Six strangers arrive at the home of preeminent puzzle master Alexei Vasiliev for the reading of his will. Among them are the deceased's widow, who'd already begun divorce proceedings, a virologist troubled by actions in his past, and a convicted murderer on day release. The potential beneficiaries will split Vasiliev's $150M fortune if they participate in his last great work.
The choice is leave the house with nothing or continue in the hope of solving the six interconnecting escape rooms within this house.
Once there, the participants soon discover Puzzle House is far deadlier than it appears, and that making their way through the rooms may be a matter of life and death. Someone is watching their every move, toying with them, turning them against each other. With their lives on the line, they are forced to wonder, is it all just a deadly game created by a gleeful sadist, or something far more sinister?
Talk about starting out as one thing and changing to another!
It's hard to talk about this without spoiling it, but I was expecting something like The Inheritance Games or maybe Savage Island - scaled up for adults, of course, but something close to those. This is very very different.
I did enjoy the story, and I didn't guess where it was going in the end. The escape rooms were very inventive, really well thought out and clever. I would have been in big trouble in most of them!
As far as I can tell this is a one off, which makes the ending irritating to me - I'd have liked to know what happened next (I always want to know what happens next, so take that as you like). It's definitely put Duncan on my radar, though, and I'll be watching out for more by him. I think he's only going to get better from here.
Puzzle House publishes on the 23rd of September, 2023. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment