I feel kind of bad about giving this such a poor rating, but it took me a week to slog through it, and I'm typically a fast reader. I suspect I would have given up and tossed this to the side, if I hadn't received it as an ARC and felt obligated to complete it and write a review.

I won't summarize this one, because so many other reviews have already. But yeah, there's too much going on. It's messy, it's chaotic, I couldn't really tell what the author's overall intentions were with this book. The main character, Mike Brink is a puzzle master, apparently, but he barely solves any puzzles. The romance felt forced and honestly kind of weird.

I definitely do not foresee recommending this book to any of my friends, even if they like thrillers or mysteries. Don't get me wrong, it did start off fairly strong and initially I was very intrigued, but around the 30% mark it went off the rails.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

With so many ratings and reviews already out there I don't have anything new to add. But I'll recommend it to thriller fans.

I really appreciate the free copy for review!!

The Puzzle Master was off to a strong start. I immediately felt drawn to the main character, and the writing is very atmospheric and intriguing. It reminded me of Ratched. Unfortunately, things started to fill way too busy in the middle, and it was a cluster to wrap things up. Often, books drag in the middle, but The Puzzle Master tries to do too much. I was confused and bored, struggling to follow along. 3 stars because although I didn’t particularly enjoy it, this checks all the boxes for a psychological thriller I think many will enjoy.

Forget the puzzles you think you know – like the one in a box with a 1000 pieces. Or, the puzzle that you find in the newspaper. This book takes the reader into a complicated network that is futuristic and somewhat haunting for those willing to go there.

It started when Mike Brink was recovering from a high school football crash. He had a rare medical condition – sudden acquired savant syndrome -- when a person suddenly acquires an extraordinary cognitive ability after a traumatic brain injury.

Brink’s life instantly changed. Numbers, patterns and colors “flooded his mind.” He now had a photographic memory which allowed him to reproduce images and structures, remembering each perfectly. He decided with his gift to create challenging puzzles for The New York Times.

With his keen abilities, he was summoned by Dr. Thessaly Moses to assist with a problem a prisoner was having in Ray Brook, NY. The prisoner, Jess Price, felt severely threatened with scratch marks on her body and could only be helped by Brink to solve a spell-binding puzzle.

It’s a complicated story but at the same time, the author has a way of taking you into her world and into the possibility that there could be a connection between mankind and the Devine. The book has the spitting image of what it would be like to meet the Devil and if it’s possible to save someone who is going down the wrong path.

The scenes get planted in your mind like the creepy, scary eyes of a doll following you in a library. I’m reading this late at night and when there was a sudden loud noise from the refrigerator’s ice maker, I jumped.

The characters along with the images make this plot insanely good. Sure, there were a few questionable instances but this is one book that will stay with you -- one that I highly recommend.

My thanks to Danielle Trussoni, Random House and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book with an expected release date of June 13, 2023.

The premise of The Puzzle Master sounded incredible, plus two authors whose books I loved gave five stars to this one. I trusted their perspective and I’m not sure that I do now.

I know not every book will be for everyone. I enjoy thrillers, but I’m quite tired of the same old thing, so this seemed like it would be a breath of fresh air. From the moment Mike and Jess shared a first kiss, I felt concerned that I’d made a mistake.

Here’s the thing: The complicated nature of this book is certainly praiseworthy. I imagine a great deal of research and thought went into putting it all together. But I felt everything came across as corny and decidedly less exciting than it was intended to be. A person can have a great idea, but that doesn’t automatically make them a great storyteller.

I am immensely grateful to Random House and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable novel, with a breakneck pace and fun bits of added details. Just like the puzzles that Mike Brink creates, there are many pieces, all fitting together perfectly. Some chapters are a story within a story within a story, and everything is well constructed. I enjoyed the insights into Mike’s mind, how he explains the gift, or curse, he received as a result of a brain injury, and which is a rare and real medical condition. Some of the explanations went a little over my head, but since it’s fiction it was not important. The key part is that I understood what was going on. At first, I was pleasantly surprised as to the direction the story took. My problem, as with the author’s previous novel, The Ancestor, I didn’t like the conclusion at all. One of the characters in particular has a radical personality change that didn’t make sense. The plot went to places that asked more of my suspension of disbelief that I was able to give, and sometimes the characters put a lot of effort into something that didn’t pan out and had no consequences for the rest of the novel, which made me wonder why it was there at all. To summarize, the first ¾ of the novel gets 5 stars but the ending only 3. Rounding up to 4.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Random House!

