While there are a lot of characters in fiction with unusual physical abilities, ones with unconventional cognitive skills are less common, if you discount such mental superheroes as Professor X. Think Adrian Monk, the obsessive-compulsive detective from the TV show Monk. Or, more relevant to the topic at hand, Mike Brink, the Savant Syndrome suffering puzzle master in Danielle Trussoni’s new The Puzzle Master (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook). In the following email interview about it, Trussoni discusses what inspired and influenced this brainy thriller.