Six strangers find themselves in an escape room mansion competing for millions of dollars after thinking they were just going to find out what they were bequeathed in a stranger's will. At first glance I thought this book was going to be like the Saw movies--a theme we’ve all already seen. But I was so wrong. This book was a completely unique spin on the escape trope and I enjoyed it so much. The blending of historical occult, Gods, demons, artifacts and symbols was incredibly done (so much so that I found myself researching them more after reading the book!) It was a short read, but the author did a great job developing the characters and making you invested in their outcomes. That being said, I need the authors to write a sequel because the way this novel ends is amazing and I need to know more.

I really enjoyed Woom from this author but this one was so interesting! Not at all what I had expected but the writing had me hooked from the beginning and I'm obsessed.

Escape Room meets Saw meets Hell!! I have never been so emotional invested in a story as I was with this one. Yes, there were tears shed.

6 puzzles, 6 people and 6 ways to do. Will anyone get out alive? If you love Thirteen Ghosts, any Saw movies or the 2018 Escape room movie. This is a read for you!

You have the prisoner, the widow, and the healer, are they connected or completely strangers. There is so much detail it keeps the story line going without giving too much information. You get a back story of some of the players right off the bat. It gives you that emotional connection. What secrets are they hiding? Why were they chosen?

This was so well written. Duncan has done it again! If there was a sequel to this story I would read it.

I tried to post to Goodreads and got an error. I just went to my page and added the review.

Puzzle House: A Novel
By Duncan Ralston
Publisher Wicked House Publishing
Release Date September 15, 203

Characters: 4/5
Plot: 3/5
Pace: 4/5
Suspense: 4/5
Overall Enjoyment: 4/5

This is what some might say another escape room horror story. Alexei Vasiliev was a puzzle master and now after his death, six strangers are at his home for the reading of his will. There are several people of importance there, his widow who had started divorce proceedings, a convicted murderer and a virologist who has been troubled by his past actions. They are to take a piece of the 150M fortune if they can do one thing. They must participate in one of his great works…puzzle house. It is not exactly what the participants think it is when they get started. Someone is watching their every move. Someone is playing a game with them. Who is going to win and who will lose? It is a very deadly adventure and they each know that they must finish the game in order to get to the money. The ending will prove to be quite deadly.






4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review

This wasn't terrible, but unfortunately for Ralston I 1) love escape rooms, 2) love escape room horror, and 3) just read this same story earlier this year, but done better, unfortunately. Is Puzzle House a bad novel? It really isn't, but then it's not very good either. For a quick afternoon easy breezy horror read though, it works well.

Let's start with the story itself: six strangers are invited to a will reading, all told that if they solve all the puzzles in the dead man's house, they'll win his inheritance of many millions of dollars along with the crazy puzzle house. Ralston introduces the "main" characters in their own chapters, which are three of the six players, immediately giving away the other three as for sure dying because they're given brief introductions and minimal backstory. But then - Ralston is NOT subtle. At all. Every hint to each "puzzle" is spelled out. Every character's action, every thought, every. single. thing. is told to the reader. Everything! It was so frustrating. Even when it made no sense.

For example: One of the main characters picks up an item and keeps it. The 3rd-person narration of the story makes note of this. The character thinks on it. Then Ralston has another character mention noticing the other person has this item... and then does nothing with it. The item does make a brief reappearance later on... is Ralston afraid of readers claiming MacGuffins? If so, he either doesn't know what a McGuffin is, or he genuinely thinks he is a genius and all of his readers are morons and so is dumbing down absolutely everything in Puzzle House to an inane, repetitive, nonsensical degree.

That's my other issue - the creator of the puzzle house our protagonists find themselves trapped in is noted, often and frequently, as being a 'Puzzle MASTER'. Not puzzle maker, puzzle MASTER. At no point in this novel did that come across as believable, because the puzzles weren't that exciting or confusing or intricate. Now, I love escape rooms and escape room horror and I'm not expecting some insanely clever trap but the incessant focus on 'Puzzle MASTER' is, of course, going to have the reader reflect on the puzzles... which were not impressive.

Then there was the twist, which again mostly reminded me of Jon Cohn's Slashtag. That's the similar novel that I read a few months ago that did almost this exact same topic but was a lot more fun, with more exciting action and a much more interesting cast of characters. Which is how Ralston's own Puzzle House could have been saved, because at the end of it I just cared not one iota about any of his characters, all of which felt little more than cardboard cut-outs.

I don't feel like I wasted my time, and anyone who has a passing interest in this type of horror will likely feel the same but will I remember this book or want to revisit it ever again? Meh.

First of all, thank you for allowing me to read this book!
I would say this was my first real one in the genre, and for that it was great - not too much gore, exciting plot with a bit of mystique and I liked the conspiracy theory line.
In the beginning I felt things were a little bumpy, the story didn’t pull me in as much as by the half of it. Oscar’s death pretty much threw me off as it wasn’t clear to me why he had to die, when they had multiple corpses around - perhaps I missed something, but I did feel that I needed to read between the lines to understand what’s going on exactly.
From there on the story line and the characters backstory unfolded greatly, I enjoyed it very much.
I would appreciate more details about the backstory of the characters, learning more about how they’re all connected to the Infinity and etc, but overall I very much enjoyed this book.