Mike has a unique talent for seeing the patterns in puzzles. He is so good at it that he makes a living building puzzles and helping to solve puzzles as well.
He is summoned to a prison by a psychiatrist who represents a prisoner with a request to see him. This prisoner has not spoken to anyone about her circumstances during the years she has been in prison.
Mike reluctantly goes to meet with her. Ultimately he is intrigued by the puzzle she shows him.
After that his whole world changes and he finds himself at the center of a quest searching for the secret that the puzzle holds.
This well written plot keeps one turning the pages and the surprise ending leaves you wanting more. I highly recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me this ARC.

“the puzzle master” is so many genres at once that it is difficult to place it. mike brink has been a savant capable of solving incredibly difficult puzzles in his mind ever since he was in an accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury. when a psychiatrist at a prison reaches out to him with a puzzle one of her patients has presented, he decides to travel there merely to help someone in need. mike cannot leave any puzzle unfinished, and he is quickly dragged into a complex game of puzzles that may just threaten his life.

the problem for me is that this novel is not in the least cohesive. it was a fun story to read, and held my attention throughout (if only to hate it more and more with every chapter and feel incredibly annoyed). however, it’s trying to do too much. puzzles, a murder, creepy porcelain dolls, haunted houses, complex mathematics, computer science, jewish mysticism (kabbalah), demons, succubi, etc. are all in this novel. it’s everywhere. it’s all over the place.

brink doesn’t solve anything, actually, it feels as if the entire novel is him being confused and asking a question and then someone else randomly thrown in explaining some very detailed concept.
if his stupid little dog doesn’t like you, then you’re a bad person. the little dog is always right.

there is a romance that is so extremely forced and uncomfortable from the very start of the novel. it’s insta-love, it makes no sense, and it’s pretty gross. it is quite literally disturbing.

i feel that trussoni has a very, very loose grasp on jewish mysticism and kabbalist study. there were parts of this novel that felt incredibly antisemitic to me. look, i have no clue if she is jewish or not, but you don’t start studying the kabbalah until you are at least forty years old. it takes decades to study.

just… god this had so much shit thrown into it for no reason. the real puzzle is wondering how this unedited nightmare got published in the first place.

Fascinating. From the beginning, I was drawn into the story as if I were a character. The descriptions are atmospheric. By the end, there was much food for thought about quantum physics and the nature of God. Some of it resonated with me and some did not. There's no denying it was beautifully done; it prompted me to read Trussoni's Angelology. I think Douglas Preston said it best: "Insanely compelling."

I would describe this as diet "The DaVinci Code". There is a blend of spirituality and religion, mystery, thriller, action, and romance. I actually wanted far more of the "puzzle" element than there was since most of the book focused around one single "puzzle" and was not a series of puzzles leading to one ultimate, final puzzle. Overall, I enjoyed myself, but would not drop all of my reading plans to move this one up the TBR list.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read if you like
📚 Genre Bending
🧩 Puzzles
🧠 TBI Rep

This one promises a lot and unfortunately for me that was just a bit too much with the execution and felt like it was a bit messy and all over the place.

If you want a book that moves around a lot and feels like the silent patient mixed with the Da Vinci Code with some side romance you might just love this one.

Thanks to the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my review.

