six strangers are informed that they are the beneficiaries of a famous puzzle master and given the opportunity to win millions of dollars from his fortune. but, in order to collect said millions, first they must go through a series of puzzle and escape rooms where they are left to make certain decisions to survive. it seems like the perfect setting for a thriller/ horror book. it is probably a little more horror than thriller since it reminded me a little bit of the saw movies with the puzzles and repercussions if the puzzles weren't solved correctly within the given timeframe. the end of the book was rather abrupt and took an odd turn that left things hanging, so i don't know if there is going to be a sequel or not and being that i am not a fan of ambiguous endings that don't provide closure, the ending was a little bit disappointing. overall, it was a fast-paced quick read and a decent thriller despite the gore and lack of closure ending, so it was still worth reading.

thank you to netgalley and wicked house publishing for allowing me the privilege to read an ARC of this book.

This book was fine, I just couldn’t get into it

~This was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC in return for my honest review. I absolutely found this incredibly enjoyable from start to finish (well…almost). My biggest gripe was that the novel concluded on somewhat of a cliffhanger - I would have gladly enjoy another 100 pages as the world Ralston provides us with after Henry arises from Puzzle House is incredibly intriguing. I sincerely hope there is a follow up to this entry where some plot lines can be concluded. I also wanted it to be just a tad (or a lot) more gruesome. When Oscar is assisting Joy in extracting his own bladder - absolutely brilliant. I wanted more!!! And poor Joy…I didn’t think she would bite the bullet so abruptly. However, Nungals demons have assembled and exited Puzzle House and, are set free to this new world.

This is exactly the type of book and escape room genre I am constantly searching for. This did not disappoint at all and in fact, I am very interested in reading more from Duncan in the future. I do hope he decides to continue this story and we can see how Henry navigates in his revenge with Infiniti and if he can find his wife Mercy; if she or anyone else is still alive.

Highly recommend this one. Cheers!

Puzzle house had a great concept. Strangers choose to enter a house with various escape room type puzzles. If they can survive and solve the puzzles they split a vast fortune. The characters had interesting enough stories, but I was lost in the background of the puzzles and extreme horror involved in solving them. About two thirds in it became difficult to see it through, but at the same time I wanted to know the ending.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley, thank you! This book was unhinged (and thankfully, not realistic) in the most fun possible way. It reminded me of Moriarty/the episodes of Criminal Minds in which an evil genius is targeting the whole team, which is to say, it’s unabashedly batshit, and I couldn’t put it down. It goes in a decidedly supernatural direction that I didn’t expect, and I love an ambiguous ending! Really enjoyed it, much more than I expected to.

Puzzle House’s initial plot is very intriguing. A puzzle master dies, and in his Will his six heirs have to compete in a series of puzzles to win his fortune. I really liked the first third to half of the book, but then the puzzles became quite gruesome and book felt like it had a satanic vibe. I didn’t enjoy the last third of the book at all unfortunately. The ending seems like it was set up for a sequel.
2.5 rounded up to 3.

Twisted, like usual for Duncan. Unputdownable. I loved the intrigue and the suspense that kept growing the more you got through the book. I love horror movies that include labyrinths and escape rooms, so this was right up my alley. Will definitely recommend!

Everything I wanted, and more?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Puzzle House is the latest horror novel from Duncan Ralston following 6 strangers who enter the Puzzle House under the pretenses of a will reading that promises to leave them all millions. What they don't know is the consequences of the real life escape room they have just stepped into.

This book is essentially Saw meets Escape Room - two horror movies I happen to LOVE. I've been a fan of the Saw franchise nearly my whole life so I knew I was going to love this one, but I did not expect such an intricate backstory and lore. The end of the book was such a surprise and I know people are either going to love it, or get really pissed off about.

Puzzle House comes out September 15th. I really hope this one finds its audience because if you know what you're going in to, and it sounds up your alley, you are definitely going to love it.

QOTD: what is your favorite board game? And if you like the Saw movies, which one is your favorite?

I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced reader’s copy of this book through NetGalley. It has been several years since I have been a reviewer there and have been hoping to renew that side passion of mine. Though my time is still limited with my publishing schedule, I do hope to add a book every once in a while. Please bear with me as I get my sea legs back with writing reviews.

