THE PUZZLE MASTER - Danielle Trussoni

Mike Brink, once a rising football star who suffered a traumatic brain injury, now has a rare medical condition due to that injury: acquired savant syndrome. He is now a genius when it comes to seeing, solving, and creating puzzles. But he is now socially awkward and isolated, as well.

Brink is invited to meet with Jess Price - a woman sentenced to thirty years in prison for murder. She hasn't spoken in five years - since she was incarcerated. But she has created, by drawing, a complex and confounding puzzle. Price's psychiatrist has invited Brink to meet with Price and to try to solve the riddle of her puzzle - a puzzle with links to an ancient mystery.

He can't stop himself from exploring the meaning of the puzzle, but it's his obsession with Jess herself that might get Brink into his deepest trouble.

Although I'm not particularly good at puzzles myself, I do enjoy the challenge of them, which is what drew me to this book.

The first third of the book or so was full-on engaging and exciting.  Being introduced to the characters, getting the initial puzzle established, and the first hint of danger, was all well-handled and a real page-turning read.  But as the story got deeper into te more ancient mysteries, it took a Da Vinci Code-like turn which I did not find nearly as interesting.  I guess I wanted the threat to be more immediate and local, which I think would have felt more believable.

None of this is helped by the characters.

Again, our first take with Mike and Jess, and even with Jess's psychiatrist, is believable and intriguing.  We know there's going to be something here between them, but what?  This is where the story lies! But with Jess in prison, her ability to really make an impact remains quite diluted. Too bad, because she's probably the most interesting character here.

I do tend to find that nearly all mysteries have a moment or two of luck involved with the protagonist seeing or catching something. In this case it's a tattoo that plays too big/easy a role in finding a connection. I won't say too much about it in case you choose to read the book.

All in all, an exciting beginning and well plotted, but the story gets too deep in the attempt to be a real thriller, and the characters never grow into or beyond our initial impressions of them.

Looking for a good book? The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni is a tightly plotted thriller with characters that have great possibilities but aren't fleshed out enough to really shine.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

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The Puzzle Master

author: Danielle Trussoni

publisher: Random House

ISBN: 9780593595299

hardcover, 362 pages