This book was a miss for me. I had high hopes as this seemed like an intriguing "locked-room" mystery that was going to be a cross between the Saw movie concept and maybe the Hunger Games. The book is about a group of seemingly random people (from a prison inmate to a Hollywood movie star) who are brought together at the "Puzzle House" - the home of a world-renowned "Puzzle Master" who has died and has set up challenges/puzzles for this group to do. The last one remaining once all of the puzzles are complete, will be receiving a massive inheritance. Sounds good in theory right? For the first 3/4 of the book all seemed ok, and the group plodded through the house completing puzzles that turned out to be very specifically designed for each of them and slowly revealed each person's secrets. We also learn of a connection between everyone there and the deceased Puzzle Master. But, there's a book that they assume has invisible ink that keep revealing clues that are more like prophecies and that's when things started to get a bit more unreal to me. I don't know what the author was going for exactly, but the rest of the book felt disjointed to me. And the last 1/3 of the book felt rushed and 1-dimensional. And the end was very dissatisfying to me. I wanted to like this book, I really did.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity of reding the ARC!

After hearing about this book from a lot of fellow readers, I just absolutely had to give it a go. Boy! I was not disappointed, this book keeps you turning pages in suspense of what will happen next.

Definitely a must read!

5 ⭐

Thank you for the opportunity to read this!

Unfortunately - this when fell apart for me.

Right away I was so excited - a puzzle house with saw vibes. YES please. But as we got farther into the house, I felt more and more confused. The mythical references were there but didn't fully come together or make sense and I didn't understand how anyone was getting them once the one person died.

Overall it felt incomplete and clunky. I had more and more questions as it went on and then it just ended with no resolution.

HOWEVER - I feel like its a great start for a fabulous movie.

I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. The downfall was that I requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before the book was archived. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it!

Puzzle House is non-stop action as strangers fight to stay alive in a house made by a master puzzler. I felt like I was reading Saw and loved every second of it. Perfect for anyone who enjoys a slasher.

When the ‘puzzle master’ summons you to his puzzle house of hell for a chance to inherit 150 mil of his fortune it’s a no brainer you go right……yeah that’s until you are thrown in a world of evil chaos!!!!

If Jigsaw and Escape Room had a creepy baby it would be Puzzle House!!!

The Horror, thriller, mystery vibe was on point! The puzzles were creative and I was in a state of wtf is gonna happen next the whole time. It was a fun, quick read and I wish there was more of it. This was my first read by Duncan and it will not be my last!

While this book wasn’t quite what I was expecting, it was still rather enjoyable (and gruesome). I rated it 3/5 stars.

This book was fairly chaotic with no real consistency. There are a plethora of details given about each characters movements with little done to describe the puzzle rooms or puzzles to the reader. Oversaturated with various mythological references and fairly hard to follow. Character development was nonexistent and for some it went backwards. Hard to relate to characters, the author starts introducing us to each character but then gives up after three and jumps into the main even leaving the other three characters unknown to us. Overall, felt like a book that combines saw, cabin in the woods, and escape room in a very jumbled way.

I wanted to love this because I love puzzles and escape rooms. I just think I have very particular taste in horror and rarely does modern horror work for me. I think it’s just me.

In Puzzle House, we follow six strangers as they work together to figure out why they’ve all been summoned to the home of deceased puzzle master, Alexis Vasiliev. Having been named as beneficiaries in Vasiliev’s will, they must complete a series of six puzzles in order to collect his $150M fortune or else leave with nothing. It quickly becomes clear that these rooms are deadlier than they appear, and the feeling that they’re being watched as they work through these escape rooms only adds to the tension.

Puzzle House was such a fun read! This book was a great mix of “Escape Room” and “Saw.” Duncan Ralston writes a fast-paced story with a great mix of mystery, suspense, and horror with smart puzzles and well-developed characters. This was a pretty solid read, and if you are into locked room mysteries, I think you should add it to your TBR!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for the digital copy!

I enjoyed this book. It’s funny how it was able to stick with me. I started reading this book Back in Oct, got away from reading for quite some time yet I still had this book with me when I picked it back up to finish it.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me t reeive this book for an honest review.

This book is filled with mystery, drama and unexpect the unexpected.

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end.

Duncan Ralston is one of my favorites, always such great writing and keeps you on your toes. I loved all the characters in Puzzle House, especially Joy the ex wife. I read this in about 3 days, it was very fast paced, I wanted to know what happened next. Very saw meets an escape room, the man knows how to write good horror. Would reccommend this book to anyone who enjoys the thriller/horror genre! I put Duncan in the same realm as Grady Hendrix.

This book was entertaining. We are following six strangers that are hoping to get a piece of a very successful puzzle maker’s inheritance but when they show up to this weird house to read the will they realize it’s not going to be as easy as they thought it was going to be. They have to survive deadly trials designed by the famous puzzle maker and only one of the six can win the full inheritance but who will it be and will they make it out of this house from hell? This book will take you for a fun ride.

I have received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Eh, 3 stars. It was a fast, interesting read, but I'm not sure I would have read this had I known it was going to end on a cliffhanger.

Your standard gory horror, with very little suspense. Having never seen "Saw" or "Cabin in the Woods" (but having read their synopses) this feels like a mashup of the two. I'm pretty sure this guy has never tried to draft a house before because the mechanics of what he's describing don't really make sense, and the house itself isn't supposed to be supernatural, right? So how do they handle sand storage and cultist dungeoneering?

Not the worst horror I've ever read, decent writing and a titillating plot, but it feels flimsy. I don't believe I'll chase down any sequels.

I wanted to love this book because of the cover but unfortunately that was not the case. From the first chapter there was nothing pushing me to want to keep reading. It was a quick read though, will definitely try another book from this author.

Absolutely what I expected from Duncan Ralston. Any fan will love it. This is something that I want a physical copy of for my collection. Highly recommend it.

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this one. It was a page turner, and I liked the puzzles. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

I like the cover and title. But unfortunately, the story was not for me. I have other books on my Kindle by the author that I will read in the near future.

Honestly, I was expecting a whole "escape room" mixed with "saw" vibe. I love it when I'm totally wrong. 6 Strangers in a hell house trap, with weird occult paraphernalia and musings, when people start getting killed the fun is just beginning. Not only was this filled to the brim with nerve shattering scenes, it was intelligent with weirdly specific occultist knowledge. Gotta love when an author does research to make a book that much more creepy. Scenes so visceral that you felt like you were going through a Labrynth in hell right along with the characters. Ralston is here to stay when it comes to horror.