That being said, Puzzle House: A Novel by Duncan Ralston was a nice welcome back. This was my first book by Ralston and hope to add several more into my TBR pile. You can preorder the book now on Amazon, but it will be released on September 15, 2023.

As soon as the characters were in play within Puzzle House, I was immediately reminded of the 2001 remake Thir13een Ghosts starring Matthew Lillard and Tony Shalhoub. Though there are quite a few differences between the movie and this novel, the overall premise is the same: billionaire dies and passes his legacy on in his will, each of the rooms hold traps moving our characters through to one central location where the diabolical truth is revealed.

In Puzzle House, the six seemingly random strangers are thrown into one sadistic escape room after another as they compete to win the final prize – Vasiliev’s fortune. It doesn’t take them long to realize they were not selected at random, and there is a far more sinister plan in place.

Though I didn’t find anything unique or surprising within this novel, that does not discount the fun of reading this. It is a fast read and one I definitely recommend.

3⭐️ Going into this book I thought it was going to be similar to the escape room movies but it was completely different and was much darker. This book is about a group of people who get invited to go over a will of a Master Puzzle Maker where they are said to be beneficiaries and will get some money. This turns into the house being a set of different rooms that are puzzles they have to solve to get the money. But not everything is what it seems and things start to happen. This book definitely didn’t have a dull moment and I was invested in what was going to happen which made this book very fast paced and a quick read which I liked. There was a turn in this book that I was not expecting and it left me with questions and the way the book ended made me confused but also interested in what is going to happen next. This book had a lot of gore and horror aspects I didn’t expect but if you like that mixed with escape rooms/puzzles I would recommend this.

Six strangers, a chance to win $150M, a puzzle house. Sounded like an interesting horror/mystery book, but it picked me up and dropped me off in outlier alley.

This sounded intriguing and piqued my "trapped/escape house" interest. This book started on a high note. Six individuals receive notice that they are beneficiaries of Alexei Vasiliev, a puzzle master. They need to come to his house for the reading of his will. For his estranged wife, it makes sense to be there, but the others do not know Alexei Vasiliev or why they are in the will but with a lot of money on the line they agree to attend.

When they arrive, they learn that they must complete six puzzles/escape rooms and that they can leave at any time. But as they begin to play, things prove to be deadly. Already I was annoyed, they are told they are inheriting money and then there is the whole well......you need to do this first, take your chances, and see what happens....

This started strong for me as the author introduced the six strangers and had them arrive for the reading of the will. But as they begin to play alone and 'escape' the puzzles/escape rooms, things began to go downhill for me. Toward the last fourth of the book, things get even more deadly and bizarre. The book takes a few big turns, and they just didn't work for me. I went from enjoying the book to feeling quite meh about it.


Others are enjoying this book more than I did, so please read their reviews as well. It has shock value, I will give it that but at the same time, when it took a turn, I was ready to tap out.

Six strangers arrive at the house of Alexei Vasiliev, the puzzle master, for the reading of his will. They have been named as beneficiaries following his untimely death. All is not what it seems. In order to obtain his vast wealth, they must complete 6 puzzles and survive.

Wow, I read this book in one sitting. It's a mash between Escape Room and Saw, but it's unique in its own way. I was hooked from page one and couldn't put this twisted thriller down. It's relatively fast-paced, but the ending did feel a bit rushed. It took a very weird turn at the end that I completely did not see coming. It was a pleasant surprise. It has an excellent setup for book 2, and I can not wait to see what happens next.

I enjoyed the different POVs and the introduction to 3 of the characters at the beginning. It allowed me to engage with them and had a little background on the characters before the puzzle began. We are then introduced to the other 3 characters in the puzzle, which, for me, added to the suspense. In addition, I really enjoyed the puzzles. At times, it felt like I was one of the characters racing against the clock to solve the puzzle at hand. There's a lot of ancient history and mythology in this book, which at times got a bit confusing to follow. But once you wrap your head around it, it was very interesting.

So if you enjoy a dark and gruesome thriller , this is a must-read.

I love a good puzzle and a good survivor horror. This blends both. There are a few unexpected twists that added versus detracted to the story for me as well as interesting scenarios that kept me from putting it down. The ending did feel abrupt but i’m ready for more, so please tell me there is a second book coming although I’ve no idea what that one would read like. This was a fast read that I tore through so I could see what would happen to our puzzle participants. Recommend.

