The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni has the fast pace and religious controversy of Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code. Trussoni's protagonist Mike Brink has developed extraordinary knowledge and skills after a traumatic brain injury. While it ruined his plans for a life in football, it opened up a world of MIT and a world renowned reputation for being one of the best puzzle creators and solvers in the world. Brink is in fact similar to Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon with an exception: Trussoni allows Brink to have sexual and sensual desires which play out with a zest for romantic “bodice-ripping” passion.

Brink is able to travel to a higher realm which is a not a parallel universe. It’s not Heaven nor Hell. However, readers who enjoy stories set in universes like that will appreciate what comes into Brink's life when he’s asked to solve the God Puzzle.
Trussoni does rely on a billionaire antagonist in order to easily explain the source of incredible technology and powerful connections. Jameson Sedge is an adequate villain supported by a stoic henchman, Cam Putney; and a brilliant, helicopter pilot / antiquities expert as a partner, Dr. Anne-Marie Riccard.

Jess Price is a young writer wrongly imprisoned for murder and Mike Brink is supposed to help get her out. He and Jess immediately have supernatural connections that involve passionate visions they share. Before Mike visited her for the first time at the prison, Jess was catatonic. Jess Price is indeed an intelligent person and talented writer. What happened to make her so special and able to reach Mike on another realm? These questions only begin to be addressed at the midpoint with an epic back story.

The midpoint arc is where ancient Judaism and the legend of golems are introduced. The complexity of The Puzzle Master looks like one of Mike Brink's synaesthesia visions (part of his new life from the brain injury). Judaism, golems, J.P. Morgan, porcelain dolls, quantum computing, life after death, angels and demons, all the way to getting within reach of dismantling the patriarchy in every element of life around the world's vast cultural sects.

Obviously, tackling the subject of religion is going to upset some readers. I doubt The Puzzle Master will cause the excitement and backlash like The DaVinci Code. Yet, best seller Trussoni does a masterful job in tying threads together most people wouldn’t consider.

The treatment of Lilith is typical and likely to upset feminists and witches of certain traditions. She’s built as a powerful being and her demonic history is quickly explained. However, she’s reduced to a succubus only interested in chasing mortal men. Since the book was already extensively leading readers into religious areas that could be lifelong studies, it’s not without valid editing that Trussoni wouldn’t be able to do Lilith justice.

The dog does not die.

Summary:

You don't need to be a savant at math or problem-solving to enjoy The Puzzle Master. If anything, not having a talent for those things makes protagonist Mike Brink play as even more heroic. The mystery of the God Puzzle opens up a complex set of doors for the characters to take like they're in an M.C. Escher painting. The solutions are found by a few, but they can't prove it. Nonetheless, despite the Divine Feminine presence, the main female character Jess Price has very little communication though what comes from her is important; she has her own antagonist, Lilith, and there's no opportunity for Jess to save herself. She's a damsel in distress to be saved by the male lead, Mike Brink.

From high school football star to puzzle master. Mike Brink’s life has been quite the journey. One minute he was wondering how many football scholarships he’d have to choose from and the next - after a traumatic brain injury - seeing and feeling everything in a new, strange and often frightening way. He now has something called acquired savant syndrome, a rare medical condition in which a normal person acquires extraordinary cognitive abilities after a traumatic brain injury. At first he thought he was going crazy, but he’s adjusted to this new life. However, he now finds it difficult to connect with people, is somewhat a loner with his puzzles, avoiding stress.

Well, once he meets Jess Price stress becomes a constant. His quiet puzzle-creating life becomes full of non-stop action, danger, letters, journals, transcriptions, ancient writings, symbols, puzzles and priceless collectible dolls that may be key to solving the puzzle. He spends time inside the prison where Jess is an inmate, at the home of a (probably) mad scientist where the murder Jess was convicted of took place, with academics, religious scholars, doctors, the prison psychiatrist. And he doesn’t know who to trust, what the puzzles he encounters mean, if he’ll survive this race against time.

