The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni (Review by Stacey Lorenson)

Danielle Trussoni is a major literary force, creating magical, other-worldly domains transporting readers through one-of-a-kind characters who embody supernatural powers balanced by emotional and physical vulnerabilities. The Puzzle Master personifies Trussoni’s mesmerizing gift of prose as she plunges readers into mystery-thriller intrigue that incorporates villain’s, telepathy, demonology, and a quest for immortality! Matthew Brink is an introverted, unassuming master puzzle maker, his life altered by a traumatic brain injury suffered in high school. Consequently, Brink has a rare syndrome that enables him to have a photographic memory, synesthesia, and spatial and mechanical savantism allowing him to create and solve complex patterns such as puzzles. His rare talents lead Dr. Thessaly Moses to seek him out to solve a puzzle made by one of her patients, Jess Price. Price is serving a sentence at a New York State prison, accused of murdering her boyfriend. While interviewing her, Brink believes Jess’s life is in danger, and becomes intertwined in a labyrinth of powerful, determined elitists that will stop at nothing to advance a futuristic vision of mortality that has the “… potential to alter the course of human existence.” Brink becomes dedicated to liberating Jess from her literal and metaphorical prison, while solving the complicated mystery surrounding why. The Puzzle Master is a masterpiece novel beset by enthralling prose. I was transported to unimaginable scenarios that entertained and informed. I loved how Trussoni utilized underestimated protagonists who struggle with physical and emotional trauma, but still managed to triumph. The Puzzle Master is an extraordinary adventure that will render readers sleepless until the last page!