3.5 stars

The premise for this was right up my alley. Rich, eccentric dude dies, leaving his fortune up in the air. Turns out the dude was a world's most formidable "puzzle master" so he decides to leave his fortune to whoever can crack his 6 room puzzle house. Turns out "survive his six room puzzle house" is more the language he should have used. Cut to a survival death game for money (my favorite).

Full disclosure, I'll start off my saying I requested this book based on the premise, not the author. I don't have a very good impression of the author up until this point. I read Woom and thought it was awful. I realize that book is splatter punk horror, which is...what it is, but this was just bad. I laughed my way through it and also found one particular scene unnecessary and offensive (use of the N word). After reading this I can't say my opinion of Woom has changed, but I'm willing to give Ralston more of a chance.

First, I couldn't stop reading this book. The pacing was great, at times brutal, but in a good way. He just jumps right in and honestly does one of the best jobs I've seen recently with multiple view points. The chapters transition seamlessly and I feel like we actually got a chance to know some of the characters. I particularly liked the virologist and the anthropologist. The guard was a little cliche, as was the ex-wife, but you do what you can with a plot that takes place within 24 hours.

Also I loved how this book just...went for it, for lack of a better term. The whole time you're trying to figure out what the long game is, but then the end just hits you with what I (again, at least what I) thought was the least likely ending. I also loved how the book played with time and real world consequences. I really don't want to spoil the ending because it was great, but the reveal at the end was done really well. I would absolutely read more in this universe and was disappointed it didn't go a little further. Big Ready or Not vibes.

I did feel, however, that some of the bits were hokey. It was like he wanted to put in some splatter horror, but didn't want to go too heavy into it, so the bit of gore that was there felt unnatural. I remember feeling like he needed to lean more into it, or keep it more about the puzzles and the psychological horror. The use and characterization of the Guard seemed predictable but also not worth it. There were some parts where I wanted more explanation of the puzzles or more struggle with them. The talk show puzzle was solved to quickly in my mind and despite the poison, didn't really feel high stakes. The office puzzle seemed like it had some really cool, eerie moments, but we weren't there for very long. There were also quite a few info dumps with heavy reliance on the Anthropologist to explain ancient religions. I get it, but I feel like there might have been a more interesting way to do this rather than an exposition dump. I was disappointed pieces of the puzzles didn't give more overall information.

In the end, this book gave me more faith in Ralston's writing and storytelling abilities. I'll read more of his works in the future. This particular book seemed like a learning curve for him, and I feel like his current fan base may dislike it because it's not enough splatter horror, but he may turn off some new readers expecting a psychological puzzle, and not expecting a side of gore and bizarre. I'm glad I read it, but I wish it did give me some more suspense in terms of the puzzles, and let me linger a bit more with the rooms.

Six strangers meet for the first time with one common thing, an invitation to a will, which then turn deadly as only the survivor of a deadly game could take it all. I didn't expect the ending to have a paranormal, apocalyptic twist to it, but I'll definitely wait for the story to continue on a second book.

Six strangers from varying backgrounds come together for the reading of the will of the world’s most prolific puzzle creator. The guests are then put through a series of six deadly puzzles with six possible ways to die. They must solve and live through each puzzle to ultimately get out and cash in.

This book was amazing. There were times I thought I knew where Ralston was taking the story and he took a sharp turn- and I loved it! Do yourself a favor and pick this one up on September 15th. This is a house of horrors you will not want to miss!

This gave me "Saw" vibes. And those panic rooms where you have to solve puzzles to open up the door. I absolutely loved it. I would love to see more from this author perhaps more about this genre and storyline. I could not get enough of this book i was just like every page was just edge of seat. I would recommend you read this i enjoyed every page. And i would read again.

I received a gifted galley of PUZZLE HOUSE by Duncan Ralston for an honest review. Thank you to Wicked House Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

PUZZLE HOUSE brings six strangers together at the home of Alexi Vasiliev, a puzzle master. It is an eclectic mix of strangers including Alexi’s soon-to-be ex and a convicted murder on a day pass under guard just for the reading of the will. There is a $150M pot of money on the line. The potential heirs have two options, walk away with nothing or go through a series of escape rooms in the Puzzle House. What they don’t know is that each room will get more and more deadly.

This was a book that left me with some really mixed feelings in the end. I really enjoyed the concept and was willing to suspend some disbelief (and there is a lot of need for that), but it didn’t entirely go the way I would have wanted. For this type of book, I would prefer to be able to try to follow along and solve the puzzles with the characters and in this case is was more of just watching them come up with answers. The story felt very episodic, almost like interconnected stories in a way.

The horror elements and the creative ways each room was set up was really well done and had a lot of creepy moments I enjoyed. The end went in a direction that was a bit unhinged and I am still not entirely sure how I feel about it!