The Puzzle Master is complex, lightning-fast paced, jumping through different points in time, different places around the world, different pieces of religious history and incorporating multiple points of view. Don’t get bogged down in the details – this story is incredibly complicated – but just hop on and enjoy the ride. Mike Brink is likable, a guy who used to be average except for his football skills and who has now been dumped into a world he barely understands but something inside, something almost obsessive, is pushing him on. The story is riveting, the characters are fascinating, and the ending has a nice twist.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Group for providing an advanced copy of The Puzzle Master via NetGalley for my enjoyment and honest review. Danielle Trussoni is an author whose work I will read more of. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.

Whelp. I will never be able to look at a porcelain doll the same again.

In The Puzzle Master, Mike Brink, a puzzle savant, is convinced to meet Jess, who is in prison for killing a man. Jess hasn’t spoken in five years, ever since the killing, but draws a portion of a mysterious puzzle that takes Mike down a rabbit hole of the occult, and ancient mysticism.

This book is touted as The Da Vinci Code meets The Silent Patient. I’ve not read The Silent Patient but I definitely got Da Vinci Code vibes.

Also, Mike owns an adorable 1 year old dachshund named Conundrum.

I was kept interested throughout the book, until we got to an overload on the teachings of Jewish religion. Somewhere in there I got quite lost and I’m not sure I ever recovered fully.

There were thrills, and a weird instalove, and murders, and a prison, and computer hacking, and chasing, and creepy dolls, and demons, so I was invested enough to continue to see what happened next. As far as the ending goes, it’s possible that there could be a sequel.

Overall, I’m glad I read The Puzzle Master.

*Thanks so much to Random House and NetGalley for the advance eGalley!*

This is a story about Mike Brink , a puzzle wiz.The story revolves around Mike getting involved in a real life puzzle and uses multiple points of view to tell the story about how the puzzle resolves. I enjoyed this book, it was a fast read but the puzzles were a bit confusing for me , but will prob hit the sweet spot for others. The main character was well developed ,but I was hoping for more from the others but it didn’t detract from the enjoyment. The plot was interesting but there were some ideas I felt didn’t flow all the way through which I’d why I didn’t go higher than 3.5. It’s an interesting story and I’m interested in what else this author has written.

After a traumatic brain injury that leaves Mike Brink with acquired savant syndrome (think Rain Man's abilities but functions normally otherwise, unlike Rain Man), he becomes a master puzzle maker and loves understanding patterns and solving puzzles that most cannot solve.

One day he is contacted by a prison psychiatrist to come meet with a patient of hers that hasn't spoken in years, but has asked for him. He agrees to come and after only a short meeting, he is presented with an incomplete puzzle (the God puzzle) and an intense desire to complete and solve the puzzle and understand this young woman.

The book felt a lot like the DaVinci Code with the intense story line that included Jewish mysticism, and ancients beliefs that takes the reader deeper and deeper into the story, yet felt written for today's audience (clues at the end of the book I won't give away). The book got really weird at the end. I do recommend reading this one over audio only (unless you pair the book with audio) as you will want to see the puzzles described in the book.

My thanks to Net Galley for an advanced copy of this e-book and to Random House and Thoughts From A Page podcaster for an advanced copy of the hardback.

I read "The Puzzle Master" by Danielle Trussoni on NetGalley and would read more of her books! Mike Brink is a puzzle maker, after an accident in high school that left him with a rare talent. He meets Jess Price, who is in prison for murder. She needs his help with a puzzle to solve the murder that put her into prison. Mike is immediately drawn to Jess and begins the quest to help her. I really enjoyed this book!

This book was a fast read. If you like the Da Vinci Code type of books you might like this book. The first half of the book was interesting and kept me engaged. The last third of the book seemed like a lot of stuff was thrown in there for an ending but not a lot of explanation on how it all worked (just a glossing over). It was just too convenient that it worked. I didn’t feel like this book was horror or supernatural. It was trying to be too many things. It was more mystery thriller than anything.

