Danielle Trussoni

"All the world is a puzzle, and Mike Brink--a celebrated and ingenious puzzle constructor--understands its patterns like no one else. Once a promising Midwestern football star, Brink was transformed by a traumatic brain injury that caused a rare medical condition: Acquired Savant Syndrome. The injury left him with a mental superpower--he can solve puzzles, calculate equations, and see patterns in ways ordinary people can't. But his condition has also...

"It is the Year of the Wood Dragon, and the ingenious Mike Brink has been invited to Tokyo, Japan, to open the legendary Dragon Box. The box was constructed during one of Japan's most tumultuous periods, when the samurai class was disbanded and the shogun lost power. In this moment of crisis, Emperor Meiji locked a priceless Imperial secret in the Dragon Box. Only two people knew how to open the box--Meiji and the box's sadistic constructor--and both...

The author describes growing up with her Vietnam veteran father, a man haunted by his wartime experiences, and details their commitment to each other despite the anger, unhealed scars, and outrageous behavior that permeated their lives.