The Lost Puzzler

November 5, 2018
In this twisty novel’s high-tech dungeon crawls, teams of specialists called Salvationists assault the lost Tarkanian civilization’s buried treasures. The most valuable member of the party is the Puzzler, who can open the cyber-locked nodes in which goodies lie. Rafik, a puzzler exiled from his religious community due to the naturally appearing tattoos that proclaim him cursed, is traded from hand to hand until the powerful Keenan guild buys him at auction. Then he goes missing, lost on a dangerous expedition into the deepest labyrinth of the heavily trapped City within the Mountain. The Guild of Historians suspects that Rafik is alive, part of the plan that a rogue Salvationist (or the City itself) is pursuing to bring Tarakan back to life. Kless (Rocca’s Violin) makes a strong entry into speculative fiction, adroitly blending the scattered bits of advanced technology and hints of old Earth with the tension of creeping into monster-filled ghost towns, desperately searching for loot. A plethora of flashbacks slow but do not derail the narrative. Readers looking for a crafty puzzle that descends into the twisty depths of loyalty and betrayal will enjoy this far-future adventure. Agent: Rena Rossner, Deborah Harris Agency.

January 1, 2019
A lowly scribe of the Guild of Historians is sent on the near-impossible mission of locating Vincha and convincing her to share what she knows of Rafik, a child who disappeared over a decade before. Even among the tattooed?mutants whose markings appear during their youth?Rafik was special: he was a puzzler, and a powerful one at that. Only puzzlers have the ability to open doors to the City within the Mountain, allowing their teams to scavenge Tarakan artifacts from the postapocalyptic ruins, with more powerful puzzlers able to penetrate further into the ruins. Buried within Rafik's disappearance is the greater mystery of Tarakan society and the apocalypse that wiped it out, along with most of the world's technological knowledge. This rich dystopian world includes snippets of technology that perplex most of the characters, a steady mix of storytelling and action, and intense character development that makes the book hard to put down. Kless' debut, first book of the Tarakan Chronicles, will leave readers eagerly awaiting more.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)