Member Reviews

Popcorn fiction at its finest, Puzzle House delivers chills and horror of the highest degree. Not suitable for the easily impressionable, it tells the story of 6 strangers called to read the will of a millionaire. Only one knows him and his ex-wife doesn’t have much good to say about him. They all have dirty secrets and take part in one last puzzle for different reasons, either money, curiosity or nothing to lose. The mansion is a series of escape rooms that offer horrific experiences and the losers won’t be laughing about missing the clues. Despite not being too well defined, the characters are likable. Even a really mean one was funny. The ending was not what I expected. I thought it was brilliant but it significantly changed things. The plot is addictive and makes for a fast read. It feels like watching a movie… a very, very creepy one. If Doctor Who hadn’t made me fear mannequins enough, Puzzle House will have me running out screaming next time I’m at the store. Enjoyable!
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Wicked House Publishing!

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This book right was an escape room on steroids! I have read others by this author and have to say he is constantly bringing such unique stories to the horror genre. In this particular one he brought some mythology along with his way of horror. Yet again the gore is on point and paired well with the psychological aspects. Think of Saw and Indianna Jones, a perfect pair!

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Saw meets Escape Room meets Cabin in the Woods meets The House on Haunted Hill in this fast paced horror adventure through deceased puzzle maker Alexi’s Puzzle House.

Six strangers compete to beat a series of escape rooms with the hopes of splitting the eccentric man’s fortune. Who are they to him? Are they connected to each other? What’s the real end game here? The setup begs a lot of questions. Unfortunately, the answers are ambiguous at best.

The novel starts off promisingly. I expected it to be derivative from the flap copy but horror tropes are successfully recycled all the time. I wanted that to be the case here. The rooms are clever. I felt the pressure of diminishing time and the thrill of whether the participants could beat the clock. The mythological aspect was a nice touch.

My first hint that something wasn’t going to feel satisfyingly plotted was Oscar’s room. Surrounded by a host of corpses, his hasty decision to self-mutilate begs the question: If a human bladder was key, why not take one of theirs or at least try to, first? When Joy later checks for a safety being off on the side of a Glock 22, I sighed. You don’t have to be a firearms expert, but Glocks do not have a thumb switch-type safety to check. There’s an article about their safety features here:

https://crimefictionbook.com/2016/02/04/do-glocks-have-safeties/#:~:text=This%20is%20a%20boo%2Dboo,.%E2%80%9D%20That's%20actually%20not%20true.

Many people won’t know the difference, but that doesn’t mean the author should get a pass.

I was still hooked through about eighty percent of the novel. I was even okay with the unlikable characters. Again, that horror trope. Unpleasant people feel more expendable, hence the Saw series of transgressors meeting awful fates. Hill having turned out to be a pawn villainized one of the few I found sympathetic. No one in the rooms seem to have been innocent.

The apocalyptic ending sealed the deal on this book earning a three-star review from me when it started out as a solid five. I felt let down. Like things weren’t really pulled together. Even in speculative fiction, there needs to be sufficient world-building to pull off such a bizarre final act. I really wish there was more development done on this one because the escape room portions of the book are so good. Thank you to Duncan Ralston, Wicked House Publishing, and NetGalley for the ARC of Puzzle House: A Novel.

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This was...disappointing. I expected a little more extreme horror from this and got a recycled Saw plot, essentially, but somehow toned down. Our characters just happen to know some sort of mythology to solve the puzzles rather than actual clever solutions. I didn't like the direction it went at the end as well, it just felt too mystical.

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I randomly ran into this book while browsing NetGalley and the cover immediately drew my attention, and so did the synopsis. A book about a group of strangers being brought together by a puzzlemaster, to compete for his inheritance by completing intricate puzzles and escape rooms. That just sounds fantastic. I absolutely love escape rooms and locked room/closed circle murder mysteries. So anything in that vein will immediately grab my attention.

The start of this book was incredibly strong. Giving 1 chapter to each of the characters to introduce them and get them to the puzzle house was a smart decision. The prose was decent, nothing spectacular, but that's not why I was reading this in the first place. When the escape rooms started my hopes were still very high, but my enjoyment rapidly declined with each subsequent room. It's not that the book was bad in any way, it just took a direction that I was not expecting and was not a fan of. In the end this was an easy 1 day read and I don't mind that I've read it. But I cannot go higher than a 3 star

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This had everything going for it. Characters that you wanted to know more about and a plot that was going to keep you reading all night.

The ending ruined everything and I truly felt like it had been a waste of my time.

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3.5/5. This book had strong characters and good momentum with the plot only to end up with a rather disappointing ending.

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This was a pretty good read. Interesting, good characters, well-written. A good build up. I wasn't gripped but kept reading. ANF then the last 15% completely let me down. Confusing and disappointing.

