I got an ARC of this book through Netgalley. Thanks to the author and publisher. I was super excited to read this one after Angie Kim said it was a combo of The DaVinci code and The Silent Patient AND one of my fav bookstagrammers faved about how good it was. In the end, I must say that I struggled through this one. It started off ok introducing a savant who has a supernatural ability to solve puzzles. He is asked to come to a prison by the prison psychologist to help with an infamous inmate.
The book then starts twisting slowly into a supernatural oddity including a haunted doll, a golem that houses a spirit, immortality, etc. Ultimately I found this too unbelievable to hold my attention. The author also has a VERY detailed way of writing that I think could have been edited down to about 70-80% of content.

3.5 stars. The story, mystery, and interesting twists were enough to keep me reading, but I feel like some of the characters could have been combined and condensed so that they were more fleshed out. The romance subplot also could have been better developed, but that could be just me being spoiled with romance novels. But I would have really appreciated learning more about Jess Price's character, which would have helped me buy the romance more. Especially since later the story implies that the Jess in his dreams might not have been her. Mike Brink was an interesting and sympathetic character and I loved the way the story combined puzzles with Kabbalah mysticism and technology. Sometimes, some characters seemed to exist solely to deliver information that the author clearly carefully researched to apply to the story, but at least it was interesting stuff. All in all, it was a satisfying read.

This was a bit of a mess. While the flashback scenes were entertaining, the modern day plot was riddled with holes, inconsistencies, and things that were beyond implausible, and I’m not even referring to the supernatural elements. A psychiatrist letting a random layperson have full access to medical files in a psychiatric prison, which could easily lead to her losing her license? Bad guys letting their hostage use the bathroom unattended so he can slip out a window? Or leaving him and a total stranger alone with the precious ms they’ve been chasing for years, so they can steal it and slip out a fire escape? Don’t even get me started on people having a conversation without headsets on a helicopter. Honestly, it got downright silly, and the writing was clunky, the relationships implausible…I would give it one star if I hadn’t enjoyed some of the flashback sequences.

Mike Brink is a puzzle master. After an injury as a teen, he gained the power to solve pretty much any puzzle. He is intrigued when he is called in to talk to a writer arrested years before for the murder of her boyfriend. She has a puzzle that will lead to much more intrigue.

This took a supernatural spin that I wasn’t expecting. I wish it had been more puzzle based too than it ended up being. I was expecting a lot more this puzzle leads to this clue and so on kind of more like the Da Vinci Code (referenced in the synopsis) but it wasn’t like that. I also think the past in letters would’ve been better integrated as separate parts/sections since they spanned across chapters.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ah! Such an engaging book! One could become nervous about the idea of combining puzzles, religious beliefs, and futuristic technology into a story, but it works great in this book. Excellent story, quick read, very entertaining!

I really liked the character of Mike Brink. He's incredibly smart and it's easy for readers (and the people he meets in the course of the book) to understand how his brain sees the world. He comes off as very nice and friendly; at no time do you see him behaving in the awkward way that the injury has allegedly caused.

This book felt to me like it had three different parts:
1 ) a cold case mystery- who killed Noah Cooke 5 years ago, and if Jess Price didn't kill him, who did? What is being hidden from Brink and Thessaly, the prison psychologist?

2) a horror story - a doll that might come alive at night?! That caught me off guard since I'm not a big horror fan. Thank goodness I read that part on an afternoon airplane flight and not in bed at night.

3) a Da Vinci Code style rumination on religion, symbols, and immortality with the big bad after the answer to this question and risking everything for it.

I didn't NOT like it, but because it felt like different genres I had a hard time feeling compelled to keep reading, I did want to know what Jess' story was, and then we find out through her diary what is happening in Sedge House, and then we're thrust into the far past about dolls. I didn't have as much interest in the last third /the religious aspect, and to me I just couldn't understand why all of this was worth killing for, But I also thought it gave me some things to consider (science vs. religion) and many of the characters were interesting.

Also note that there were a few typos in the copy I read too. For example Noah Cooke is said to be 5 years older than Jess and then later he's just 2 years older.

I saw another influencer review this on Instagram and I knew I needed to read it for myself. It did NOT disappoint!!!! Such a great book and author!

One way I can tell if a book is successful for me is when I stay up wayyyyy past my regular bedtime to keep reading — it’s that a I-can’t-wait-to-see-what-happens-next feeling that’s so compelling I’m willing to sacrifice my precious dreamtime. Danielle Trussoni’s new book, THE PUZZLE MASTER, is one of those just-a-few-more pages reads — it had me up until after 1 AM because I HAD to see how it ended.

This is the fourth Danielle Trussoni novel I’ve read, and all of her works have struck me as smart, well-paced, full of tension, beautifully written, and with twists and turns I wouldn’t have predicted. THE PUZZLE MASTER might be my favorite of her books (and that says a lot because I loved her previous novel, THE ANCESTOR so much I read it twice).

THE PUZZLE MASTER weaves together puzzles, the Kabbalah, the history of ceramics, ancient secrets, mind-blowing technological advancements, ciphers and hidden messages, and much, much more to tell an engaging story about a man who is driven to help a woman who has been held responsible for a crime she didn’t commit. His efforts to help her unveils powerful enemies, putting them both at risk. So good, right?

