Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the early read.

This book was intriguing and thought provoking. I'd rate it 3.5 (4 star round up). I'd definitely recommend you check it out.

Book Summary:

Mike Brink is famous, but perhaps not for the reasons you might expect. He's known for his ingenious puzzles – and his ability to solve them. In truth, he can't resist the opportunity to solve strange and curious puzzles.

This is why he becomes obsessed with a woman named Jess Price. While in prison, she drew a puzzle. His attempt to solve that puzzle will throw Brink down the rabbit hole, and there's no coming back from that.

My Review:

The Puzzle Master both was and wasn't exactly what I was expecting. It had many surprises inside, which I loved. Yet it also held up to the premise described earlier, which is always appreciated. So, let's dive into this review!

This book has multiple perspectives, which I adore. What makes it a bit more confusing (which I didn't mind) is that the mix has different timelines. I know reader response to this mechanic is a mixed bag, so I wanted to mention it.

Where this book lost me was all of the detailed and lengthy discussions. I didn't mind the scientific elements so much, but I'm not a huge fan of religion in my books. At least not when it is this extensive, you know? I'm looking to escape reality, after all.

Overall, I would say that The Puzzle Master is a decent read. It's worth your time, especially if you've had your eye on this one for a bit (like me).

Highlights:
Mystery/Horror
Puzzles and Patterns

Thank you to Netgalley. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. The Puzzle Master was a great and easy to follow read with a mixture of mystery, thrill and a pinch of supernatural horror. Mike Brink who suffered a sever head injury when he was young as grown into an adult with the capability to solve any puzzle He comes across. Brink has been asked to solve a female inmates crypted messages that leads him to believe she was framed for murder. I enjoyed this read and felt that it was very easy to follow and the story was intriguing and kept me interested. However I did feel like the book tried to cover multiple genres but didn't have enough substance in any of them leaving me to want alittle more. Where I thought it could get more thrilling and creepy it didn't. When I thought there would be an expected twist there wasn't. I wanted a lot more out of this book and in the end found myself alittle disappointed in what could have been. Still very appreciative that I was able to get a chance to read this author and will definitely try a different book written by them.

Loved how twisty this was and it kept me on the edge of my seat! Definitely will be recommending this one!

The Puzzle Master has a similar vibe to National Treasure or the DaVinci Code series at first glance - which I love. What sets it apart is Mike Brink, a former athlete turned puzzle savant. Mike gets brought into prison to meet with Jess Price, a noncommunicative murderer when they have an instant connection.

From here, the book goes into a supernatural horror twist, involving vintage dolls and Jewish golems, as well as a lengthy, suspenseful chase by a billionaire with top secret info-technology. And a budding romance.

Danielle Trussoni maintains this tension while weaving in all the above tropes, creating a thrilling story about self, theology, ethics, and cybersecurity.

I couldn't put it down!

Mike Brink suffered a traumatic brain injury and as a result, has savant syndrome. He can now solve complex puzzles ordinary people cannot. Mike’s life is turned upside down when he meets Jess Price. Jess is serving 30 years in prison for murder and hasn’t spoken since her arrest 5 years ago. Jess has drawn a perplexing puzzle that Mike must solve. Will Mike be able to solve it before it’s too late?

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. I like Danielle Trussoni’s writing style of lots of short chapters. I enjoyed lots of great things about this book, including the puzzle clues, history, and Jewish mysticism elements. However, a few things were a bit much for me, like current technology and AI. I wish more time was spent on history instead of current technology. However, overall, this was a good read. Fans of The DaVinci Code will enjoy this one! I give it 3/5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

After a sports injury leaves him with acquired savant syndrome, Mike Brink is a celebrated puzzle creator. He is contacted by a prison psychologist to work with a convicted murderer, Jess, who refuses to communicate with anyone but him, leading Mike into a twisty, paranormal race to figure out what happened to Jess before the rich bad guys get to the answer first. Although the narrative dragged a bit in the middle, overall I was on the edge of my seat to find out how this thriller would conclude.

