I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. It’s wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t good either. I think it tried too hard to be too many things. There is religion, history, science (specifically cryptography), puzzles, murder AND immortal consciousness. Like I said, it’s a lot. If you come just for the thriller side of it, then go for it, that was solid. But throw everything else in and you just get kind of a weird salad

The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni is a thrilling ride that follows Mike Brink who becomes a puzzle and pattern savant after a TBI. He gets an unexpected request to help a convicted murder. Her case, and the puzzles within it, become more and more complicated the deeper Mike gets involved.

This book is reminiscent of Robert Langdon thrillers with a large dose of Jewish mysticism thrown in. The characters take a back seat as this compelling story unfolds. I enjoyed the fast-paced plot that took me for a thrilling ride. I wish some elements had been revealed a little later in the book to prolong the tension. I personally preferred the suspenseful first half as the ending veered more deeply and confoundedly religious than I had hoped.

This is a perfect summer read for Dan Brown fans or readers who love to dive into a smart, fast-paced, plot heavy story. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

The Puzzle Master released June 13, 2023. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced copy.

This review will be posted on Instagram and Goodreads.

After reading the blurbs, I was intrigued by this one. And it was really good.

Mike was just an ordinary guy planning his life when a football injury sidelined him for good. He begin hearing things and seeing things and suddenly the whole world was a puzzle he had to solve. Talk about feeling alone!

When he receives a phone call from the doctor at a prison. A phone call that will change his life once again. There is a woman who wants to meet him. She hasn’t spoken since she came here. Accused of a crime so horrible, she will never leave.

But she has a message for him and he believes her story so he is going to help her no matter the cost. And there will be a cost!

This exciting thriller took us from upstate New York prison to secrets from long ago, to the Pierpont Library. There was something for everyone in this book and I loved it.

June 13, 2023 RHPG/Netgalley

From the publisher:
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.

All the world is a puzzle, and Mike Brink—a celebrated and ingenious puzzle constructor—understands its patterns like no one else. Once a promising Midwestern football star, Brink was transformed by a traumatic brain injury that caused a rare medical condition: acquired savant syndrome. The injury left him with a mental superpower—he can solve puzzles in ways ordinary people can’t. But it also left him deeply isolated, unable to fully connect with other people.

Everything changes after Brink meets Jess Price, a woman serving thirty years in prison for murder who hasn’t spoken a word since her arrest five years before. When Price draws a perplexing puzzle, her psychiatrist believes it will explain her crime and calls Brink to solve it. What begins as a desire to crack an alluring cipher quickly morphs into an obsession with Price herself. She soon reveals that there is something more urgent, and more dangerous, behind her silence, thrusting Brink into a hunt for the truth.

The quest takes Brink through a series of interlocking enigmas, but the heart of the mystery is the God Puzzle, a cryptic ancient prayer circle created by the thirteenth-century Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia. As Brink navigates a maze of clues, and his emotional entanglement with Price becomes more intense, he realizes that there are powerful forces at work that he cannot escape.

Ranging from an upstate New York women’s prison to nineteenth-century Prague to the secret rooms of the Pierpont Morgan Library, The Puzzle Master is a tantalizing, addictive thriller in which humankind, technology, and the future of the universe itself are at stake.

The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni was released June 13th, 2023 by Random House.

My Thoughts:

There's a lot going on in this book. From puzzles of different kinds, historical happenings, haunted dolls and golems, and quantum computers and cryptocurrency, there is so much covered in this book. But, the author manages to pull it off. I have to admit, my eyes glazed over a little at some points because of the amount of detail. At those points I skimmed a little to get the gist of what was happening. There weren't many parts like that though.

I also skimmed ahead a little reading some of the parts with the dog. I was worried for the dog and needed to know what would happen to it before I could go back and read what all was going on with the people. The inclusion of the dog seemed to do two things. It helped to humanize Mike Brink. And it ratcheted up tension a little. Frankly, I could have done without the inclusion of the dog, no matter how cute the name Conundrum is for a puzzle master's dog. Honestly, I had to look ahead because I was on the verge of DNF'ing the book because of the inclusion of the dog. But, because of the way things worked out, I was able to go on and finish and enjoy the book.