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The start of the book was brilliant written, characters was well developed, the plot had promises. As I was reading the book towards the end, I was very much disappointed on the direction it took. The end was very sloppy finished and felt rushed.

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Such a disappointment.

This book started off brilliantly, it was exciting, innovative and I was invested in a few of the characters but half way through I started to worry about its direction.
There is little context, a lot of mismanaged character traits and absolutely no substance.
When I got to the last 10% I was completely lost and annoyed and that ending was shockingly bad.
I was left thinking, what was the point?

So much promise, so little delivery. I’m gutted I couldn’t recommend this.

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I’ve already DM’d poor Duncan asking for a sequel after finishing this ARC! Puzzle House was a fantastic, twisty read that kept me guessing along the way. Six strangers are invited to the estate of deceased multi-millionaire Alexi, including his ex-wife, a doctor and a convicted criminal. The winner of the 150 million is the sole survivor of the estate turned escape room.

We are along for this bloody ride, rooting for a winner and getting lost along the way. I really enjoyed this short read, and I liked the ending a lot! I didn’t predict it, and I love a twisty and bleak style ending.

Thankful to NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

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"puzzle house" is a saw/cabin in the woods type horror novel. when alexei, a puzzle master, dies, he creates an elaborate and dangerous final last escape room and invites his ex wife and some other literally random people to compete for his multimillion dollar estate. when they all arrive in the house, they clearly realize that they all will die, save for one winner.

this book is not scary or gory. it really has no stakes because you don't care about any of the characters at all. there is no context behind anything, especially why the random people were invited. the ending is so bizarre and a major let down. the most interesting part of this novel was the research into ancient religions and demonology, though most of it seems completely incorrect and exoticism at its finest. all of these characters are white. the slavic names are spelled incorrectly. it's not very entertaining and many deaths are not on the page. the ending is not at all what you expect, and there is no closure.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you NetGalley, Duncan Ralston, and Wicked House Publishing for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Puzzle House: A Novel. I received an advanced review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Where to start? This book had it all. Interesting cast of characters, world building, mind games, and a plot that keeps you coming back for more. It is short and fast paced.

This book reminded me of Saw, The Da Vinci Code, and a bit of National Treasure in a way. A movie based on it would be a heck of a lot better than the movie that was called Escape Room, which does have a lot of similarities to this book.

I hope there is a sequel that follows the survivor navigating the strange, new world that was described at the end.

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"Six strangers arrive at the home of preeminent puzzle master Alexei Vasiliev for the reading of his will. Among them are the deceased's widow, who'd already begun divorce proceedings, a virologist troubled by actions in his past, and a convicted murderer on day release. The potential beneficiaries will split Vasiliev's $150M fortune if they participate in his last great work."

So many unexpected things happened throughout the book, it really kept me on edge. There was no lull throughout the whole book, and the character introductions were so good. fast-paced escape room-type horror that definitely went in directions I did not expect.

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Holy shit, this shit gave me STRESS. The puzzles were so intricatedly crafted. I loved every second of this book. I would LOVE a part 2!

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That ending 🤯 I was so surprised by this little book! A very fast paced, short read that will absolutely have you unable to put it down! Had in not been for *life things* getting in the way, I definitely wouldn’t read it in one sitting 😂
Big content warning—this was way more dark and gruesome than I anticipated it to be! First book I’ve read by this author, I am pretty sure the other books by him are similarly dark and twisted 😆 I just did not anticipate it to go in the direction it did. But I’m glad it went that way…the “why” of why all these people are trapped in this puzzle house & what occurs afterwards. Creepy & scary for sure 😳 I only feel like the ending could’ve been fleshed out a little more, felt rushed through to me!

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4.5 ⭐️ - I was able to read this as an ARC from NetGalley and wasn’t disappointed. It’s more mild horror which was nice to get back into the genre without being completely overwhelmed with gore. The puzzle rooms were clever and reminded me of if you combined Saw and Cube together. Easy and quick read - took me about 2 sittings after work to finish it. The ending was a bit abrupt but sets the scene well for a sequel.

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Not for the faint of heart, Duncan Ralston has done it again. Deplorable, gag worthy, haunting horror wrapped in a nice little package - I ONLY recommend this to those that have a true taste for horror!

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Six strangers arrive at the home of preeminent puzzle master Alexei Vasiliev for the reading of his will

I haven't read a ton of Ralston's books, but I always find their descriptions intriguing. This book was a very fun horror novel that kept me on my toes the whole time.

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This was a fun, and sweaty read. A lot of excitement. Seems like mixing a gory horror film with an adventurous storyline. Really enjoyable.
Ralston knows how to say the right things for your insides to do the wrong things.

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