Member Reviews

I thought the premise of the book was interesting, an escape room idea. However I kept getting confused and unable to visualize the puzzles and rooms which kept me from enjoying the book. I did get into it, but was unable to follow the plot when it came to biblical characters, Greek heroes, etc.

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Mixed genre books are always a different kind of reading experience. You go into the story expecting one thing and the next thing you know, you're in a puzzle house with six escape rooms that must be mastered....or else. What is the or else? You will have to read it for yourself. But don't worry, this is a short, intense read that you'll enjoy so much, you'll be surprised at the end of the book. Billed as a horror story, it definitely has that mixed in with some thriller and mystery and even a little over the top fantasy. Enjoy.

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If you like escape room horror and SAW, this is for you.

Six strangers meet at a house for a chance to inherit some cash.

They find themselves having to solve six dangerous puzzles.

This was so fun to read, I love the escape room horror genre, and I could not put it down. It was dark and twisted, fast and busy, and for the most part, quite unexpected.

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This book was not at all what I was expecting. It was complex and what I thought would be akin to the movie Escape Room, ended up being so much more. The storyline was amazing and I loved the array of characters. They were well written and there were definite ones I was rooting for and others I disliked to and was rooting against. We see this group of people enter into the Puzzle House for a chance to win large sums of money and what they get instead is terror and and death and more questions. It was an intriguing journey that I thoroughly enjoyed.

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A good thriller with elements of a puzzle and a closed number of characters. It's a bit confusing at the beginning but once you learn who-is-who you are hooked.
It's surprised me with the twists and I enjoyed it
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

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After the death of a renowned puzzle master named Alexei Vasiliev, six strangers were summoned for the reading of his will. These individuals were unfamiliar with each other and had no knowledge of who Alexei was. However, upon learning of the substantial sum of money that would be divided among them, they agreed to gather at his house and accept the inheritance. Little did they know, they would first have to solve a puzzle, which was the final masterpiece created by the deceased, in order to claim the money at stake.

The group decided to push through instead of leaving with nothing on their pockets. However, the puzzle house is far deadlier than it appears. Six rooms were designed specifically for something more like a ritual, and each requires an offering. As they progress, they discover secrets that connect with each other in the game, revealing how these puzzles are far more sinister than they initially seemed. Now with no choice but to move forward, how will they survive this life-threatening puzzle game?

"Puzzle House" is the first novel by Duncan Ralston. The novel has a fast-paced storyline with an escape room vibe. Initially, I didn't find the book particularly special, as it seemed like any other escape room-themed book where characters must solve puzzles to survive. However, as I delved deeper into the story, I became captivated by an unexpected twist. The author skillfully weaves the connections between the characters, creating a smooth and surprising narrative. Additionally, as a fan of history and mythology, I was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of Mesopotamian, Mayan, and other lore throughout the book. These references, which I have good knowledge of, gave me goosebumps every time I encountered them. As I approached the ending, I sensed that something was different, and I realized that this was not a typical escape room book.

The ending was amazing! It was truly mind-blowing. I didn't expect it to be like that. I loved the combination of mythology, but the scene at the end was incredibly creepy and filled with horror. It felt like a mix of "And Then There Were None", "Escape Room", and "The Cabin in the Woods". I definitely need a sequel for this!

I would give this book a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. It was my first horror read this year and it definitely gave me the creeps. I highly recommend it to fans of horror novels who are looking for a twisted escape room experience. However, please be aware that there are some scenes featuring gore and brutality that may be triggering for some readers.

I want to express my gratitude to NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book for review purposes. As always, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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I think I rate and review books differently than other readers. I see so many awful reviews or ones that knit pick seemingly small details. When I'm reading, I may not even notice that type of thing. Here's what I'm looking for:

1. Does the narrative grab me?
2. Did I want to put it down?
3. Did it move quick enough?

I just want a solid creepy story that keeps my attention, one I can read for hours, one that doesn't require note taking, etc.

That being said, this book was thoroughly enjoyable. The premise is fun. While there are many characters, I never got too bogged down. Once you know who's who, it's easy to keep them straight. I wanted to see what would happen as the group progressed, what awful thing awaited these folks behind the next door.

I also really love how much range Ralston has. This is another facet of his mind and I enjoyed exploring.

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Unfortunately I DNF'd at the 30 % mark. I couldn't get into it. I kept falling asleep.

Thank you @netgalley for my advance copy!

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Six strangers picked to enter a house, solve puzzles, try not to die, and maybe win some money. How could I say no to a premise like that? Read on to find out how a five star idea turned into a three star book.

