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.

A master of puzzles gets roped into a puzzle-themed caper? Sign me up! I have no idea if the types of puzzles mentioned in this book are real, but this was such a fun read. We have the super smart professor type guy, the damsel in distress (could have done without the romance that felt super fake/forced), the nefarious villain, the villain's henchman, and a touch of the supernatural. A little cheesy at times, but the characters are fun and the story moves along quickly. I'd definitely read a sequel.

“That is the nature of the puzzle: to offer pain and pleasure by turns.” Mike Brink has a gift when it comes to solving (and creating) puzzles. But when he visits a prison, at the behest of one of the prison’s doctors, with respect to a puzzle—
Brink finds himself in a conundrum seemingly beyond his own abilities.

This book appealed to me as an enthusiast of puzzles and escape rooms and the plot did not disappoint. The book contains some puzzles inside and I found myself breaking from the plot only to try to solve them. The plot starts pretty much immediately and you the reader, along with Brink, are immediately pulled into the action.

If you enjoy puzzles and/or and enthralling adventure for a plot, I highly recommend this book.

The God Puzzle - the ultimate quest that brings together characters who had no idea they were even connected. Part escape room, part puzzle, part religious mystery this story unwinds in such a wild way I'm not sure if you'll see it coming.

The character development in this book was well thought out with all the characters being woven together in many different ways. The mystery started in one direction before taking a hard left at demons and possession. Overall it was very interesting and engaging, however the ending didn't hit quite as hard as I was expecting with all the build up. This one is definitely a page turner!