January 1, 2023

Imprisoned for murder but refusing to speak of her crime, Jess Price draws a puzzle that her psychiatrist believes may explain what happened, and celebrated puzzle constructor Mike Brink is asked to take a look. Soon, Mike realizes that Jess is hiding something more terrifying than her crime, which leads him to the God Puzzle, a prayer circle created by the 13th-century Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia. From New York Times best-selling Angelology author Trussoni.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2023
Called in as an expert on a murder case involving a mysterious puzzle, famed puzzle constructor Mike Brink is drawn into a dark conspiracy going back to the 13th century. Brink was a high school football star in Ohio when he suffered a brain injury on the field that left him with acquired savant syndrome (a real, though rare, condition). He can read War and Peace in a few hours and quote from it at will--and make a living creating puzzles for the New York Times and other outlets. But when a prison psychologist asks him to take a look at a puzzle drawn by Jess Price, a noted young writer who hasn't spoken a word since being arrested for the killing of her boyfriend in a Gilded Age mansion in upstate New York five years ago, he has trouble deciphering it. The puzzle, an ancient work of Jewish mysticism, holds the key not only to Jess' innocence, but to saving humanity. Secret words contained in the puzzle, which Jess found hidden inside a 19th-century porcelain doll in the mansion, have the power "to change the relationship between humankind and our place in the universe." People have died in pursuit of the doll, whose creator in 19th-century Prague killed himself after seeing those who commissioned it transformed into a fearsome golem. Under constant threat, Brink becomes obsessed with the puzzle and with freeing Jess, with whom he develops an eerie connection. One wishes that Trussoni had devoted a bit more attention to Jess, easily her most interesting character. That said, the author of Angelopolis (2013) and The Ancestor (2020) is at the top of her game in involving the reader in the puzzle-solving process, making the most of historic settings, including the Pierpont Morgan Library, and making the book's Da Vinci Code-like trappings pay off. The Kabbalah meets the New York Times crossword in a brainy thriller.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 1, 2023
The new novel from the author of The Ancestor (2020) is a surefire hit for fans of puzzles of a linguistic or mathematical nature. Mike Brink is a puzzle creator; in the world of puzzles, he's a superstar. When a psychiatrist asks Mike to consult on a case involving one of her patients, a woman who's serving a life sentence in prison for murder, he's reluctant, but the psychiatrist's reason for reaching out to him--an elegant and seemingly impenetrable puzzle drawn by the inmate--makes him unable to say no. And so he's plunged into a mystery that reaches back to the thirteenth century (the author uses a real person, Jewish mystic Abraham Abulafia, as the jumping-off point), and its ripples can still be felt today. This is an ambitious story, expertly told. Comparisons to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code are perhaps on point, but it must be noted that Trussoni is a much better writer than Brown, and this book is altogether more satisfying than Brown's best-seller. A sequel, The Puzzle Box, is in the works, and it can't come soon enough.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 22, 2023
Trussoni (The Ancestor) blends the cerebral and the supernatural in this impressive thriller that sees renowned puzzlist Mike Brink drawn into a mystery with ancient roots. A high school football injury left Brink with sudden acquired savant syndrome, in his case granting him synesthesia and a remarkable ability to see patterns. Jess Price, once a promising novelist, was convicted years ago of murdering her boyfriend in Upstate New York. She has remained uncommunicative since, until she draws a puzzle and requests that her prison psychologist employ Mike’s help to solve it. Soon, Mike learns there’s something more sinister behind Jess’s silence than the murder conviction, and he winds up on the run, scrambling to solve her puzzle and stumbling into questions of Judeo-Christian mysticism. Meanwhile, he garners the attention of billionaire Jameson Sedge, “part of an underground collective of futurists and trans-humanists who believed that ancient esoteric methods could be combined with technology to create eternal life.” For a brilliant guy, Mike makes some dumb fumbles (it’s common knowledge that one can be tracked by their phone), but his puzzle-solving skills impress. Fans of Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon novels would do well to pick this up. Agent: Susan Golomb, Writers House.

May 12, 2023

Using both prose and epistolary styles, Trussoni (The Ancestor) weaves a modern cautionary tale of obsession, humankind's search for immortality, and answers to some of life's most pressing questions. A traumatic football injury in high school changed the life of Mike Brink, causing acquired savant syndrome, a rare medical condition where the person obtains extraordinary intellectual abilities. Since that time, Mike has become a genius at puzzles and has devoted himself to puzzle creation and mathematics. This ability envelops him in a centuries-old puzzle that holds a secret that could change humankind. He is on borrowed time to solve the mystery and save the life of the mysterious woman he loves. The adventure takes him from a New York prison, to a rare-book library, to the very height of the high-tech world of cybersecurity. VERDICT This page-turner incorporates motifs of religion, security, meaningfulness, and loss into a mystical narrative that traverses different centuries focused on the same puzzle quest. This is a literary Da Vinci Code--like title that readers of quest-based thrillers and mysteries alike will enjoy.--Laura Hiatt

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.