It started out strong. Interesting characters with intriguing backstories. Lots of little mysteries sprinkled within the bigger questions. Why is this happening? Why these people? Are they all connected? I was excited to see how it would all play out. I really liked the characters and the group dynamic. Naturally, tension within the group grew as time went on and the circumstances became more dire. Even the unlikable characters were entertaining with their antagonistic behaviors increasing the tension. Still, as the game continued, my excitement decreased. The setup for each puzzle was creepy and fun and the consequences for not making it through to the next was horrifying. But, the puzzles themselves managed to be somehow both too complex and boring. And, they are not for the reader to figure out. Then, the turn the story took. I wasn’t mad about it. There are hints of it throughout the book, but, in the end, it just wasn't developed enough. Overall, Puzzle House was a strange mashup of promising ideas and underwhelming execution. Based on the ending, I’m thinking there may be a sequel, but I have no plans to read it.

Thank you NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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I didn't get to finish before encountering an issue with Amazon but I loved what I could read! Thank you for the book!

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*WARNING: This is a gory book. It's like the movie 'Saw' in book form. If you're not a gore fan, I would not recommend this. There are several gruesome unalivings throughout. You have been warned. * Now onto the review, I enjoyed it. I think it's creative and the ending was unexpected. The gore did not bother me but it might bother others. I think the puzzles are well thought out and unique. The unalivings were done in unique ways as well. Overall, I would recommend it. Special Thank You to Duncan Ralston, Wicked House Publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy prior to publication in exchange for an honest review.

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The book had an interesting plot where a puzzle master makes sure that six individuals become his beneficiary. But what is troubling is that only one of the six, his ex-wife knew why she was in the will. The other five didn't even knew the puzzle master, Alexei.

When the six individuals get trapped in the Alexei's house, their only chance to get the inheritance as well as to escape the house, was to complete Alexei's final puzzle. What then started was a series of complex puzzles.

The book's plot was what made me read this book. I was so curious to read it. But the description of puzzles were complex for me to understand. Also, the ending wasn't satisfactory to me, due to the presence of several unanswered questions.

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an enthralling thriller that combines elements of mystery, suspense, and psychological manipulation. With well developed and intriguing characters each harboring their own secrets and motivations. I like clever incorporation of puzzles and riddles throughout the narrative adds an interactive element that will captivate puzzle enthusiasts.

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In PUZZLE HOUSE by Duncan Ralston, six seemingly random people are invited to the reading of a will of a person that only one of them apparently knows. Each can inherit $25 million just by attending. Of course, there is just a little bit more to it than that. This is an interesting thriller as you work to solve each character with each challenge they face.
This is exciting, intriguing, and fast paced. Another great book by Ralston showing just how versatile his writing is.

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I just finished Puzzle House, a Novel by Duncan Ralston and here is my review.

When Alexei Vasiliev dies, his $150 million dollar fortune is left to 6 individuals. Five of whom had never met the man. The only catch is to get their share of his fortune… They have to complete six interconnecting escape rooms.

Seems easy enough until the participants realize that the rooms are far deadlier than meets the eye. Every room gets more intense and the time limits make things even more hair-raising. Someone has eyes on every choice they make and every life that is lost.

Someone has been keeping tabs on them in the real world as well, making each person turn on the next. Can they make it out alive? What kind of a person creates a deadly game and what will they find at the end?

OK this book could have been 100 pages longer and I would have been all over that! GUHHHH the ending! I have sooooo many questions!! I hope there is a sequel and I need answers.

Why these 6 people? A couple you can guess but the others….. Tying up loose ends but what are the loose ends!!! I loved all the occult stuff. LOVED IT. I really enjoyed how the whole story came together. Why did they pick Hall? This I never really understood hence why I hope we get a sequel. I need to know more about the book and all the ancient lore. I could fall down one heck of a rabbit hole.

I liked the build up and all the puzzles. It was really a great book! The writing was exceptional and detailed, it was obviously well researched.

I’m going to find more of the authors work as I love their style and the attention to detail that went into this Saw meets escape room…

Out now so grab this horror-rific masterpiece today.

4.5 stars.