The Puzzle Master
By Danielle Trussoni
OMG, what a wild ride read this! I loved the way the author presented the storyline. It was presented by way of a diary, letters, dreams, and live action. All while going back and forth in timelines, yet it was not confusing! Brilliant!
There's the wonderfully crafted characters too. A girl that has seen too much that can't be real and in prison for a crime she didn't commit. Also, a puzzle master that sees things different than the average human. All of the other characters here are well developed too!
The main plot centers around a puzzle, A God Puzzle. Maybe some puzzles need to be left unsolved! Immortality?
The plot and world building is also terrific! The book reminds me of a supernatural, science fiction Dan Brown novel! It's fast paced when it needs to be and slow and terrifying when the need arises. Its a thriller, horror, science fiction, action adventure, with a touch of fantasy and romance. It's a complex story. The kind you can really sink your teeth and brain into! The ending has a special twist I didn't see coming!
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this amazing novel! It's one of my favorite books I have read this year.

This is one of my most highly anticipated books for the year, and unfortunately, I think it's awful.

I love books that can't be defined through any one or two genres, but The Puzzle Master, rather than being genre-fluid, is just confused, unfocused, and disorganized.

I expected a thriller involving puzzles and some drama between intellectual or corporate elite. But it was like an adlib filled in with Jewish occult, creepy dolls, a haunted house, a succubus, computer science, and art thrown together. It wasn't cohesive.

But wait, it gets worse.

The characters are flat and the dialogue formulaic. Mike Brink was dragged around, would be introduced to a different character, that character would then lecture him on some aspect of art, coding, or religion, then shenanigans would ensue--rinse and repeat. The connections they made didn't make sense, and the characters had no distinctive qualities in action. It was like Trussoni forgot to fill in her plot outline with actual human connection and emotion.

Rather than expanding on themes of loss, suicide, religious identity, or guilt, the reader is forcibly pushed through a cat and mouse chase where I never really understood why the bad guys were bad except "the dog didn't like them." For *none* of the characters are their motivations explored or explained well. It's like National Treasure with none of the charm and dialogue so full of weird quantum religious nonsense that it was work to read.

This story had massive potential for being a puzzle themed thriller that had readers analyzing on-the-page puzzles to solve a murder in a creepy house or take down the evil corporate overlord, save the girl, and end in a romance between two quirky people. This could have had ergodic elements that would have elevated this book into something unique and awesome. She could even have written Brink as the villain, winding everything into a puzzle to frame Jess for murder he committed. The whole Kabbalah mystery could have been written without Brink's savantism. Why the weird computery elements? Why the whole "privacy" nonsense?

Unfortunately, this failed every genre it tried to touch. While I did not ever guess where the next twist would take the story, this novel ultimately asks the reader to work too hard to fill in the emotional and character blanks, too hard to follow the occult minutiae, and to jump shark after shark in the plot. I couldn't bring myself to connect or care about any of the characters to care about what would happen next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an arc to voluntarily read and review.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for the copy of The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni and for the superb recommendation. After reading the first chapter I wasn’t expecting to be able to get into the book but the writing just drew me in right away. Mike has a great story of how he got his ability to visualize and solve puzzles so easily. I wish there had been more puzzles because as someone who can’t visualize anything the descriptions of what he ‘saw’ were intriguing.
I’m not opposed to supernatural elements, but the dreams, religion, and nature of the paranormal events were a little too much for me.
I loved the writing and the rest of the story so I will try this author again even though this one was not really my thing.

Mike Brink is a brilliant man who had a terrible accident as a teen. His life was changed as he was able to see patterns and remember things with ease, amongst other things. He is invited to a prison to see Jess Price, who lured him in with a puzzle. What happens next is extraordinary.

This book was so interesting. It definitely kept my attention, though a lot of what happens in the book was over my head or beyond my understanding. The puzzles were confusing (I am not a very logical person so I never have luck with them), and the history of the religions/background was so interesting but also very complex. This was a page turner for sure.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I first heard about The Puzzle Master last week on an indie bookstore's spring/summer preview and this one sounded like it would be right up my alley. I was thrilled to find it on NetGalley and I owe the publisher a big thanks for sending me an ARC!

Overall, this was a highly entertaining read. I started it early this morning and thankfully I had the day off from work because I didn't do much else but read this.

