This is the second installment in this unique series about a man with a phenomenal ability.

Mike Brink suffered a traumatic brain injury after a football game that left him with a brain that feels completely rewired. The injury also left him with the uncommon capability to solve puzzles, be they easy or extremely difficult. This talent changes his whole life and in this narrative leads him to Japan and the infamous Dragon Box puzzle which has defeated all attempts to open it for 150 years. Armed with the knowledge that he could very well die on his attempt his miraculous ability leads him to try.

Some of the medical and scientific jargon can be confusing but the story kept me interested and pulling for Mike to solve the puzzle. It also opened my thoughts to the abilities of AI and the dangers that implies if it is in the wrong hands.

In the end the most important puzzle may be Mike, himself.

What a fabulous follow-up to The Puzzle Master! I love that Mike Brink is back doing his thing as the master puzzle solver, this time in Japan! Mike gets an invitation, presented by a messenger from the Emperor, to go to Japan and open the Dragon Box. No one has been able to open it since it was created in 1868 by Ogawa, and anyone who has attempted it has died or has never been seen again. Of course, Mike can't say no to this once in a lifetime challenge, but it has to happen right now. The Box solution must be found under the full moon during the Year of the Dragon, which gives him only about 12 hours once when the event begins. In those 12 hours, he, the messenger, Sakura, and his best friend, Rachel, end up fleeing for their lives and traveling Japan to find missing clues to figure out all of the 72 steps it takes to solve the Dragon Box.

You are taken on a whirlwind of a thriller in this book and I could not stop reading this one to find out how it all resolved. I loved the snippets of Japanese history that explained the Dragon Box, Ogawa, and details about the Imperial family. When Mike and Sakura ended up in different cities of Japan, you got a little bit of the flavor of that location and I found that it added to the story. Mike is the same savant from his TBI in the first book, Rachel is there supporting him near the end of the quest, and Sakura becomes a new friend and supporter who is quite brilliant in solving puzzles in her own way. The friendship between Sakura and Mike developed over the course of the book and I found her to be a sympathetic character with a lot of family baggage to work through. Sakura's sister, aunt, and parents have a lot of history with the Imperial family and Sakura has to deal with the tragedy in her background as well. I would enjoy reading more about her story. Looking forward to Mike's next adventure!

If you enjoyed The Puzzle Master, I highly recommend The Puzzle Box. If you didn't read the first book, you could read this one without too much confusion, and I highly recommend this thriller for you as well.

Thank you to the author and Net Galley for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Book 2 featuring the great puzzle master Mike Brink as he is invited to Japan to open a mysterious 19th century Dragon Box
This box has been shut for over 150 years and dates back to the times of samurais and shoguns. Every 12 years, when the year of the dragon comes around, the Imperial family invites puzzlers to open the box - inviting the puzzlers to deal with the booby traps and dangerous poisons that kill.

Brink is up for the test. Or is he? He is facing off a rival and chases by Japanese enemies. He is fighting off his own self doubt and personal issues. Can Brink open the box? Should he?

This is book 2, but it could be read as a standalone. It's pretty consuming and a perfect dessert to any puzzle lover!
#thepuzzlebox #danielletrussoni
#randomhouse

Mike Brink, one of the world’s greatest puzzle masters, has been invited to Tokyo to open the Dragon Box, a famous puzzle box that has remained unopened for more than one hundred fifty years.

Emperor Meiji, who commissioned the box, placed an Imperial secret within it then hid it far from the palace. Only two people knew the solution, Meiji and the box’s blind creator Ogawa. Since that time, every twelve years there has been a contest to attempt to open the box but every puzzle master has died trying - the box is filled with lethal tricks and poison. Brinks’s attempt will take him across Japan and will put him against terrible villains, some from his past, as they race to uncover Meiji’s secret.

From the description this sounds like the sort of book that I would love. I’m fascinated by puzzles of all types and those who solve them. However, I had forgotten the I read the first Mike Brink book and didn’t like it. Brink is either a man with serious mental illness which, now, with, MINOR SPOILER ALERT, the death of his therapist, isn’t being treated, or a little too “woe is me, I’m a tortured genius” to be borne. Ease up, Mike. There are people who are starving to death. You could have bigger problems.,

And while I do love puzzles, and love the idea that someone wanted to pick up the Dan Brown mantle, making Mike Brink Jesus was really not the way to go, in my opinion. Not for me, and I won’t be reading any more of these.