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.

Loved this! Thanks to the publisher for the advanced readers copy. Well-written thriller about a puzzle expert who solves a mystery involving a woman accused of murder. I love puzzles myself and the puzzles woven throughout the book were fun. Highly recommend this one, due out in June.

This book represents a new genre for me (sort of part locked-room, part dark history, gothic and murder), and I thank Random House and Ms. Trussoni for the opportunity to try this book out in the form of an ARC.

While there is much to like in this book, it was not a title that captured my personal reading preferences. I selected the book based upon its cover (great) and the synopsis. After finishing the read, I realized that this much diversion from reality just was not my cup of tea.

For those who enjoy their mystery/thriller selections a little off of the beaten path of conforming substance should give this book a look. The author's effort is not to be minimized in my rating. Being very current in some ways, the content even includes post-COVID references.

Watch for this book to be released in early June, 2023.

Review
The puzzle master

I first started reading Danielle Trussoni when she came out with her angelology books and have always kept an eye out for her new novels.

This one was absolutely fantastic. It's a fast paced mystery/thriller steeped in religious mysticism, and a tremendous amount of research on the author's part which makes the book even more compelling. I never wanted to be far from picking it back up and devouring it!

My first 5 star of the year!

thank you to net galley for the chance to read and review this gem!

For fans of Katherine Neville The Eight. I loved Angelogy years ago. Never quite caught up with her further works. The Puzzle Master had me by the end of 10 pages. I loved the confusion n one character's mind and how they thus saw the world. I keenly became invested in the other main characters. I found I picked non fiction books and was so impressed with author's research and knowledge. Very, very satisfying. I received this as a NetGalley preview and already purchased a HC for family member when book comes out in 6 months. Worth the time, investment, and greatly a full Turkey dinner meal satisfaction. Kudos.

A twisty, turny journey that struggles with pacing a bit in some sections. I still enjoyed it.

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

Angie Kim described The Puzzle Master as " Da Vinci Code + Silent Patient + sprinkles of Stephen King" and I could not have been more intrigued. Mike Brink is a genius at solving puzzles, and creating them is his job. He is asked to meet with Jess Price who is imprisoned for murder, and the story takes off from there, never once slowing. This book is a must read for anyone who loves action, twists, turns, and of course, puzzles. I do not see any way this does not become a film. It is a well done, wild ride!

This story held me in its grip from the first page and never let me go throughout. This tale is a puzzling adventure, spanning timelines and world religions. I would recommend this for fans of Blake Crouch and Donna Tartt.


Posted to GoodReads @KAT

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC!

I was between 2 and 3 starts on this book and really went back and forth between 2 and 2.5 stars until the twist at the very end. Don’t get me wrong, this book is beautifully crafted. The amount of detail of the puzzle entertained with religion sometimes went over my head, at no fault to the author.. There were times when I was fully engrossed and times I had to push through and skim.

Well, the premise was interesting, but this novel quickly devolved into Dan Brown territory—inane plot, lackadaisical prose, cardboard characters.

The Puzzle Master is a story of Mike Brink, a man who experienced a serious head injury playing high school football. This injury caused him to be able to solve - and create - complex puzzles, making him notorious for doing so. Mike is called upon to help crack a mysterious code transcribed by convicted murderer Jess Price, in order to get to the bottom of the crime.

The story had me captivated and interested in the outcome of the story. I appreciated the inclusion of some of the actual puzzles, which were essential to immersing myself in the story. I also found some of the religious backstories very intriguing. There were elements of mathematics and computer science that lent themselves to real, current issues in physics and computing. The story reminded me of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon novels, but it was still unique in its own right.

Without spoiling the ending, I will say that there was an element of the conclusion of the novel that took away a star for me. I felt that it was a little forced. Overall, I do recommend this book. It is a fun read and a change of pace from what I have been reading lately. Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an advance e-reader copy of this book!

