Danielle Trussoni | Musings of the Monster Librarian

Book Review: The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni

The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni

Random House, 2024

ISBN: 9780593595321

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition

Part mystery, part puzzle, and all thrills, The Puzzle Box is a knockout. For all those that loved The Da Vinci Code, this one’s for you. With maddening puzzles, a genius as the protagonist, and a wild pursuit around the country of Japan, it’s just as good, and in some ways, better.

The lead, Mike Brink, is a mathematical genius with an eidetic memory, who gained his ability after a brain injury. It’s called “acquired savant syndrome”, and it’s a real thing. Mike is contacted by the Emperor of Japan for help in solving a sacred puzzle box that has bedeviled the imperial family for centuries. Inside may be a secret important to the future of Japan as a nation. The problem is that the puzzle box is not only difficult, it’s lethal. If Mike makes a mistake opening it, he can’t try again: he won’t be around for another attempt.

What makes this a great story? The pace is frenetic: it never slows a whit, right up to the end. The author does an outstanding job of incorporating the history of Japanese emperors, shoguns and samurai into the story. The book’s setting, with ancient shrines, forgotten buildings, and snow-covered bamboo forests, is the perfect backdrop for a treasure hunt, much better than just using a series of cities, as in The Da Vinci Code.

The pursuit angle adds urgency to the pacing, as the Emperor isn’t the only one interested in the puzzle box contents. Artificial intelligence is a big part of the chase, and the story credibly shows how AI can easily be more dangerous than any mortal element in our technology-enslaved world. A cautionary tale, perhaps? As for the puzzles… it’s more than the puzzle box itself: that’s just the start of the clues that lead Brink and his cohorts across Japan, racing to beat the clock. There is a window of time that the puzzle can be solved in, which helps drive the book’s pacing even faster. The puzzle box itself doesn’t do anything magic, but it’s just as dangerous as the Lemarchand Configuration from the Hellraiser series. Mistakes opening the box (and some of the other puzzles) can lead to amputated digits, poisoning, and more. The puzzles are the perfect backbone to build one hell of a thrill ride on, and The Puzzle Box is all of that, and more.

What more do you really need to know? The chances of readers not liking this book are approximately zero. It should take the country by storm the way The Da Vinci Code did…and that’s the BOTTOM LINE! Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Book List: Summer Reading Recommendations from the New York Times

“There’s nothing quite like summer to make me long for horror fiction” writes Danielle Trussoni, in introducing great reads in the horror genre for the New York Times for summer 2019. It’s an interesting list. Of the eight books, five have been published since April, three nominees on this year’s final ballot for the Stoker Award are included, two are reprints from Grady Hendrix’s Paperbacks in Hell imprint, which is a new imprint that reprints older, out-of-print titles, one is an anthology, and one is a translation from French to English. There are a couple by women, which is nice, since they have often been underrepresented. I’ve provided links to reviews for the books we have already reviewed. Take a look and see what appeals for your next vacation read!

The Hunger by Alma Katsu (2018, nominee for the 2019 Bram Stoker Award, reviewed here)

Little Darlings by Melanie Goldberg (April 2019)

Song for the Unraveling of the World by Brian Evenson (June 2019)

The Nest by Gregory A. Douglas (April 2019, reprint from the Paperbacks in Hell imprint) The original 1987 novel is reviewed here. Side note: unless you are a real thrill-seeker, this might not be the best choice for your island vacation. However, my husband saw Jaws just before a day of scuba diving, so I know it’ll be a perfect beach read for some of you…

When Darkness Loves Us by Elizabeth Engstrom ( May 2019, also a reprint from Paperbacks in Hell. We reviewed the 2009 book here)

The Laws of the Skies by Gregoire Courtois (May 2019)

Inspection by Josh Malerman (2018, nominee for the 2019 Bram Stoker Award, reviewed here)

Flight or Fright edited by Stephen King and Bev Vincent (2018. Joe Hill’s story in this anthology was a nominee on the final ballot for the 2019 Bram Stoker Award) Side note: I don’t recommend reading this one on a plane.

Well, there you have it. All kinds of horror, with something for nearly everyone. This is a great list for starting your summer reading, and whatever you choose, whether it’s from this list or a different resource, I wish you a summer of enjoyable reading!