This was a harrowing and brilliant read. My heart was breaking for the characters as the story played out. Utterly gut-wrenching but thoroughly compelling.

Three Hours was a difficult book to read because it was so realistically written. It was also a very difficult book to put down.

It begins with an explosion in the woods and the headmaster being shot in a corridor in view of his parents. Over the next few hours the police, parents and students are playing catchup trying to figure out who the gunman is, what they are going to do next and why they are doing it in the first place.

Three Hours is told from the point of view of several characters and is incredibly effective because of this. At times I could feel the horror the children, teachers and family members were feeling, and it made for uneasy reading because of this.

The descriptions of the action were suspenseful and richly detailed meaning that the reader experiences everything as it infolds.

“A moment of stillness; as if time itself is waiting, can no longer be measured. Then the subtle press of a fingertip, whorled skin against cool metal, starts it beating again and the bullet moves faster than sound.”

One of the things that struck me the most whilst I was reading was the bravery of the characters involved.

“Matthew Marr, headmaster and only adult here, must protect them, must rescue his pupils in Junior School, the pottery room, the theatre and the English Classroom along the corridor; must tell the teachers not to take any risks and keep the children safe. But his mind is slipping backwards into memory. Perhaps this is what the shrapnel has done, broken pieces of bone upwards so they form a jagged wall and he is stuck on the side of the past. But words in his own thoughts grab at him – risks, safe, rescue.”

The sense of anticipation and tension created by the author was massive, I felt a bit jumpy whilst reading.

“The gunman’s footsteps sound along the bookcases as he walks along the corridor. For a little while they thought he’d gone, that he’d walked all the way to the end of the corridor and the front door and left. But he hadn’t. He came back again towards them. He must be wearing boots with metal in the heel. Click-Click Click-Click on the worn oak floorboards, then a pause.”

The reader feels as if they are along with them through every piece of the action, through every courageous action and the amazing plot twists.

I think it has such an impact because it is not beyond the realms of possibility that something like that could happen.

There were certain elements of the book I saw coming but one of the biggest twists left me reeling, One of the best books I have read this year.

I feel very undecided about this book, and difficult to give it a star rating. The topic of white supremacists is very newsworthy at present and the message clear with recent quotes from journalists and Donald Trump, but I found it quite hard to believe the terrorists would target a school with a few refugees rather than a wider community. The writing is good and uplifting in the end with love conquering most things, but although Dunsinane was a clever plot twist, the Macbeth theme left me cold. I think for me less of a genre mix would have worked better, but I think I will be in the minority, and still look forward to the author's next book.
Thank you to netgalley and penguin books for an advance copy of this book

Brilliant book, loved the twists in the plot and the characters I really connected with. I was hooked from the very first page. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Rosamund Lupton for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

I really enjoyed this book flew through it to see what happened I loved it. A few good twists I didn’t see coming, brilliant characters & amazing writing style would recommend this to anyone.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Viking for an advanced copy of this book.
The story covers the”Three Hours” that a progressive school is held hostage by balaclava-clad gunmen. Initially police are baffled as to why. The headmaster has been shot and seriously injured. Both younger and older pupils are scattered around the school premises in various buildings. As time progresses police discover the sinister reason for the attack and there is a race against time to thwart their plans. Even the weather is working against them and they are in the midst of a severe snow storm.
As the story progresses the reader gains some insight into the lives of the main characters, including two brothers who made the arduous journey to England to escape war-torn Syria.
I personally feel a bit torn over this book. The writing is very good with a good storyline but I really struggled to get into it. Don’t know why. I wouldn’t want anyone to be put off from reading this book by this review but it just wasn’t for me. Sorry.

This is the first Rosamund Lupton book that I’ve read and I really enjoyed it. I do feel like something was missing - but I don’t know what that something is. This was such an emotional book and it made me sad and scared at times. I really liked the characters and found myself emotionally attached to them. I couldn’t put this one down because I had to know what happened next. I was desperate to see how it ended. The whole story was really tense and had a lot of heart-stopping moments. I really enjoyed this one and will definitely be reading more from Rosamund Lupton in the future.