When I read the synopsis of The Puzzle Maker and saw the comparisons with The Da Vinci Code, I knew this was a book I needed to read immediately! Thanks to NetGalley and Random House I was able to get a copy and start without much delay. We are introduced to Mike Brink, a man who after a traumatic brain injury, is able to see and solve puzzles in a genius like way due to his condition, Acquired Savant Syndrome. Brink's help is requested by an inmate serving 30 years for murder in an upstate New York prison. Brink decides to go visit the inmate, Jess Price, and is presented with a puzzle that will change everything for him as he hunts for the truth behind this God Puzzle and what actually happened to Price the night she supposedly murdered her boyfriend. Though the story starts off great and the inclusion of the puzzles were a great addition, some of the story really went off the rails a bit at the end. Overall an exciting and enjoyable read, just wasn't quite everything I had hoped for. Would definitely recommend to fans of the Da Vince Code.

“Puzzle’s are composed of patterns. They are meant to be solved.” (Trussoni).
If you like Dan Brown’s Da Vinci’s code, you’ll love The Puzzle Master.
When our hero Mike Brink was young he suffered a concussion playing high school football. When he awoke, he was suddenly aware “there was a system, an essential order to the world” (Trussoni) He saw it” as patterns…patterns everywhere. At first, “all he knew was that he was experiencing highly structured geometric hallucinations on a regular basis” (Trussoni) After years of learning how to live with his “gift” Brink made a name for himself as the foremost puzzlemaker of the world. As such, he is asked by psychologist Dr. Moses to make sense of a puzzle created by Jess Prince, one of her patients who is herself “living in a puzzle”. Ms Prince, famous writer now infamous murderer, is serving her sentence at the New York State Correctional Facility abd has taken to communicating in complex cryptic symbols.
When Brink meets Miss Prince he feels a strange connection and they have a surprisingly intimate encounter where Prince secretly passes him another puzzle.
Soon Mike finds himself in a world of rare porcelain dolls, the supernatural, and ancient Hasidic texts which are all as intricately connected as the diagramed puzzles Trussoni includes in her text.
I had forgotten I liked Trussoni’s writing (read Angelology a decade ago).The Puzzle Master was an easy thrilling read and a great story to reintroduce me to Danielle Trussoni’s writing. Now I have to go back and read her titles I’ve missed.

This one started so strong - it was fun of intrigue, puzzles, and dark secrets that seemed to hold so much promise... Unfortunately for me, as the story developed I felt like I was reading two books: one, a dark and twisty thriller (the first half of the book), and the other a piece of literary fiction about religion and man's role in the universe. I enjoyed both, but they didn't mesh together seamlessly and I found myself wanting more of each component rather than feeling like the two pieces ever really unified into one wholly satisfying book. It made the read uneven in pacing and narrative in a way I found distracting and disappointing. There is very strong start and a very strong finish (with a fabulous and fascinating concept of the nature of God thrown in), but some of the road between the two failed to hold my interest the way I wanted it to... It was still an interesting story, and one I enjoyed, though. But that's what made it 3 stars for me....

Concussed as a high school football player, Mike Brink develops Acquired Savant Syndrome, in which he’s able to intuitively solve puzzles, creates puzzles for the NYT, and see connections others can’t. He’s asked to go to a prison to see Jess, a woman jailed for a bizarre crime she has no memory of, but who somehow has one of his original puzzles that was never published.

What ensues is a plot full of puzzles, bad guys, and religious symbols. While it sounds like an intriguing mix, it somehow didn’t really work for me. The plot just seemed too offbeat, with too many easy escapes from complicated situations. Also, I didn’t find myself drawn to any of the characters. I just couldn’t get engaged with the book.

My thanks to the publisher, and to Netgalley for providing an ARC of the book.

As I was making my way through this novel, I felt almost as though I was in an “escape room”., not sure if I’d get out (escape). Fortunately there was an expert to solve the puzzles necessary to finish. Lots of good stuff in the book plus much that was confusing.

This was a really interesting plot. It starts with Mike Brink, who had a traumatic brain injury that allows him to solve puzzles, being asked to see Jessica Price, who is in prison for killing a friend. Lots of puzzles, bad guys and theology ensues. I think it was a good plot that got a little bogged down in the theology. I found it hard to get into the book for reasons I can’t quite explain. But overall it was pretty good.

En engaging story where puzzles and religious mysteries entwine. I liked the main characters backstory and struggle to create a new self. A satisfying ending.