My favorite characters in the book were the lead character Mike Brink and the Kabbalah expert. The rest of the characters were ok. Cam Putney and Jameson Sedge played good villains.

Generally, the book moved along at a decent pace. Things were explained along the way as part of what was going on.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it to people who enjoy thrillers with both a supernatural and technical aspect. The supernatural aspect appealed more to me than the technical parts.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley.

After a traumatic brain injury as a teenager, Mike Brink has somehow acquired extraordinary skills at solving and creating the most difficult of puzzles. So when doctors reach out to him on behalf of a troubled woman sentenced for murder - to solve a specific complicated and mysterious puzzle to prove her innocence - reality and the supernatural blur into a unique and complex series of cryptic events that prove to threaten both of their lives.⁣
⁣
This isn’t your average thriller. It’s a maze of mystery and suspense and a next level enigmatic journey that weaves you through a web of science, religion, across dimensions and a bewildering amount of uncertainty. There a fusion of history, art, and a slew of supremely creepy porcelain dolls all melding together in a stunning and sometimes terrifying labyrinth of riddles - to provide a mind blowing conclusion that merges both past and future in the most brilliantly beautiful way.⁣ An exciting and very special story.

The Puzzle Master touched on just about every genre I enjoy. It had aspects of mystery, thriller, horror, science fiction, and science all wrapped in a mix of reality and the supernatural that kept me turning pages. Everything is thoroughly researched and deftly written. I finished the book feeling like I needed to know more on several topics because she piqued my interest in areas that I don't have a background in.

The book is built around Mike Brink "a celebrated and ingenious puzzle constructor" who "understands its patterns like no one else." Mike's abilities will be tested in ways he can't imagine--as will the readers. It's a ride that spans centuries, belief systems, and dimensions.

A Puzzle that Draws You In

Mike Brink is a famous creator of puzzles. His ability to solve puzzles dates from a head injury that left him with this unusual talent. He suffers from acquired savant syndrome which gave him extraordinary cognitive abilities. Now he is being asked to use his ability to decipher puzzles to help Jess Price a woman accused of murdering her lover while staying in an eerie mansion.

Jess hasn’t spoken since the murder, but she has drawn puzzles. Her therapist believes that solving the latest extremely complex one can aid her recovery. Mike is fascinated not only by the puzzle, which is not an easy one to solve, but by the woman herself.

The book has multiple time lines and narrators. There are creepy mansions, strange porcelain dolls, and mysterious puzzles including the God Puzzle. The book is very well researched. I was fascinated by the amount of detail about puzzles and their construction.

The characters are interesting, but seem mainly to serve the plot. Mike Brink is a good character, but he is prinarily a person with a mission to decode a difficult puzzle. The transition between time lines works well. Although the book is long, it’s hard to put down and can give you a scare along the way. I recommend it if you enjoy Dan Brown type novels.

Thanks to Net Gallery and the publisher for this book.

Mike Brink suffered a head injury while young and in the process received the gift of sudden acquired savant syndrome. He is now a puzzle master. He can solve any puzzle in a matter of minutes, sees everything differently than before and can retain anything he’s seen or read. When asked to come to the New York Correctional Unit of Ray Brook, Mike is more than a bit intrigued. A prisoner had drawn a perplexing puzzle and puzzles were his passion after all. Feeling a strong connection to the prisoner, Jess, he is lured in with the puzzle and now he is desperate to figure it out. She gave him some obscure clues and he immediately has an overwhelming need to solve the puzzle and help this woman he doesn’t even know. The only problem is nothing is what he believed it to be and as he digs deeper everyone that tries to help Jess is in danger. There are powerful forces at work here and Jess holds the key. The only question is can Mike Brink solve the puzzle before it’s too late for all of them?
This book started strongly, but quickly turned into a slower, tedious read. Too much dry religious history was thrown in to make it an edge of your seat thriller. There was some creepy supernatural moments at play, but this book just didn’t really work for me. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Such a captivating premise! I was drawn in immediately and thought the first half was paved well. I enjoyed the horror moments as well and made things creepy. The second half struggled for me. I thought the central religious mystery got very very dense and I found myself losing focus. I also thought there were too many characters at time, jumping from support to support. I enjoyed the cryptic ending but wish the second half would have been as interesting as the first.

