The Puzzle Box

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 show more 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. show less

This is the second puzzle book but it could be your first with writing that moves you into a world that combines the past, present and future.

Mike Brink has the biggest challenge of his life as a puzzle master. He heads to Tokyo to meet with the emperor and empress of Japan. He feels he has no choice but to accept the challenge of unlocking the Dragon Puzzle Box that was created in the late 1800s. The timing is imperative. It must be open during the first fall of the moon; the Year of the Dragon.

Six attempts have been made to open the box and each has ended with a painful death. If Brink picks up the box and a lever is pushed the wrong way, he can lose a body part or simply die of poison. This is a puzzle that feels like a beast; a show more machine that was created to kill with dangers waiting to be solved.

You can almost feel the energy of the author’s writing the words with quick thoughts, moves and a sense of where she wants the reader to go with the ultimate prize in completing the puzzle. What if he backs off knowing he could die? Danielle Trussoni keeps the tension and pages in motion with her clever writing. If there’s one book that makes you feel like your heart beat is accelerating, this is it with the twists and turns. It can bend your mind and throw you into a head storm while Brink tries to solve the puzzles. He has help, of course, which makes it even more exciting.

Trussoni tends to take you deep into the unknown. There was a lot for me to digest about the Japanese ancient culture and mysteries besides the settings with different landscapes. This book was fast paced with some words that weren’t familiar such as “transhumanism.” Thank goodness for Kindle that makes it easy to glance at definitions. It’s a human face which can evolve beyond its current physical and mental limitations especially by means of science and technology.

I’m sure Trussoni, like Dan Brown’s book, “The Da Vinci Code,” will be getting all kinds of speculations of the meaning with the contents. Will she be keeping up the pace with another puzzle book? If so, I will be anxious to read it. She has put in the time with careful research to make the story as believable as it can be.

My thanks to Random House and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of October 8, 2024. show less

What a fun book! Puzzles, codes, creepy technology, Japanese history, and an edge of the seat adventure. Written by a woman, it has reads very differently than other books written by men. Although there is some violence, it’s not gratuitous, and especially this story has heart.

I didn't know there was a book before this! I will have to go back and see if the Puzzle Master adds anything to the story. This was a fun romp with literal puzzles to solve with sometimes life or death consequences. I think the characters could have been a little more developed, but maybe that happened in the first book.

"The Puzzle Box" is generating a ton of well-deserved excitement over at #thrillerbookloversthepulse!

I can't even begin to describe how captivating and mesmerizing "The Puzzle Box" is! This series by Danielle Trussoni completely blew me away. I actually read the first book, "The Puzzle Master," only after I got my hands on this second book.

Let me tell you, Mike Brink is hands down one of the most intriguing fictional characters I've come across.

"Once a promising Midwestern football star, Brink was transformed by a traumatic brain injury that caused a rare medical condition: acquired savant syndrome. The injury left him with a mental superpower—he can solve puzzles in ways ordinary people can't." — "The Puzzle Box” by Danielle show more Trussoni

In this intriguing story, Brink is summoned to Japan for a seemingly impossible task - to unlock the mysterious Dragon Box. This puzzle box has remained unsolved for 150 years and is not just a challenge but a deadly one that has claimed the lives of those who dared to try to open it.

This novel is packed with Chinese culture, the plot is fast-paced, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. Even though this is the second book in a series, the author provides enough background from the first book that you can easily read as a standalone.

Thank you to the author and Random House Publishing for this gifted ARC provided via NetGalley. All opinions are my own and left voluntarily. show less

The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni is the second novel in a series which is concerned with the solving of complex puzzles, in this case, a difficult and deadly puzzle box.

The main character is Mike Brink, considered a puzzle master, perhaps the most skilled in the world. In this particular Trussoni novel. Brink is contacted by the Emperor of Japan who seeks Brink and his sophisticated skills to open a box constructed by Japan's own long-dead puzzle master, the sadistic Ogawa. Others have attempted to open the box and have suffered dire consequences.

Jameson Sedge, the bad guy to Brink's good guy is resurrected digitally (literally) from Trussoni's first novel in this series and is no less a terrible force to be reckoned with.

Sadly, show more this Trussoni offering reads like a tourist guide book of Japan. From the beginning, the novel seems put together in a rush and without the extensive research and rich writing that readers have come to expect from Trussoni.

We can only hope that the third novel in the series will save as much of Trussoni's face as possible. show less