After reading the book description and seeing the cover art, I was very eager to read The Puzzle Master. It started off a bit slow for my liking, but then it veered into something I was very much NOT expecting. I'm still on the fence as to whether or not I liked the direction in which the story went. However, I liked Mike Brink's character and was intrigued by his ability to solve and create complex puzzles following a TBI in high school. I was eager to read about how he was going to help inmate Jess Price and solve the unique puzzle posed to him. That eagerness turned into many "WTF?" moments when it came to the vivid dreams Mike had about Jess as well as the origins of the porcelain doll. This book certainly spanned different genres and may turn out to be someone else's cup of tea, but it wasn't for me. Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this ARC.

I went into this mostly blind, and I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was different yet very entertaining. There were some flaws but overall I felt it to be a good book, that was nicely executed. I would recommend to anyone that enjoys puzzle like mysteries

Danielle Trussoni has created a unique thriller with this page-turning read. I loved the overall idea behind this story and I thought the characters were extremely interesting, but unfortunately, something did not quite connect for me.

I think perhaps it was more because I have read a lot of thrillers recently and I might have judged this one a bit unfairly.

It's a engaging read that I feel most people will absolutely love.

Reality and the supernatural collide when an expert puzzle maker is thrust into an ancient mystery—one with explosive consequences for the fate of humanity—in this suspenseful thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Angelology

The Puzzle Master is such a great mystery novel. From beginning to end, the fast pace keeps you on the edge of your seat. The relationship between Jess and Mike is so interesting you can't wait to see how it plays out. Throw in a little history and magic and it's just a wonderful book.

Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for allowing me to read this book and give an honest review.

You will like this book if you like: Kabbalistic thought, Judeo-Christian iconography, doing your daily NYT Games, neurodivergent main characters, maybe too fast a pace 🪆🧮

BOOK: The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni

🚨CW: suicide, depression

This was unlike anything I've read and actually, really enjoyed it. Well written and unique and kept me gripped most of the way, but in the middle it fizzed out a tad til it picked up again til the ending for me.

Some twists I didn't see coming either makes it always a fun read.

DNF at 32%
Unfortunately this one just really wasn't for me. While I loved the concept and the incorporation of puzzles throughout, the writing style really slowed down the pace and level of excitement. And while I understand that thrillers often keep things vague for the reader to set things up for reveals later on, we still knew so little about any of these characters by a third of the way through that I just didn't care.

The Puzzle Master" proves to be an enthralling and addictive read that will satisfy fans of both thrillers and intellectual mysteries. At the heart of the story is Mike Brink, a former football star turned puzzle constructor, whose acquired savant syndrome grants him an unparalleled ability to solve puzzles. As the plot unfolds, the author skillfully weaves together a tapestry of interlocking enigmas, centered around the ancient God Puzzle created by a thirteenth-century Jewish mystic. From an upstate New York women's prison to nineteenth-century Prague and the secret rooms of the Pierpont Morgan Library, the settings are vividly portrayed. The book's exploration of themes regarding humankind, technology, and the fate of the universe adds a thought-provoking element to this novel.

I wish I could pinpoint exactly why it didn't work better - I think it was my own expectations! I also think part of it for me was the short chapters - normally that is catnip for me. But for some reason, the short chapters made me feel like it dragged a bit. Overall, I do think that this is a solid mystery.

** I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really did not know what to expect going into this book from the excerpt provided, but definitely didn’t think the story would be that complex! The writing is intricate with many interesting characters and locations. I truly didn’t see where it would all end up until the conclusion, and I’m not so sure I believe it now! It definitely is a mystery with some paranormal aspects and a hint of religion.

I wanted to like this book, but it felt like I was reading a middle grade novel. The puzzles were explained right away and felt like it was being explained to a child. It irritated me and as much as I tried, I just couldn't read any further than about 20% before I had to DNF.