THE PUZZLE MASTER started off strong but lost me somewhere around the half way point. I kept on reading in hopes that the plot points that hooked me in to begin with would reappear (possessed dolls! paranormal activity! murder!) but alas…it was a bit of a slog to reach the end.

Or maybe I just didn’t “get” it because I’m not a PUZZLE MASTER? Maybe. Probably.

Thank you to @netgalley for my #gifted arc!

The Puzzle Master hooked me from the very beginning. Maybe it is because I am a puzzle person (Sudoku, Wordle, etc.). The challenge is that I started it right before going to bed while on vacation and did not want to put it down. I forced myself so that I could also enjoy my trip.

Due to a high school head injury, Mike Brink developed the ability to see patterns quickly and have 100% recall to writings or pictures that he has read or seen. This ability is the center of his career as a puzzle designer. It also is a detriment as he can be distracted when encountering a pattern when his focus should be elsewhere.

Brink has called to help break the design code from an ancient design from a Jewish mystic to help save the woman charged with a murder.

The author has a lot of twists and turns and keeps the reading pace vibrant. The only challenge I had was that I know next to nothing about the mystics of the Jewish faith. I probably missed or did not understand some of the religious nuances. This did not stop me from enjoying the book. There is definitely mysticism that my be far fetched for some. It was on the cusp for me.

I definitely would recommend this book.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy

I read early release and provided my feedback and not sure why it’s gone. Happens a lot with NetGalley.

Loved the book, page turner, and interesting twist using puzzles as the story thread. I am a big fan of her Angelology series (please finish!).. The author does her homework and story unfolds & the reader learns new things along the way. Big fan of the author! The Puzzle Master is another great feather in her cap of story telling. Buy the book!

THE PUZZLE MASTER is an excellent thriller incorporates the supernatural with reality by Danielle Trussoni. This is a page-turning mystery, thriller, paranormal-romance, science-fiction with a dash horror book that will suck you in and keep your interest. As a high school football player, Mike Brink suffered head trauma that resulted in “sudden acquired savant syndrome” and left him with some extraordinary talents, including an incredible memory and the ability to solve and construct tremendously difficult puzzles at almost light-speed.and prison psychologist Dr. Thessaly Moses has just such a puzzle. I highly recommend this book, particularly if you like puzzles and supernatural story telling.




Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.

I loved this book right from the opening line. I found it so intriguing and hard to put down. The writing was compelling and very well done.

This was 100% something unique that I hadn't read before and completely enjoyed it.

In high school. Mike experiences a traumatic injury on the football field that causes a very rare condition called savant syndrome. He is able to see patterns in puzzles and even day to day things to the nth degree. As an example, he can solve a Rubik's cube in a matter of seconds ( yeah I'll never figure one of those out). He uses this knowledge to his advantage by creating puzzles for multiple publications and becomes very well known for his skills.

Jess has been incarcerated for murder and has not spoken a word since, however in an attempt to communicate to her prison therapist she draws a very intricate puzzle that intrigues the therapist. Being familiar with Mike's work the therapist enlists his help in trying to determine what the puzzle means and how to communicate with Jess. It turns out this is not just an ordinary puzzle but one with great significance from centuries ago.

I was 100% hooked! This had everything: puzzles, murder, mystery....and dolls. Yes, dolls!!!!! Creepy, scary dolls! I absolutely could not put it down. It reminded me a bit of Indiana Jones meets the Davinci Code.

I was all set on giving 5 stars...but as I mentioned it has a bit of every genre in it and around 70% it delved very heavily into a religious aspect that completely lost me. I was very puzzled at this point and spent more time trying to understand, whereas up until that point I was fully engrossed. It just lost me for a minute. Then the ending kind of snuck up on me and I felt it was a bit too quick, but I still enjoyed it. It does appear that this could be setup for a sequel and I for sure would read it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Author Danielle Trussoni's latest was one hell of a journey. I read and reviewed her previous book, The Ancestor, and really enjoyed it. This one was no different.