Read via #NetGalley with expected publishing Sept 15, 2023 by Wicked House Publishing.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. It was fast paced and I wasn’t sure what would happen next. I went into this relatively blind and had expected it to be more puzzle focused instead of, someone will have to die. I had hoped Any deaths would be an effect of the puzzle rooms, not the reason for the puzzle rooms. The amount of mythology and ancient history also made it slightly hard to follow along with the clues since i do not have background knowledge on the subjects. I also felt like there was a lack of detail during some of the action scenes and I found it hard for my imagination to follow along with the story.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

While I really enjoyed the premise of the story I felt as though the "puzzles" were just plain gruesome and not really puzzles. I really liked the idea of this book but it failed for me on the execution. I would recommend this to anyone looking for an easy quick read that has a really dark storyline.

I will say the ending leaves me wanting closure as well as I was a bit confused with its ending and found it to be a bit abrupt.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy.

Upon reading the book I did find it to be a bit more of a thriller with horror elements to it. It is a pretty quick read and I finished it in two sittings, wanting to find out what happened next. The characters were well thought out but I didn’t feel particularly connected to one of them. However, it was almost predictable Henry would be last because he seems to be mentioned the most and since he is described as the leader.

Some of the cons to me were the involvement of ancient history. Although very thought out, it’s just not my favorite thing and was a bit confusing at some points. I also would’ve liked a bit more detail to some of the scenes especially how they come up with the answers to the puzzles. It may just be my lack of history knowledge but the pieces weren’t connecting together for me.

I would love to read a second book because now I’m on edge wanting to know what happens next.

This book was really good. Glad I got the chance to read on NetGalley early. I definitely agree with other reviewers that this felt like a book version of Saw meets The Cube, but it didn't feel derivative. Lots of new ideas were in this book. The puzzles in it were unique, although I wish they were a little more elaborate. In any case, it was a really good story, and the ending was fantastic. Ralston should definitely write a sequel where he explores that world in more depth.

“𝒢𝓇𝒾𝑒𝒻 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓈𝑜𝓃,” 𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹, 𝑜𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶 𝓈𝒶𝒹 𝓈𝓂𝒾𝓁𝑒. “𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓀𝑒𝓎 𝒾𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹.”

Wow this book was so much fun, I had the best time reading this novel!

The whole story is captivating, six strangers, six puzzles to solve, six ways to die. It was dark, action packed and fast paced. I couldn’t put the book down. The characters were interesting, they all had their own unique background stories that someways added to the puzzles. I especially loved Henry’s character.

I have read a few books previously by Duncan Ralston but this definitely was my favorite so far! I love everything related to escape rooms and puzzles in books and movies and when I realized what this book is about it gripped me immediately!

I highly highly recommend reading this book! I definitely would love to read a sequel to this one, I need more to this brilliant story!

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @userbits for providing me an ARC of this brilliant book in exchange for my honest review.

The description of this book hooked me right away, it sounds like mix of an Escape Room and Saw. The plot and characters hooked me right away, as the beginning of the book gives the readers just enough information to be intrigued but not enough to know what is going to happen. The book read like a B-Horror movie (in the best way possible) I very rarely enjoy movie adaptations of books but this one would be really fun to watch. At times the specific details to describe the scenes got a little muddy, but overall this was a very enjoyable thriller to read!

DNF’d the book at 63%

So one thing I really don’t like so far is we’re about halfway through this book so far and there’s no hint as to why this guy is doing this to any of these people so far. I’m also not sure if I’m supposed to care about any of them either and I don’t. I’m not even sure if I like any of the characters tbh.

Then I agree with another one of the reviews I read that there are a lot of facts about ancient civilizations and gods that don’t really seem important to the book. In fact, it kind of makes it a little confusing as I don’t see exactly what all of it has to do with the book? Then they’re trying to place magic from my understanding in this book as well which makes sense and doesn’t really hint at it until this far in the book.

Sometimes things like that in a book is a good surprise. This far into the book I find it makes the book already seem even more ridiculous. I wanted to like this book so much but found it a disappointment from the premise I thought would be promised.