I truly appreciate Netgalley, the publisher and author for allowing me to have an advanced ebook copy of this book.

This was the first book I've read from this author and it was just okay. It was hard for me to get into and the characters didn't keep my attention.

Mike Brink was a teenage football star when an on-field collision knocked him out and changed his life forever. He woke up from his concussion with a strange ability that nearly drove him to suicide, before his mother intervened and got him to open up to her about the things he had started seeing:

QUOTE
He couldn’t explain it. His brain did it without his permission, the way his heart pumped blood or his lungs infused cells with oxygen. It latched on to patterns and sequences without his consent or, at times, his awareness and filled his head with a deluge of numbers and images. When he wanted to solve a puzzle, visualizing it was enough to call up the solution.
END QUOTE

With his mom’s support and copious specialist consultations, he learns that he has Acquired Savant Syndrome, a very rare medical condition where a relatively ordinary person gains extraordinary cognitive abilities following a traumatic brain injury. Not only does he now see puzzles everywhere, he can also figure out their solutions at seemingly superhuman speed. Helping this is the eidetic memory he's also developed, that allows him to memorize pages of text and details with minimal effort.

So instead of accepting a football scholarship to a university of his choice, Mike aces the SATs and gets into MIT, where he starts hanging out both online and in real life with other puzzle and cryptology buffs. His fellow graduates are somewhat surprised when he subsequently declines job offers both prestigious and lucrative to set puzzles for a living instead. But the fame he gains from becoming a puzzle celebrity is what draws the attention of Jess Price, the author and convicted murderer who’s been confined to the minimum-security New York State Correctional Facility for the past five years.

Since the violent death of her boyfriend, Jess has barely spoken, and has refused to speak at all in her own defence even when accused of murder. It's taken some time, but her psychologist Dr Thessaly Moses is gratified to finally make a breakthrough with her. Jess has constructed a puzzle, and insists to Thessaly that Mike is the only one who can solve it.

Intrigued, Mike drives the five hours from his home in the city to see if he can help these women he's never met before. He’s thrown off guard by the strength of his immediate attraction to Jess, but resolves to do what he can to free her. Little does he realize that meeting her will plunge him into a world of esoterica populated by ultra wealthy people who will stop at nothing to access the secrets locked in her head. Nothing in his life has ever prepared him for the lengths that the truly obsessed and entitled will go to over a puzzle:

QUOTE
Brink had constructed puzzles under extreme deadlines, he’d withstood the pressure of a twelve-hour pi-digit contest, he’d solved puzzles for money and prestige and for his own sanity. But never had he been threatened over one. “Guns aren’t really my thing,” he said. He was numb from head to toe, his limbs tingling and bloodless. “I’m much more a die-peacefully-in-my-sleep-as-a-wrinkly-senile-hundred-and-one-year-old kind of guy.”

[The man] laughed. “So you see, Mr Brink, we aren’t so very different. We both value longevity. There’s no need to die prematurely. Certainly not now. So, let’s have the puzzle.”
END QUOTE

Spanning centuries and continents, what starts out as a murder mystery swiftly becomes a techno-religious thriller in the vein of Dan Brown’s blockbuster The Da Vinci Code. Mike and Jess have to figure a way out of the terrible things that are happening to them, while trying to carve out a path towards each other. There are, of course, puzzles included, and I found the Triangulum very elegantly constructed (if not, perhaps, as challenging as Mike believed.)

The spiritual lesson at the heart of the novel was also welcome, even if I thought that the book's other spiritual theory was far less convincing due to its reliance on, of all things, blockchain technology. The history of binary systems in both mathematics and religion was thought-provoking though, even if some of the characters’ actions throughout the book beggared both logic and belief. Overall, this is a summer thriller for people who enjoy dabbling in lots of interesting subjects and, perhaps, learning a bit more about the serious topics and conundrums many of us don’t usually consider on a day to day basis.