Mike Brink's life changes forever when he takes a hard hit during the last football game of his high school career. He, overnight, has to grapple with a newfound ability to see puzzles and numbers everywhere since his concussion makes him part of a very small group of people with acquired savant syndrome. Now a puzzle master for the NY Times, he's asked to look at a puzzle given to him by a woman in jail for the murder of her boyfriend at an isolated estate. Jess Price, without saying a word, drags him into a secret world full of puzzles, conspiracies, and secret societies.

If you like books like The Davinci Code, you'll definitely like it. The story is compelling, with a religious subplot that taps into many of today's conspiracy theories about life and immortality (think along the lines of the Illuminati), while also not being too overly complicated for those of us who aren't math or puzzle whizzes. I enjoyed it, and at times found myself unable to put it down, or thinking about parts of the book when I wasn't reading it, making me want to start reading again. Our main character, Mike, does do some awfully boneheaded things, and miss a couple of really big important clues for someone who is supposed to be almost the best at the world at what he does, but overall this is a good book that definitely, despite using THE END at the end of the book, is set up to become quite an interesting series.

3.5/5 stars (rounded down for some of the plot holes)

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Danielle Trussoni for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Puzzle Master coming out June 13, 2023. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

There are puzzles all around us. Mike Brink—a celebrated and ingenious puzzle constructor—understands its patterns like no one else. Once an upcoming 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 that regular people can’t. But it also left him deeply alone, unable to fully connect with other people.

Everything changes after Brink meets Jess Price, a woman serving thirty years in prison for murder. She 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.

I’ve read another book by this author and really loved it, so I was interested in checking out this book. I really enjoyed the first half of the book. I thought the plot and subject matter was really interesting. I thought Mike’s ability to solve puzzles and the puzzles in the story were fascinating. I think the second half became a little confusing for me. There seemed to be more points of view and I wasn’t sure how the characters connected.

I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys complex puzzle stories!

Mike has a football injury that gives him the rare savant syndrome where he can create and solve puzzles that the normal thought process cannot master. When he is brought in to help on what appears to be a closed murder case with a silent inmate, he struggles to keep himself save from those who want to use his special powers for something more sinister.

This book is billed as a straight mystery, but it is not that. This has horror and supernatural elements and went off the rails for me big time. Not only was it slow, but I didn't feel like it was a cohesive story. I strongly disliked when the author tried to bring in religious details and history and world domination.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review. I just can't recommend this one.

A traumatic brain injury induces savant syndrome in Mike Brink, suddenly turning him into a master at solving and creating puzzles — and completely changing his life. Years later, he’s accepted and harnessed his puzzle obsession into a lucrative career, working with cryptologists from MIT and writing puzzles for the New York Times. He’s been coasting by, unchallenged, until a psychologist asks for help on a case and he meets a puzzle he can’t solve — yet.
Reminiscent of The DaVinci Code and National Treasure with a horror twist, this was a fun and easy read.
The pacing was good for the most part, though I could’ve done with less of the supernatural explanations. It was also a little repetitive in some parts, mainly in reminding us about Brink’s motivation and past. Brink is a likeable character and all the tech bro characters are funny. There’s a nod to the lockdown Wordle phenomenon and the author includes a variety of real puzzles which were written for this book. I gave them a cursory glance but others might enjoy trying to solve them.
If you like thrillers / mysteries with horror elements, this is a fun, modern take on the genre.

This book had a ton of potential, but it just didn’t land for me. I enjoyed the puzzle aspect, and Mike’s ability. I thought the religious aspect, the characters that were introduced, the escape sequences were all just surface level storylines. I didn’t connect with any of the storylines because there were too many. It had the potential to be scary, but wasn’t. It had the potential to be erotic, but wasn’t. It had the potential to be a thriller, but wasn’t. I’m a bit disappointed.

This book had a lot going on. I was really into the story until about halfway and then it all just fell apart. The multiple storylines and genres left me feeling like each could have been developed more, while some could have been cut entirely and probably would have left the story feeling whole. There were many things that were very repetitive throughout the story (i.e., Mike Brink's injury and abilities), as well as some things that just went too in-depth for me to care about. Overall, the story lacked a lot of what I was looking for based on the blurb and just didn't work for me.