Thanks to NetGalley, Duncan Ralston and Wicked House Publishing for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Six strangers arrive at the home of preeminent puzzle master Alexei Vasiliev for the reading of his will. The potential beneficiaries will split Vasiliev's $150M fortune if they participate in his last puzzle which is made up of 6 escape rooms.
Once there, the participants soon discover Puzzle House is far deadly than it appears, and that making their way through the rooms may be a matter of life and death. Someone is watching their every move, toying with them, and turning them against each other. With their lives on the line, they are forced to wonder, is it all just a deadly game created by a gleeful sadist, or something far more sinister?

While reading this book the only question on my mind was what would happen next?
I loved the plot, the third POV and how fast-paced the book was. I am definitely reading more of this author's books.
Perfect for fans of horror mystery, survival of the fittest and Agatha Christie's 'And then there were none'.

4🌟.

And then there were none meets escape rooms? What could go wrong? Six people and six puzzles to solve in order to survive the puzzle house, but, unfortunately, the characters are underdeveloped and uninteresting, the puzzles can't actually be solved by the readers, and the point of the entire thing is confusing and outlandish. Around 80% in, I just skimmed to get to the end, which was the worst part of all.

I have never read a bad Duncan Ralston book and this didn’t disappoint! It was a great story and I couldn’t put it down!

First of all thanks to NetGalley and the author for sending me a free copy.
I have some mixed feelings about this book. The first half was amazing, it was fast paced and I loved the escape room vibe but near the end the book turned on something completely different and “supernatural” and that left me quite confused.
I do recommend it to fans of horror and thrillers because this book has both.

Six strangers are summoned to the home of dead millionaire Alexei Vasiliev for the reading of his will -- well, five strangers and Alexei's starlet ex-wife plus a corrections officer who is just there to keep an eye on Henry, who was summoned from prison. They shortly find out that puzzle master Alexei has reconfigured his house into the ultimate set of escape rooms. If they manage to get out, they will get to split $150 million.

The plot had me hooked as soon as I read it. Puzzles? Check. Escape rooms? Check? Random strangers thrown together to solve a problem? Check. Gruesome deaths? Check. This book was just a pleasure to read. The plot moved quickly and I liked the puzzles and how they related back to each "guest".

My only gripe is the characters could have been fleshed out a little better. I found myself going back more than once to remember who someone was. However, that didn't take away the fun of the plot. A solid 4 stars.

I have to add this book to my list of books I read in a day. This definitely gives SAW vibes honestly. If you enjoyed that movie, add an escape room and you've got this book. This was a great read. Definitely recommend for my horror fans.

First, as always, thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for a review.

What do you get when you take the movie ESCAPE ROOM, mix in a healthy dose of SAW, add a sprinkle of TEMPLE OF DOOM, and just a pinch of 13 GHOST, and mix it all together with the twisted mind of Duncan Ralston? You get his newest book - PUZZLE HOUSE.

Sound intriguing? It most certainly is.

While the beginning is slightly confusing, Duncan manages to wrap everything up at the end - in an extremely twisted, and completely unforeseen, way.

I'm not going to rehash the story here; there are plenty of reviews that have already done that. But I would like to go through some of the "good, bad, and ugly" to give you a feel for what you're in for with this wild ride of a story.

The Good: Well, in a nutshell, Duncan's prose. His writing is very easy to read, and flows naturally - almost effortlessly. It's concise, and deliberate, without much extra (for example, he doesn't take four paragraphs to describe a fountain pen like some "king" of horror might do).

The Bad: There isn't much that I could tag as "bad". Each room that the characters had to survive had a distinct purpose towards the end of the story. Contrary to my statement in the "good" section, I may have liked a little more backstory on the construction of the house -maybe he could have added an epilogue that went into the past, where Vasiliev got the idea to "remodel" the house without anyone questioning it. That was a little plot-hole that wasn't really addressed.

The Ugly: I have to admit, a lot of the other reviews are spot on with their statements about flimsy character development. They're too cliché - for example, there's a sadistic prison guard (who was annoying) and a politician with no morals. Both have been overdone. And while the lack of novel characters doesn't detract from the overall story, it does make it hard at times to really care whether the survive or not.

All in all, PUZZLE HOUSE was a fun read, and left itself wide open for a sequel - which I hope is in the works, because it certainly deserves one. Or, maybe a prequel. Possibly both? Only Duncan knows, and hopefully he'll let us know soon. If you've never read anything by Duncan, you can't go wrong starting with this one.

I received an Arc copy for an honest review
4.5 stars

Puzzle house is an imaginative and ransacking mystery, hell bent on take your full attention off of everything else and holding you hostage.

This is a book you can't and won't want to keep down with highly complex characters you can root for, blurred lines between "good" and "evil", as well as a thrilling mystery set in a tone setting house similar to the widely popular movies, knives out.

Puzzle house is one book, mystery fans would want on their shelves.

I thought I would be super into this one based on the description, but unfortunately I didn't super care for it. The characters were a big one dimensional and the ending left much to be desired. The puzzle elements could have been much cooler.