I have enjoyed Rosamund Lupton’s other books, and was delighted to be given an opportunity to read and review #ThreeHours prior to publication. I found the book totally engaged me from the first chapter, which is always a good sign. I was very reluctant to put it down.
It is about a school in lockdown and follows the experience of a number of pupils and teachers as the terrifying ordeal unfolds. It felt so realistic and chilling. It is set in rural England (rather than the more expected USA) and is very much current in terms of the impact on young people of news (including the awful British press), propaganda and radicalisation.
Well written and different to what I usually read, I very much enjoyed the book and will be buying it for both adults and teenagers alike.
Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this excellent book. #NetGalley

Wow. Just wow. I found it difficult to read this book because it was so realistic - I wanted to grab my kids out of school and hide. BUT the different perspectives, the emotions, the way I was rooting for each group of students, the amount of time I spent shouting at everyone in my head for different reasons - don't do anything silly, why do you want to kill kids? get your head down, stay safe, etc etc. I still have a hangover from this book four or five days later. Strongly recommended.

Mindblowing and breathtaking!

A school compound is held hostage by white supremacists, one inside, one outside and possibly a third one out in the woods. The reader is guided through the different sections of the school holding children of different age groups. We learn how each responds to the drama unfolding.
Tension is slowly building on all fronts in this extremely well crafted story. Fast paced, exquisite writing. Indepth characters have me sitting right next to them holding hands, praying all will be well.
The snow getting thicker truly adds to the isolation of the surroundings.
Whilst the police are slowly discovering who they're dealing with, a solution seems far out of reach.
Finally, a decision is made, leading to a well rounded adrenalin filled finale. So good!

Thank you Netgalley and Viking for the ARC.

Rosamund Lupton’s Three Hours presents a nightmare scenario of a real time ‘lockdown’ of a local school in a rural English village. Openly tolerant and liberal minded, the school, having recently welcomed the addition of two orphaned Syrian boys, embraces diversity among both pupils and staff. However, the shocking realisation is that the school has become the target of radicalised individuals who manage to infiltrate the school and terror ensues.

This is a book that I really enjoyed with a story line that will stay with me for some time. It is about a school shooting in the UK but written from the point of view of the people involved. It was a harrowing read in some respects and it was well researched.
Thank you for the ARC of this book, it was much appreciated.

Outstanding!
It’s not often that I can find a book that blows me away and one that I know I will never forget and will be recommending till the end of time. The author has written and incredible work of fiction that is so true to life that it could of been an actual news story and sadly it’s has been, however this book is so much more than a school shooting. It’s a book about love, bravery, defiance and courage. The characters are what make this book so special, a head teacher who loves his kids, student who are so young and brave and some that have already lived through terror and a police officer, who not only has to police the situation but also is pregnant and has her own worries and feelings. . I don’t want to tell you much more about this book because it’s needs to be read, it will have a impact on you and you will never for it. Never has a book chilled me to the bones and then warmed me to my core as much as this one has.

A tense book which spans three hours as a remote school is put into lockdown as gunmen are on site and, having shot the headmaster, have a number of students and teachers trapped in various buildings. Three Hours is different from Rosamund Luptons previous books and it took me a little longer than usual to get into this but by 30% of the way in I was hooked.

The subject matter plays on current affairs, in particular terrorism and radicalisation. Different tales are told throughout the three hour period and this is a tense read as you do not know which way the story will twist next. I would definitely recommend.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC, which was a stunning, tense and magical read.
Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton has a storyline about a school under attack by two of their students. There are sub plots going on within the main storyline and the characters are amazing, life like and realistic.
It is a book that you read and forget to breathe as you race through the pages to see what happens next. It is a very tense, taut storyline and as a reader you want everyone to survive but know that that won’t happen. The characters, the storyline and the plot were an amazing read. Possibly the best book I have read this year.
Highly recommended.

