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.

This book reminded me of so many different things, but all put together to create a story that I could not put down! If you like Saw and conspiracy theories then you will LOVE this book. There's so much to unpack and I loved trying to figure things out alongside the characters. I really didn't expect it to go in the direction it did which I thought was great.

Fast paced with many twists and turns, Puzzle House kept me on edge at all times! I loved discovering each character’s dark secret. Who will get out alive and survive the traps and puzzles?! I never would have guessed! Such a fun and intriguing read.

Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher and author for the pre-release e-book in exchange for my honest review.

I haven’t read a lot of Duncan Ralston books, and after finishing Puzzle House, I realize I need to read some more Ralston stories. Puzzle House is a fabulous story with lots of violence, drama, and animosity. 

A group of six strangers are notified of Alexei Vasiliev’s death and they are the beneficiary. When they all arrive on the day of reading the will, they find out there is more to receiving Alexei’s millions. They have to complete six puzzles. They can leave right away with nothing, or they can work together and complete the challenges. - they all agree to stay. They quickly learn that these puzzles have consequences, some of which can be life or death. 

Ralston has crafted a story of unique puzzles and with special outcomes. The characters are all relatable, with enough background information to get a good feel for the players in this story. The setting, being in a house filled with puzzles, is quite imaginative. I bet it was a blast coming up with these puzzles and the outcome of each player, with the choices they have to make to get to the end. There are lots of twists and turns. Things happened that no one could possibly predict. It ends with an unresolved situation, keeping open to the possibility of a second book.

I highly recommend this story for a fast and bloody good time. Ralston has a fantastic imagination, and it shows in this book.

Thank you #NetGalley for #PuzzleHouse

Three stars because the first 50-60% was really, really good.

The set up for this one was great. And I loved the whole Saw-like puzzle vibe. But it felt like the author had two completely different partial books and then mashed them together. I love twists and turns but the main one in this one was just a bit too much for me.

I do think there's an audience for this book. I'm just not part of it.

Six complete strangers are called to the home of the "puzzle master" Alexei Vasiliev for his will reading. Considering only one of these people has ever even met Vasiliev is pretty intriguing considering the amount of money each person is being promised. The catch is that they must make their way through six interconnected escape rooms within Vasiliev's house.

Once inside the participants soon find that the Puzzle House is much deadlier than they first expected and they are obviously being watched. But by who? What is the ultimate goal?

I don't know why I keep being surprised by Ralston's abilities. This is the third book by him that feels so wholly unique and yet has his obvious voice. I had such a fun time read this. Its a quick read but still is filled with Ralston's unique form of comedy along with the gruesome horror you yearn for when picking up one of his books. I kept finding myself coming up with conflicting predictions about how the book would turn out and still didn't see the end coming. I absolutely demand a sequel though leaving it exactly as written is just as powerful and fulfilling. Definitely recommend to horror fans!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Was really excited because it reminded me of Hellraiser but honestly was so bored I didn’t care about the characters so I was hoping the puzzle mystery would be what drew me in but also that was boring. Not a fan of the ending either

Saw-lite(gore-wise), which I certainly appreciated. Having avoided most of Duncan Ralstons better known works due to a weak stomach, I somehow thought this would be a good fit. A wild thought, considering this is about 6 strangers fighting to beat a dead-mans puzzles for a life changing prize. That being said, this is not a book with heavy graphic violence. It was definitely far below my threshold and that was great!

The first half of the book I read without putting it down. Excellent introduction to the characters. I found Puzzle House fizzled after that, and I was itching to get to its conclusion. Somewhere about halfway through, we changed lanes. Changed directions so significantly, and I wasn't a fan of that direction. The ending left a lot to be desired.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of Puzzle House.

I enjoyed the first half of this book, but found it hard to engage with the second half once the secrets behind the puzzle house were revealed. I liked the puzzles themselves and the characters were engaging, but found it difficult to engage with the overall mystery

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!!

This one was unfortunately a bit of a miss for me. In theory it had everything I love in a book: locked room murder mystery in the literal sense, puzzles, wealthy people, a group of strangers trying to piece it all together! Unfortunately the ending totally took me out of it and was a bit of a “what…. For real that’s how we’re ending this??” Kind of moment.d

Thank you NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for the ARC of The Puzzle House by Duncan Ralston. With the death of Alexei Vasilier, 6 strangers are summoned to the reading of his will. They are each bequeathed with a portion of his multi-million dollar estate. Alexei is a master puzzler maker and in order to get the money, the 6 strangers must solve 6 puzzles, in a house with 6 escape rooms.. Do they all make it out? Read to find out!

Honestly, this is not what i was expecting. the beginning was very promising- with a Saw/ escape house vibe. As the story progressed I found that I didn’t care about the characters at all- and their vast knowledge of demons and religions was weird considering that’s exactly what they needed to solve the puzzles. The book takes a turn and mentions lizard people and has flying demons? I was completely checked out by the 80% mark.

I couldn't put this book down and LOVED 90% of it. The ending threw me and I am taking away a star because I felt like it went from psychological thriller to science fiction and left me feeling kind of disappointed. Overall a gripping story and clever/creative plotline. Still recommend for an entertaining, quick read.

Puzzle House is a fun horror novel with a unique premise. Six strangers are invited to the reading of an eccentric billionaire’s will. Only one of them actually knew the man–Joy Reese, his ex-wife. It quickly becomes obvious that this billionaire doesn’t intend to just hand over his fortune. He intends to make them earn it, through proving their wits through a series of puzzles.

This book is entertaining and fast-paced. There are lots of twists in the plot, not just in the types of puzzles they’re forced to solve, but also in the reveals of each of the characters’ dark secrets. The puzzles were clever, and the consequences of failing to solve them in time were quite severe. There’s quite a bit of intelligent research put into the puzzles, but I can’t elaborate more without including spoilers. That said, some of the turns in the plot were a little over the top, but it was just so fun that I didn’t care.

This book is just over 200 pages, and Ralston doesn’t waste any of them. I grew to love a few of the characters, but I do wish that the book could have been just a smidge longer, so I could learn more about the backstories of some of the other characters.

I read and loved Ralston’s horror novella, Woom, but this book is quite different. While still a horror, it’s far less gory and disturbing. This novel also doesn’t come together under a unifying theme at the end, which Woom did, resulting in it being (in my opinion) a horror masterpiece. This book is more of a mainstream horror thriller action film. However while I’m saying this book isn’t as disturbing, it still might be disturbing for many (most? I’m not sure), so I would check my triggers before reading.

This is an entertaining, intelligent, and short horror thriller with lots of twists and complex characters.

puzzle House book on a wooden backdrop. An open book of a picture of an Escher lithograph of staircases

I loved this book!! I could not put it down from page 1. It was a fun combination of And then there were none and Saw. Puzzle House was the first book I have read by this author and I will be looking for more. The ending had a twist I did not see coming and I hope there will be a second book.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Wicked House publishing for providing this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Like escape rooms? This book is for you! Puzzle House was an quick read that had my attention from the first chapter! Nothing like a game of “escape or die” created by a complete psycho to keep you reading! The twists and turns in this crazy story will keep you reeling, I didn’t want to put it down! Hoping the ending was a hint to a future sequel! I am definitely a new Duncan Ralston fan!