Puzzle House

Puzzle House, Book 1

By: Duncan Ralston

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

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 simple: 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?

©2023 Duncan Ralston (P)2023 Podium Audio

Favorite Release of Spooky Season

After the death of a wealthy puzzle maker, six strangers are contacted about their share of his enormous fortune that’s been left behind. Gaining the inheritance, however, will be no simple feat, and only the cleverest of them will make it out alive.

They say a story should include one type of conflict: man vs self, man vs man, or man vs environment. Puzzle House is a masterpiece for the way Duncan Ralston was able to seamlessly use all three in the plot. I’ve been excited for this book since midway through summer, and when I finally got my hands on a copy, it didn’t disappoint.

The characters were fleshed out well, and it made it difficult further in the story when things started to go south. The puzzles in each room were creative, and I loved trying to figure out what the answers were before the characters did.

I listened to the audiobook version, and I couldn’t pause it. I just had to know what happened next. I ended up listening to the entire book in one go.

The ending left me feeling as if there’s a possibility of a book two, and if there is, I can’t wait.

Puzzle House is a Matryoshka house of puzzles!

Duncan Ralston’s Puzzle House reminds me of a crossover between the infamous Saw movies and what is probably a lesser known, but in my opinion, smarter, scarier, and underrated film called, The Cube, with a little bit of Tomb Raider and Egyptian History mixed in for flavoring.

It’s smart, really smart! The man did his research for this novel and it shows. The story never allows you to forget that it is in fact an intricately twisted, torturous, and convoluted puzzle. A puzzle of pain, both physical and mental.

And though the book presents us with an evil dungeon master, or puzzle master as the case may be… don’t lose sight that the real puzzle master here is one crafty author, Mr. Duncan Ralston. With skill and finesse he has woven together one heck of a tale and built one hell of a puzzle, after puzzle, after puzzle, in a puzzle, after puzzle.

Never lose sight of that! You can solve the final puzzle if you keep a good watch!

I wasn’t watching and boy was I surprised! 😮 Wow, what a book!!

Great story

I’ve been disappointed by a lot of horror books this year but not this one. Unique, action-packed, and scary. A+

Twists and Turns

Combine Cube, Saw, and an escape room, and you might get something similar to Puzzle House. Fun story full of interesting twists and turns. Another great one from Ralston

Escape room meets Saw

Another great book by Duncan. I hope a 2nd book is in the works. Id love to see what else he does with this.