Add THE PUZZLE MASTER to your TBR if you want a deeply entertaining, immersive story — just be prepared to stay up late reading!

Ever since I first read Katherine Neville's The Eight, I've longed for a puzzle novel as captivating and satisfying, but, just as we've never had another The Secret History, there's never been another story--Scarlett Thomas's The End of Mr. Y came terribly close--as compelling as The Eight, until now. My only complaint is that I will never read The Puzzle Master for the first time, again.

I enjoyed the puzzle aspect of this novel but didn’t care for the supernatural elements, which struck me as a bit overwrought.

First of all... trigger warning if antique dolls freak you right out!
Acquired savant syndrome and synesthesia are fascinating to me so I liked that I was able to sort of experience those alongside Mike in a way. I also love puzzles. This book did have several of them that Mike had to figure out along the way, mostly of the word variety. At the beginning of the book, he is given an incomplete puzzle and tasked with not only figuring out what is missing, but find its solution. He is helped by several experts in different fields and has a wild adventure in (I believe) a 2 or 3 day time span. It definitely does give off Dan Brown vibes with a supernatural twist.
If you enjoy books that give your brain a workout, especially regarding theories of consciousness, you will definitely enjoy this one.

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to review the unique and suspenseful “Puzzle Master”. Great twists and turns and a genius character in Mike Brink..

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to review “The Puzzle Master” prior to publication.. I am appreciative and leave my sincerity review voluntarily.

Absurd. I was looking forward to a Divinci Code type journey but the supernatural element to this story derailed the whole book for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book had all the complexities, enigmas and history of a Dan Brown novel. A man with a rare condition that makes him an elite puzzle maker and solver, the intricacies of porcelain, the Kabbalah, blockchains, the JP Morgan library and more woven together in an insane tapestry. At times the plot becomes a bit ridiculous, especially during the climax of the story, yet the book remains fairly fast-paced and captivating throughout. If you enjoy stories filled with conundrums, historical fiction, technology and bit of horror mixed in, you'll enjoy this book.

This is the kind of book that you pick up and can’t put it down. I went in expecting one thing and the story ended up veering in a direction that I did not initially expect. I’m not mad about it though, and thoroughly enjoyed the ride that this book took me on.

The story follows Mike Brink, a former football player who in a tragic accident on the football field, acquires savant syndrome. This syndrome unlocks something in his mind that allows him to expertly solve puzzles, read rapidly, and remember things in detail that is almost superhuman. Now a puzzle constructor, Mike meets a woman serving time for murder and an ancient puzzle. He embarks on a journey to solve this puzzle and learn more about this strange woman who is pulling a “silent patient.”

I really enjoyed this one. The writing was fantastic, the characters captivating, the lore and historical information integrated well. This is not a straightforward story and there are some supernatural elements and honestly some classic horror moments (I kept thinking Frankenstein at some points). So, if you like a good thriller/mystery/puzzle hunt/supernatural story, this is a book for you!

Thanks so much to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have mixed feelings about this one! While I definitely agree that this is a fascinating combo of DaVinci Code and The Silent Patient (both books I enjoyed), I think it ended up combining my least favorite parts of them. I couldn't handle how different the puzzle master's brain worked being mentioned over and over again. I could have used more puzzles and less lore drop/textbook vibes from this. I can definitely see this being a very interesting read for some and I think it was still interesting enough to finish with some interesting historical stories. Thank you Random House for the ARC of this one.

Puzzlers rejoice, as this novel centers around an expert puzzle designer and solver being thrust into a finding a solution that involves ancient mysteries. Mike Brink, following a traumatic brain injury as a rising Midwest football star, emerges with a rare medical condition that enables him to see patterns and solve puzzles that elude everyone else. Brink’s busy creating puzzles for the New York Times and pretty much being a loner when he gets summoned to a prison in upstate New York where an murder convict, Jess Price, has created a complex puzzle that her psychiatrist believes might hold clues to why Jess has remained completely silent since her arrest and might help with her care.

Mike, intrigued, drives up to see the puzzle, but more puzzling still for him becomes powerfully drawn to Jess. He embarks on an increasingly dangerous quest, involving increasingly complex puzzles and a hunt for clues. With both Mike and Jess’s lives threatened, the tension mounts.

For me, the novel’s core “God Puzzle” does not work, as it’s completely entangled in religious myth and the Kabbalah, with ancient mystical forces at play and a creepy, Golem, come to life porcelain doll.

But the rest of the novel gets you hooked, from the mind-bending puzzle solving to the powerful romance building between Jess and Mike.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Danielle Trussoni is a master storyteller and The Puzzle Master is masterful, compelling, complicated, involving and just plain unputdownable. I'm so glad she has a new series and this won't be the only one with this wonderful concept.

I really enjoyed the puzzle aspect of this book and that's what drew me to want to read this thriller. The author put a lot of time into researching and depicting all of the puzzles - so complex and intriguing. While I enjoyed the puzzle aspect of the book, when it veered off into the more supernatural/thriller arena I didn't find it as easy to read. There were a lot of moving parts to keep track of in order to keep up with the story. The author weaves a good tale and I like her writing style. I would give this book 3.5 stars - I rounded up because the puzzle aspect of this book was so good.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an unbiased review.