book apart without ruining it completely. Just read it. At only 160ish pages, you can read it tonight so you don't have to be kept in suspense any longer.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of Ralston's newest novel in exchange for an honest review!

I was really excited to check this out after reading Woom by the same author.

6 strangers, 6 puzzles, 6 ways to die.
This book sounded like the perfect combination of horror movies Escape Room and Saw based off the synopsis, which really intrigued me. And it did really give off those vibes, at least at first, and had an interesting premise.

At no point did I know where this was going, which honestly is usually a really great thing, but I think in this case it ended up being something totally different than I expected.

I was ready to give this at least 4 stars, maybe even 5, until the end—WTF?!

The concept of the house was great, the characters were super interesting and I liked their dynamics, but the ending totally ruined it for me.

We have unresolved threads and the ending makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It felt like a really cheap attempt to set up a second book. Not something I'd expect from a seasoned author.

Thank you NetGalley @ Duncan Ralston for this ARC.

Having read a few of Duncan’s books I had high hopes for Puzzle house. I wasn’t disappointed either. I really enjoyed the plot line from the start. Having elements of mystery/thriller with horror always seems a good mix for me. I love puzzles and lateral thinkers!
The world building that was centred around the house and the rooms was well described. I’ve got a good imagination so the mental pictures of the puzzle rooms were great in my mind.
The 6 characters that the book is based around were ok. I felt like they were real enough, with enough background details for their back stories. I did feel that there could have been a little more there to have and could have been fleshed out a little more though. Although, I did bond with them all for various reasons!

I really enjoyed where the book took me. Considering it’s a medium to fast paced and a shortish book, I got carried away with the plot. I really enjoyed the ending. I’ve read some reviews that people didn’t.. I did, I kinda hoped it did take the turn it did with the foreshadowing I picked up. So wasn’t disappointed at all.
For a quick paced short read, a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a weird one. This rich puzzle master dies and six people are entitled to his millions if they show up in person. Once there, they find themselves in a life-or--death escape room scenario. This started out good but became weirder as it went on. I didn't care for the ending, and a lot of the stuff along the way seemed kind of gratuitous. 2.5 stars rounded to 2.

Escape room thriller where failing to solve the puzzle leads to death. Such a good read and I couldn't put it down. Four solid stars.