Wow! I sat and read this book in two days straight because I had to know what happened to everyone. It was gripping, relevant and political.

In the space of three hours a remote school is thrown into panic and terror. A homemade lunchbox bomb is found in the woods by one of the pupils. It might have been dismissed as a prank by most kids, but Rafi Bukhari escaped Syria with his little brother Basi, and he takes it very seriously. In a matter of half an hour the first police officer on scene is shot at and the site is under siege, In the Old School Rafi’s girlfriend Hannah is with a group in the library caring for their wounded headmaster. Pottery teacher Camille is stranded in the studio with only a few rows of clay tiles and some glass between a class of seven year olds and an automatic weapon. Further back, a group are rehearsing Macbeth in the woodland theatre and the junior school is being evacuated down to the beach. Rafi settles his brother with the teacher, they both have PTSD and he vowed not to leave him, but at least Basi is safe and he needs to get to Hannah. Basi has ideas of his own though.

I really enjoyed the varied perspectives of this novel from the kids, teachers, police, and even the parents of the shooters. Beth Alton’s train of thought is brilliant, from assurances that her Jamie could not possibly be responsible to the thought that he’s already dead to her, from the minute he picked up the gun. The investigation and drip feed of new information is very well done and it’s obvious the author has researched well. The flashbacks of the Syrian boys are equally well placed and effective. I found the allusions to the kid’s performance of Macbeth great at first - the idea of using Syria as a backdrop and the witches as balaclava clad terrorists is clever. However, I do feel it was carried too far and that it became clunky and difficult to believe. This is where I had some disappointment with the ending, which I won’t spoil, but suffice to say it felt more fantastical than realistic. In the main this was a great thriller that kept the reader hooked and didn’t let go till the very end.

Tense, taught, terrifying & terrific.

Don’t you just love it when you find a book that trumps everything else in your life for the time you are reading it. Three Hours is such a book, immersive from beginning to end.

Rosamund Lupton has taken the terror that is a constant presence in our daily news and provided us with the humanity that underpins it. She describes a school siege, children and teachers are held at gunpoint, she peppers her prose with quotes from Macbeth illustrating how far we humans can go when driven by power, anger, resentment and rage. On the other side of the coin Macbeth is also used as a symbol of resilience and courage as the drama class continues to rehearse their play throughout, refusing to be cowed by the gunmen outside:

‘... is there any better image of goodness and courage than kids carrying saplings against bullets?’

Where Ms Lupton excels is through the wringing out of emotion - how does it feel to be a parent in this situation, a teacher, a child, a refugee - it is written from all of these points of view and is chockablock full of heroes.

An amazing piece of writing, I’m so glad I read it and can’t recommend it highly enough. Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Chilling and intensely emotional. A gripping thriller set in a Somerset School in lockdown after a code red alert is triggered. Told from several different perspectives, I read it in 2 sittings as I couldn't wait to find out what happened. Then I had to reread the ending slowly to take it in properly. It’s one of those books that will stay with you afterwards and make you think about a whole range of modern day issues.
I’d like to thank the author the publisher and netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

A superb, gripping thriller which you will not be able to put down, Three Hours tells the story of a Somerset school in lockdown and under siege by a gunman. You live the story minute by minute of the wounded headmaster in the library, the senior school children in the theatre rehearsing Macbeth, the younger ones in the pottery room in the woods and the two Syrian refugee pupils searching for each other. You are also with the police team as the try to identify the gunman and the parents of the children involved. Rosamund Lupton’s best novel to date, it is utterly brilliant and an unbelievably intense read. Fantastically good.

Absolutely brilliant and terrifying, so close to us !
this tragedy could happens everywhere, gripping thriller I could not put down the book until i knew the end
Definitely one of the best book of 2020!