I think the less the reader knows going into this, the wilder the ride will be. We know from the blurb that Mike Brink's brain injury has left him a highly sought after puzzle master. He is asked to try and speak to a prison inmate who hasn't spoken a word since her arrest, but drew a puzzle they think Brink can solve. Little does he know his life is about to change.

This story is told from several different perspectives and in several different timelines. I learned about religions, science, math... and it was fun! This is a thriller mixed with horror mixed with sci-fi, and it's amazing!

Trussoni is a master (see what I did there- wink wink) at story telling and does a phenomenal job intertwining facts and fiction to create a truly unique adventure. This is a very skilled, very talented author and I cannot wait for the next book.

This was a 5 star read for me. I enjoyed every single page.

The Puzzle Master is out now and ready to be read here in the U.S. so get your copy now!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for allowing me an advanced e-copy to read and give my honest review.

Happy Reading!

After a traumatic brain injury leaves him with acquired savant syndrome, Mike Brink finds himself able to solve any puzzle in a unique way. Putting his new talents to use, Brink creates puzzles for the New York Times and enjoys an average life with his dog Conundrum, but all of that is about to change. Enter Jess Price, a woman serving a prison sentence in upstate New York for the murder of her boyfriend. Jess has not uttered a word since her arrest, not even to speak in her own defense. However, she has drawn a complicated puzzle that her psychologist believes only Brink can solve. When Brink meets Jess, he discovers a deep urgency to the puzzle Jess has left him and an unexplainable draw to the woman herself.

This book is much more than a single genre, so I will do my best to avoid characterizing it. I will say, the pacing kept me engaged throughout the entire novel, reminiscent of my time reading The DaVinci Code. I like how actual puzzles were included throughout the novel, but I wish there would have been a few more to solve. Brink was relatable and a great protagonist.

And now for those dolls.

I was completely hooked for the first bit of The Puzzle Master. The pages could not turn fast enough. If there was one thing that would prevent me from reading this book at night, it was a creepy doll collection and they SHOWED UP! Maybe I am a massive chicken, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for providing this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I recently finished The Puzzle Master and have so many thoughts. What an intricately plotted mystery that was filled with intrigue. Knowing little about Acquired Savant Syndrome, I was fascinated by what I read and how it led the main character, Mike Brink, to his role creating puzzles for The NY Times.

If I’m honest some parts of the God Puzzle were over my head but man did I enjoy trying to figure it out and understand. There was a mix of cerebral and action, setting a pace that had me flying through the book. What was a bit terrifying at the conclusion of the book was the connection with AI and the future.

I was lucky enough to join in an author chat. Thank you Random House and Thoughts From A Page for this opportunity. It was a wonderful hour listening to the author discuss the book and learn about her other works. I most certainly will be seeking out her backlist. To be surrounded by bookish people and hear an engaging author speak is joy!

If you like books Dan Browns the Davinci Code, or the likes of the New York Times challenge of the daily puzzle, then you will love Trussoni's Puzzle Master.

Introduce Mike Brink, who ends up being summoned to a women's prison to solve the mystery behind why Jess Price asks to speak to him. No one knows why Jess never defended herself, never spoke to anyone about what happened until now.

Along the way, Mike will be taken on a supernatural journey to find out what happened to Jess.

From Prague to New York, Trussoni will leave you absolutely "PUZZLED!"


Thank you, NetGalley\Danielle Trussoni\Random House Publishing Group-Random House Publishing.Random House\For this amazing eARC in advance for my honest review. My opinions are of my own volition.

What a wild ride!!! I feel like I don’t want to say too much because everyone needs to experience it for themselves. Danielle Trussoni is breaking all the rules with this book. Think - DaVinci Code + Silent Patient. I found myself super engrossed in this story that spans multiple genres as well as multiple decades within the story. The knowledge and research that Danielle did for this book is astounding and it’s felt in every page. The dedication to the characters and story is brilliant.