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.

I was given an ARC of this book ✨

This book had a lot going on. Religion, TBI, mental health issues, exorcisms, puzzles, prison, suicides, gods, devils, and more.

At times this book was challenging to read because of the complexity of the material but those times in the book also gave a legitimacy to the writing. Parts definitely felt “Da Vinci Code” esque with the religious undertones and discoveries made throughout the book.

If you are looking for a book that bends genres and leaves you wondering what is fact and what is fiction , this may be the book for you.

3.5 stars rounded up ⭐️

This book really sucked me in for the first third. I could not put it down. I was so invested in what was going to happen with the story.

However, once I hit about two thirds of the way in, I struggled to keep reading. It should be noted that I did not look close enough into the description of this book and did not realize it was Science Fiction... like dolls that come to life. Definitely not my cup of tea.

That said, even though I lost interest in the book, it was still an easy and good read. I think fans of Science Fiction would really enjoy this!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for a positive review.

I love puzzles but I found this one too involved. Although I believe this would make a good movie.
Fans of Dan Brown would enjoy this one and I will not rule this author out. I look foward to trying her next one.

This book is a cross between Bourne, Da Vinci Code, but is completely original. I loved it and see it will be a big hit this summer.

What to call this... theological thriller? It's like DaVinci code, but the religion is cranked all the way up. I'm not saying I felt stupid reading this -- but I did feel like I was reading someone's diatribe on dogma interspersed in this puzzly mystery novel. I can definitely see who this book is for. This book is not for me. This book is going to have so many fans, I am not one, but anyone that likes twisty puzzles, well written dialog and find religious mysteries fun, this is definitely going to be your cup of tea.

This is a competent thriller with a large amount of psychological/religious padding. If you can avoid going down some of the many rabbit holes, it's a fun read.

The premise of this book was so fun, I love trying to figure out puzzles. The book started out great but then the author tried to throw in too many different things that it got ro be too much. I also wasn't a big fan of the romance. I would give this 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

I’m not entirely sure how to describe this book. A man suffers a traumatic head injury that allows him to create and solve any puzzle. He is asked to come to a prison to talk to a convicted murderess who has refused to communicate in any form with any one else. While there, he gets drawn into an incredibly complex puzzle that could change the very fate of humanity.

This was an okay read for me. It’s an interesting concept, but got way too confusing for me. It also felt like the romance was kind of strangely forced. This isn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t a book for me.

I rather enjoyed this book! It reminded me a bit of the Da Vinci Code and all the interesting twists and turns and puzzles. It had a little bit of everything in it: mystery, puzzles, romance and even some supernatural elements. I haven’t read anything by this author before but I’m definitely interested in reading more now! Thank you to net galley for the advanced readers edition.

Well developed characters and unique plot. Good action scene and some creepy undertones. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

This is an odd book for me to review because it spans across several genres. Overall I do think it was interesting and had some definite creative bits to it. I found it to be a bit slow at times and it took me a lot longer than normal to really get into this one. I do really like the main character, Mike Brink, he was in an accident as a kid which left him with the unique ability to see the world differently and be able to pull apart patterns and puzzles. Mike is intrigued when he is invited to a women’s prison with the lure of a unique puzzle. There he meets the counselor of a rather famous inmate. Jess was a writer before she was convicted of killing Noah. She hasn’t spoke a word since she was arrested including in her own defense at her trial. Meeting Jess spirals Mike into a race to finish the most important puzzle of his life before it’s too late.

The Puzzle Master | Danielle Trussoni

384 Pages
Published June 13, 2023
Random House

The Puzzle Master was intriguing and cryptic right from the start and I was invested in solving the puzzle and finding out the big secret. I'm not 100% sure where it went off the rails for me, but it got confusing fast. There are so many characters to follow and looking back there are entire chapters I could have skipped. I'm sure a lot of research went into the writing, as it's very thorough and detailed, but it seems like too many ideas were tossed in here and this may be a situation where less is more.

I really think that the comparisons to other books in the synopsis are a bad idea. I do see similarities to the DaVinci code, but it perhaps sets readers expectations too high. I would recommend, but be prepared to think and pay attention!

Read of you like:
- Race against time storylines
- Puzzles and lost objects
- Genre mashups
- Detailed descriptions of math and religion

The Puzzle Master had so many fun elements. A Jack Reacher style main character, whose football injury turned him from a jock into a puzzle expert with a photographic memory. A Silent Patient style secondary character who is in prison for a murder she may not have committed. An upstate New York and New York City setting. And a focus on not only puzzles, but cryptography, Kabbalah, doll making in the 1800s, the cypher-punk movement, telepathy, transhumanism, and more.

If you are thinking, "cool," this book is for you. If you are thinking "what even." then it's probably not. Things do get a little wacky toward the end and there's a serious case of soulmate/instalove, but if you can just sit back and go with it all, this book is definitely an enjoyable read!

This book definitely has the same "feel" as The DaVinci Code with an original twist or two. It is a very good book but lags a bit in the middle. BUT, the tension and thrills ramp up considerably until you find yourself holding your breath until the end. I definitely recommend to anyone looking for a different thriller.

Mike Brink's life was changed when he had a brain injury that changed they way his mind works. Now he is a celebrated puzzle constructor. When he gets a call to help solve a problem that they think only he can solve, he is pulled into a mystery that he had no idea existed. As he looks into the problem, he is pulled into something that is much bigger than he could ever imagine. Will he be able to solve the problem?

As a voracious reader, I am always looking for a book that is something unique, an experience I have never had before. 2020's The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni was one of those type of books and I'm completely gobsmacked by the fact that The Puzzle Master is even more original and complex. This was one of those books that I thought would be a fun romp to answer some puzzles but led to me learning so much. 

Mike Brink was a normal guy until a football play that lead to a massive concussion and the life he knew was over. But unlike many TBIs, Mike came away with savant like abilities and he turned that into a career building puzzles. He is drawn into solving the most complex puzzle in the world when he is called in to meet a prisoner who has not communicated in years. She has drawn a puzzle that brings us through hundreds of years of history of people trying to solve the "God Puzzle" and achieve immortality.

I was amazed by how this story progressed. Mike starts off lightly intrigued by a puzzle and an unusual woman but finds himself in a dangerous world of rich megalomaniacs that will stop at nothing for the solution. I enjoyed the ride with Mike, while he is a genius, he was also entirely relatable. His little dog and his search for some human bond that could bring him joy despite his challenges just enamored me to him. The areas of science and spirituality that this went into was so fascinating to me, even though I often found myself flipping back and forth to re-read or try to comprehend the puzzles myself. I'm not sure I ever got there, but I certainly enjoyed the ride. Read this one if you want a book to entertain as well as challenge you and educate you. I agree with the DaVinci Code as being the closest to this experience, so check this one out if you enjoyed that.

Thanks to Random House for gifted access via NetGalley. All opinions above are my own.

A 'DaVinci Code'-esque thriller with a supernatural bent.

This book frustrates me.

On one hand, you have a fantastic character, rooted in reality, although a highly improbable accident brought him there. The basis is laid for a race-against-the-clock, puzzle-weilding, 'National Treasure'-like scavenger hunt that, while derivative, still leaves tons of room for variation, unique themeology and even sequel opportunities.

Instead, we throw all of that (and about a quarter of the book) out and turn the story over to the hands of the supernatural. This felt less good storytelling and more the basis for a Tomb Raider game.

So, points for the writing, which was captivating, and the characters. Unfortunately, that was all it brought, and it left me disappointed.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.