What worked for me: The first part of the book hooked me right away. Books centered around puzzles are literary catnip for me. This is also a book full of surprises. I read a fair number of thrillers, but this one is unpredictable. You're not going to be able to guess where the story takes you. Just buckle up and enjoy the ride! I also enjoyed reading about a main character who has synethesia. I've read read-life accounts about people who have this condition, but having a fiction story woven around someone's synethesia and unique puzzle-solving/puzzle-writing gifts felt fresh and original.

What didn't work as well for me: I think this book is a true genre-bender. I'm not really sure it fully belongs in the thriller category. There are thriller/suspenseful elements, but the storyline takes a ninety degree turn into the horror genre at a certain point that I was not expecting at all. I think that may be hard for some readers who go into this expecting it be a fully-of-this-world thriller. Other readers who enjoy horror but don't enjoy thrillers may not pick this one up. Because of the supernatural elements, the puzzle element didn't land with me as well as I would have liked. Mike Brink is super-smart, yes, but he's up against some demonic forces. The ending was also surprising. If it's setting us up for a second book or even a series, I am here for it!

I would recommend The Puzzle Master to readers who enjoyed The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, The Stand by Stephen King, or even How to Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. (Even if you only loved one out of those three books, give this one a try.) Blake Crouch fans might also enjoy this one.

I am looking forward to this book's release so I can talk about it with other people!

Fans of The DaVinci Code with love The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni. As a math teacher, I love books involving puzzles with numbers and finding connections. This was as fast paced thriller that kept you guessing.

Mike Brink is a puzzle maker and can also solve complex puzzles.
He meets Jess Price who is in prison for murder. Her previous therapist was murdered for knowing too much. Brink must solve the puzzle to unlock her mystery and discovers that there are more sinister powers at play.

I won't lie this book about broke me. I never dnf. Even if the book is bad or even worse a James Patterson novel I will stick it out. Call it masochism or whatever I need to know how it ends.
This book almost made me quit.
I got this from the nice people at Netgalley so I will attempt to summarize this book. Mike
Brink had a traumatic brain injury which gives him super puzzle solving abilities(are you still with, I wish I had stopped here) according to the author that's a real thing, whatever. He's kind of a recluse but he also makes puzzles and makes money off of that.
He's asked to meet a prisoner because of his puzzle prowess and he instantly falls in love with her. It's downward spiral from here(more so).
The prisoner is aware of some secret puzzle that people are after because it can grant immortality. It dabbles in Kabbalism, golem's and even takes so weird turns into the cyberpunk movement. It also has something to do with the ancient demon Lilith(I was unaware she was a demon but whatever).
I can't go into more because of spoilers. Also it's hard to explain because it makes no sense and when it does make sense it's just really bad story telling.
This is tedious, boring, it delves into longwinded explanation about puzzles and history that nearly made me cry.

3.5 stars. This novel started out with a bang for me, and I was completely engrossed and intrigued. By half way through, however, it had lost a lot of its pizzaz for me, having “jumped the shark” a time or two at that point because of eye-rolling events. Nonetheless, I kept reading and am glad I did, for overall this was an interesting read.

The main character, Mike Brink, suffered a brain injury in a high school football game that left him with acquired savant syndrome, an extremely rare condition that left him with the ability (almost a super power) to solve construct and solve puzzles that the average person could not in a million years. After a prison psychiatrist requests his help with Jess Price, a prisoner who will not speak but who has been sending out strange messages and wants to talk with Mike about a puzzle, the begins to unfold.

I am wondering if this will be the start of a series involving Mike Brink, and I look forward to the second in the series should there be one.

My favorite thing about this book was the main character, Mike Brink. Mike suffered a head injury while playing football in high school, and as a result, he has an uncanny ability to solve puzzles. I thought the author did a really good job of exploring the impact this event had on him, for good and for bad.

The story begins when Mike gets roped into solving a cold case after meeting a woman serving time for a murder she may or may not have committed. I saw a reviewer described this as a mix of The Da Vinci Code, The Silent Patient, and a little Stephen King, and this is exactly right.

I found the writing a little pedestrian and overly-explanatory, but the plot was entertaining and fast-paced--overall, an enjoyable read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!