The Puzzle Box

 

The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni (2024), 320 pgs.

As the full moon rises over the imperial palace in Tokyo, Mike Brink prepares to face his greatest challenge yet: solving the unsolvable Dragon Box. He has confronted many puzzles like this before--solving each with ease, due to his savant-like ability to recognize patterns and photographic memory--but this puzzle box is unique in that every person who has attempted to solve it has died in the process. With Sakura, the Emperor's aide with mysterious motives, at his side and the imperial guards watching on, can Brink figure out how to open the murderous Dragon Box before the full moon sets? And, perhaps even more importantly, can he trust those around him?

My experience reading The Puzzle Box reminded me of watching an action movie. I was on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next. Each scene unfolded in my mind as if I were watching it onscreen. Dramatic reveals, strategically placed on the final pages of key chapters, felt primed for film transitions. I could almost hear the swells of music in the most action-packed scenes. Fans of the MCU, Bullet Train, or The DaVinci Code will enjoy this book.

The Puzzle Box

The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni, 324 pages

Since an accident in his teens rewired his brain, Mike Brink has been nearly unstoppable at solving puzzles of all kinds. So when he is invited by the Japanese emperor to attempt solving the legendary Dragon Box (a possibly mythical puzzle box that has, legend has it, killed all previous potential solvers, and even those who have simply touched it), he can't back down from the challenge, no matter how potentially deadly it is. However, as complex as the puzzle box is, there are even more complications involved, as a rival group is doing everything it can to stop Brink's effort and steal the box.

It's been a long time since I've read a good puzzle-centric thriller, and this one definitely is a propulsive page-turner. Is it 100% believable? Not at all. But it's a fun read, one I'd recommend to anyone that misses the puzzly bits of The Da Vinci Code. This is the second book in the series (The Puzzle Master is book 1), and I enjoyed it even though I hadn't read the first one. I will definitely be going back to do that though.

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr, 361 pages

In the late 1970s, crossword puzzle maker Pippa Allsbrook hosted the first meeting of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, an organization that, over the course of the next 40+ years, would become a safe haven and almost a commune for puzzlemakers of all sorts. Jigsaw artists, hedge-maze creators, riddle writers, math puzzle makers,  trivia book authors and pub quiz emcees, even guys who make those ingenious wooden puzzle boxes. All were welcomed in the Fellowship. Even Clayton Stumper, a baby who was left in a hatbox on the front step of the Fellowship's communal home in 1991 and raised by the older residents. However, when Pippa dies, she leaves 25-year-old Clayton a series of puzzles that will help him discover who he really is.

Told in alternating chapters between Clayton's current quest for the truth and the early days of the Fellowship (and sprinkled with the puzzles Pippa leaves behind), this book is a love letter to family of all sorts, to puzzles, and to self-discovery. It was a lovely read, and I highly recommend it.

All the Light We Cannot See

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (2014) 530 pages

Marie-Laure, a blind girl in pre-WWII Paris, learns to get around her community after her father builds an intricate model of the neighborhood and teaches her to notice the landmarks and count her steps. He works at the Museum of Natural History. When the Germans begin to occupy France, they flee to the coast, to the walled town of Saint-Malo, where her father's uncle lives.

Werner, an orphaned German boy, dreads coming of age, when he'll be expected to work in the coal mines, where his father died. But the scientific and mathematical aptitude of him and his younger sister gets Werner involved with learning how to fix radios. One of their joys is to listen to music and podcast-like science lessons from far away. Werner's technical skills are noticed, and he is accepted into a training camp for boys, where in addition to Nazi indoctrination, he helps develop ways to locate the source of radio broadcasts.

The stories of Marie-Laure and Werner alternate. Food, fuel, and other necessities become scarce everywhere. People disappear, including Marie-Laure's father. Bombing occurs. An evil Nazi with cancer is looking for a gem with mystical healing power, which Marie-Laure's father may have been given for safekeeping. When Marie-Laure and Werner's lives finally begin to intersect, the story becomes even more riveting.