Puzzled (The Puzzled Mystery Adventure #1)
Published March 10th 2018, Kindle Edition 184 pages
Peter, an exceptionally clever junior high school kid, is pulled into an adventure where he and a few friends have to solve a series of very challenging riddles and puzzles. Peter’s mind, which has an amazing talent for problem-solving, is needed to save the world.
This adventure sure is a big change from what Peter typically deals with in life: He gets called geek and nerd by everyone in the cool group. He tries to hide his love for learning, in a hope to stick out a little less. He fantasizes about a girl who is out of his league.
Peter and his friends must solve every confusing riddle and challenging puzzle they face. If they can’t, a powerful supernatural being will cause immense destruction and devastation…
User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
BrilliantBrilliant. Just had to finish it before doing any housework. Recommending it to my grandkids and friends one of whom is a writer herself and will await her comments.
Rating: really liked it
Fun, different, and creativeSmart, fun, use your brain kind of a book. Lots of thinking and doing puzzles wrapped up in a good story. Quick and easy to understand. Fun to work out the answers ahead of time. Read and enjoy!
Rating: really liked it
Great book to really get your mind going!
Rating: really liked it
Awesome!!!I really liked this book. It was so inspiring and creative. Thanks to the author for making this book special.
Rating: really liked it
I tried to read this to my 7yo at bedtime. I found it trite and boring. Additionally the stereotype of nerd vs jock and girl must become girlfriend were less than fun.
Rating: really liked it
This book is one of my favourite book I don’t have the others yet but I cannot wait to read them. This book is full of Brain wracking puzzles to solve. I love it.
Rating: really liked it
I read this book aloud to my kids while on a week long camping trip. They LOVED it. We would spend hours reading each night by the campfire because they were so eager to know what was going to happen next. We look forward to reading more books by P.J. Nichols.
Rating: really liked it
Giving my honest review because I really wanted to like this book and I think it would be really up a lot of kids' alleys, but it could have used a few more rounds of edits. It has a really fun premise and a cool setup, but the plot itself follows the predictable outline of a generic adventure story, and the breakneck pace of the story makes it difficult to feel anything for the characters even though they have a lot of personality. A lot of other reviewers here are right, the story doesn't drag on or add unnecessary details, but it goes so far as to cut out all the "down time" where we might just get to spend time with the characters or discuss what the stakes of the conflict actually mean to them (which only receive cursory, theoretical mention).
The writing style is simple and easy to follow, which is ideal for a middle-grade book, but as it stands in this novel it's still a developing voice. For instance, the narrator often comments on the main character's conclusions about an event before even presenting the details of the event or presenting the evidence that led him to those conclusions. And yes, there are some glaring copy-editing mistakes that break the suspense.
Also, as a nerd, I always appreciate nerd validation, but not when it tears down people with other interests. This book shows hints of that, though of course unintentionally. The MC's teachers might be boring for him to listen to, but seeing them portrayed as caricatures is a little disheartening, and the way the MC treats his older brother is actually pretty toxic—the jock hates the nerd and the nerd hates the jock, but in this instance the jock hardly ever goes beyond mild teasing (and even does a lot of very nice things for the nerd!) but is still treated as a mean, spiteful, and irrational human being by the nerd.
I'd love to buy puzzle books from this author, since he's really good at creating unique puzzles, but the story aspect could use a little honing.
Rating: really liked it
Puzzles are a great way to keep your mind sharp, but who would have thought that the ability to quickly and cleverly solve puzzles would help to save the world in P.J. Nichols's Puzzled.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
An incredibly clever problem-solver with a love of learning his peers mock, junior high school student Peter finds himself at the center of an unthinkable adventure that relies upon his solving skills. Enlisting the help of his older brother and two friends from school, Peter embarks on a quest to train and hone their physical and mental skills to successfully be able to complete eight progressively more difficult riddle-filled challenges within a single day; doing so will help to ensure that the world is safe from a supernatural being who is able to manipulate the weather and has a proclivity toward destruction for his amusement.
A quick and amusing read with short chapters, the story moves briskly through month-long spans of time during the "training montage" that allows the momentum to remain steady and build some tension for the main showdown. The narrative emphasizes different types of intelligence and demonstrates how each kind has their strengths that benefit the group. With moderate world-building with regard to the supernatural being and cursory character development, more could be elaborated upon to make the world and story become more engrossing, though younger readers might not recognize the rudimentary structure of the tale.
Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Rating: really liked it
I wanted to read this book before passing it on to my grandchildren. It was very well written and kept my attention throughout. I am sure my grandchildren will love it!
Rating: really liked it
Amazing book! I finished reading the whole series in just 4 days and my parents had to pull me away! It's too good of a series, especially with all the riddles and puzzles in it that we can solve!
Rating: really liked it
Puzzled — P.J. Nichols (17 chapters) December 10-12, 2019
Nerdy dork boy Peter is tasked with saving the world from an anger weather god. A best girl friend from childhood, Nicola, who has drifted from him once they entered middle school and another nerdy boy, Neil, along with Bradley, Peter’s older athletic brother, round out the characters that help Peter in his endeavor.
There are other underlining stories going on here, but they all work well together.
This is a very good story for the younger bunch to read.It got adventure, paranormal events, and even a cute little boy/girl friend story. I enjoyed it. You may too.
Three stars.
Rating: really liked it
I realize that this book is for a young audience and while the overall story holds together, the lack of background detail leaves the reader with more questions than answers. The characters are solid and the puzzle-solving adventure has some nice twists. The manuscript could do with an editor to fix a number of areas where there are clear errors in the text that are distracting at times. A nice start, but some more development would have been helpful.
Rating: really liked it
This book was nice, and it’s name describes it. This book has many puzzles in it, and I’m not about to say they’re easy! The reason? It’s because Zoltan, the weather god of earth, is destructing the place, as it is his only form of ‘entertainment’, the other is puzzles, but Mr. Winchester is too old to take the job of creating puzzles. That’s why Peter must replace him, he and his team practice. And the ending? Well, you’ve guessed, Peter does replace him!!
Rating: really liked it
Short and sweet with no "fluff" or extraneous details. Left me wanting more and even a little bit more background information on the characters themselves but not a bad debut by P.J. Nichols. Definitely still have questions that hopefully get answered in Book #2. Look forward to when it's released.