Thank you @netgalley and #wickedhousepublishing for my gifted copy

#puzzlehouseanovel #netgalley #duncanralston #horror #horrorread #halloweenbook #arc #bookreview #bookblog #bookblogger #instagrambooks #IGbooks #IGreader #bookstababe #bookstareviews #booksbooksbooks #bookcommunity #bookarelife #readerofig #readingallday

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The Escape Room franchise (please let them make a 3rd one!) is a guilty pleasure of mine, so once I read the blurb for Duncan Ralston’s newest book I knew two things. I wanted to read it and I’d be more or less predisposed to liking it. I mean six strangers lured to the home of a deceased puzzle master with the chance to win the man’s fortune? Sounds somewhat similar to that original Escape Room movie I secretly (well not so secret anymore I guess) have watched way too many times. What can I say, I love puzzles and escape rooms. I must first say I’ve only read one of Ralston’s previous books, and it’s the book he’s probably best known for: Woom. And oh boy if you haven’t read that one let me warn you that it is brutally over the top gross/gruesome (intentionally so). Being both utterly revolting and strangely engaging at the same time. I knew all his books were not like that and yet having that as my sole experience with his writing, I wasn’t sure what to expect of this new book. And while the premise was indeed somewhat similar to Escape Room what I really ended up experiencing was some crazed mash up featuring elements from Escape Room, 13 Ghosts, the Saw franchise, and a hint of Cabin in the Woods. The book does indeed feature some brutality and gore, though not even remotely in the vain of Woom. I enjoyed the story, the interesting cast of characters, loved the twists (even though I saw a number of them coming well ahead of time), and enjoyed the ending, though I feel there may be some out there that might find it a bit vexing. It’s a quick read, coming in at just a bit over two hundred pages and features a tense and intense fast moving twisted story. Well worth the time. I'd like to thank Wicked House Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Puzzle House.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R6Y3L71ALPBUX/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

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4.5⭐️ This book is a mixed between a giant escape room and the movie Saw. It also brought to mind the movie The Mummy because there’s some ancient history and a deadly book.
This book was so fun and hard to put down with jaw dropping moments.
If you’ve read Woom and loved it like me or can’t read Woom because of what it is, do not pass by this book. It is nothing like Woom, it’s not gross and disgusting, it is totally different and also fantastic.

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Puzzle House by Duncan Ralston was an intriguing Escape Room-esque story with intriguing plot points and great sequencing. It was a fun read!

I received a review copy of this book from the author/publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

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This was a fun ‘Escape the Room’ fast-paced horror story.

There were a lot of twists that continue to make this story intriguing. The more I read, the more I wondered who would be left and would they make it out.

Recommended for anyone looking for a good thriller, with a touch of horror and a very intriguing storyline.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Wicked House Publishing for providing me with an advanced readers copy.

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This book was unbelievably fun. I love Duncan Ralston's writing style and enjoyed seeing how he applied it to some of my favorite horror/thriller/mystery tropes.

When I was a kid, my favorite book, hands down, was the Westing Game. For the unfamiliar, the Westing Game is a classic children's novel in which a group of strangers are named as potential heirs to the fortune of eccentric millionaire Sam Westing. In order to inherit, they must first solve the mystery of his death.

Puzzle House starts with a similar premise: game obsessed billionaire Alexei Vasiliev is dead and names as his heirs a group of apparent strangers, most of whom have no obvious connection to one another. There's Henry, currently serving 15 years for murdering a fellow cop (plus Atkins, the guard sent to accompany him); Oscar, a doctor with terminal cancer; Rudy, an eccentric archeologist; Jessica, a dean at the university where Rudy works; Ileana, an ambitious state senator; and Joy, Vasiliev's estranged wife.

The will requires that the six heirs attend the reading of the will in person, but when they arrive, they find that inheritance won't be a simple process. Vasiliev set up a series of escape-room-like puzzles for them to solve, and only those who make it through all of them will be able to inherit. The stakes of failure? Death, apparently.

The puzzles are designed to get under the players skin (figuratively...and sometimes literally), hinting at the skeletons in their closets. The puzzles also pull symbols and ideas from the old gods of various cultures in increasingly strange and troubling ways. From the get-go, they must make brutal sacrifices in order to survive (Remember the movie Saw? Yeah.).

Both Ralston's writing and the puzzles themselves balance cleverness with gore in a satisfying way, and the tension just keeps ratcheting up the farther into the puzzle house the players get.

I'm a sucker for any horror story that draws from ancient mythology, especially if it isn't limited to Western pantheons, so I was stoked to see references to gods from around the world. I'm also an archaeologist, though, so I tend to be super critical when those sorts of themes are handled poorly. As always, though, Ralston does a pretty damn good job with research, and I was really pleased with how he carried it off.

All in all, this book was a wild ride and exactly the sort of horror that I love to read.

Even though I had a free review copy of this book, I still pre-ordered it because Duncan Ralston deserves my money.

(thanks to Netgalley, Duncan Ralston, and Wicked House Publishing for the free review copy)

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