Are you good at puzzles?
In this book, due to a head injury, Mike Brink is the best at puzzles there is. This gift leads him to a mystery that he can’t walk away from.
I liked this book! It had an interesting combination of spooky and scifi elements that made for a unique and interesting story. I would have loved to see the story lean into the spooky elements a little bit more, but I could see this being a great read for someone who wants a spooky but, but doesn’t want anything too scary.
The ending of this book left a few things unanswered and I know they’re points that will keep me thinking about this book in the months to come.
I’m not a big mystery reader, but if you enjoy spooky mysteries, I would definitely recommend this book.

The books that I enjoy the most when reading for enjoyment are those that weave fact and fiction together. This is one of those books. Mike Price experienced a traumatic brain injury that forever changed him and the way he interacts with the world. He sees patterns everywhere he looks and is obsessed with solving and creating puzzles. He is drawn into something much larger than himself when he receives a partial puzzle from a convicted murderer. Unable to resist the puzzle he acquaints himself with the murder case itself only to find that he himself has now become a target. Ancient religions and the search for immortality play an important part in his search for the truth of what actually happened. He is forced to reconsider how he views the world and reality. I enjoyed this book and thank the publisher for allowing me to be a reader in advance of its publication. #ThePuzzleMaker #netgalley

I imagine that genre mash-ups are hard to write. This one is Da Vinci Code plus horror plus romance, and the individual parts just didn't work for me individually or as a whole.
The horror piece with the haunted dolls felt hackneyed, and the long horror interlude at the beginning interrupted the flow of the book, and took away from the suspense. The romance piece was almost nonexistent. The Da Vinci Code piece really had no puzzles for the reader to solve to have an a-ha moment. The Jewish part was. . . Yeah. I'm sure Catholics felt that way about the Da Vinci Code. Not the thriller I was looking for but I am sure others will enjoy it

Actual rating 3.5

A football player with a traumatic brain injury resulting in acquired savant syndrome. An author in prison for a murder she didn't commit, or did she? She doesn't speak, so who knows. And a mystery puzzle known as The God Puzzle. All of these combined bring us a thrill ride of a story, and that's only the start. I loved this concept, and for the most part it was an enjoyable read. I got a bit lost with some of the sci-fi elements which are definitely not my forte, and a couple of times I hit points where I wasn't sure I wanted to go on, but in the end it was an intriguing story weaving in and out of many lives.

My thanks to Random House, the author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved it! I felt like I walked right into a Dan Brown novel! Fast paced and intense with secret society intrigue. The puzzle deciphering was fascinating but that locked room with the antique collection was extremely creepy. Great book!

After a traumatic brain injury, Mike Brinks life changes instantly. His world is now a series of puzzles that he can’t unsee, he can speed read and retain all the information, and he can solve and create puzzles with ease. When he meets Jess Price and can’t immediately solve the puzzle she gives him, Mike knows he won’t be able to stop until he finds a way to solve it. Unfortunately for Mike, there are others that want this information as well, and he is the one standing in their way.

When you finally get to meet @Angiekimask in person and she tells you to read this book…you just do it! That said, her blurb is spot freaking on! A mixture of The DaVinci Code + The Silent Patient + a sprinkle of Steven King = this book. She was right. I always hate starting a new book when I get to the pool, I prefer to already be into the story because I tend to get distracted and am unable to concentrate on the beginning pages, but let me tell you, I did not have that problem here. I was immediately invested in this book and could not stop reading. The story was unique, kept me on the edge of my seat, and while like The DaVinci Code had some stuff that went over my head, it was dumbed down enough to understand it! This book made me wish even more that I was good at solving puzzles, but that is certainly not my specialty. As a fun side note, my dad gave me a porcelain doll when I was a kid and my aunt and my ex always said how creepy it was. I never felt that way, but if I still had it I would certainly be creeped out by it after reading this book! If you want to be taken on a crazy ride, I highly recommend this book!

This was an engaging book that kept me guessing until the end.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.