Sam Ripley’s The Rule of Three is a gripping psychological thriller that blurs the line between urban legend and reality. The story unfolds through the perspectives of three women—Amy, Ila, and Eve—each grappling with personal tragedies as they confront the eerie “Rule of Three,” a chilling myth that bad things always happen in threes. Ripley’s narrative explores themes of grief, obsession, and the power of belief, creating a tense atmosphere that keeps readers questioning what is real.
The book’s strength lies in its unsettling tone and the way it delves into the characters’ psyches, making their fears palpable. Ripley’s writing is engaging, with moments of genuine creepiness that linger long after reading. However, the pacing can be uneven, and some readers may find the initial chapters challenging due to their darker themes.
If you enjoy thought-provoking thrillers with a sinister edge, this one is worth exploring.

"Rule of Three" by Sam Ripley is a gripping thriller that expertly weaves suspense with intricate character development. The plot unfolds around a mysterious formula that ties together seemingly unrelated events, keeping readers on the edge of their seats. Ripley’s writing is sharp and engaging, making it hard to put down!

The pacing is brisk, and the twists are well-executed, ensuring a satisfying read for fans of the genre. Overall, it's a thought-provoking exploration of choice and consequence wrapped in a thrilling narrative.

I really enjoyed this book and finished it quite quickly. The storyline intrigued me and I needed. to know how it ended. I liked how the author interwove the main storyline into more than just one character's life. i look forward to the next book.

"The Rule of Three" by Sam Ripley is a suspense thriller that blends urban myths and eerie paranoia. The story revolves around the idea that bad things always happen in threes. It follows a girl who initially dismisses the myth until she realizes it might be true for her. Her parents committed suicide after her sibling's accidental death, and now she feels the curse is coming for her and possibly for others. This book was suspenseful and kept me on my toes because I wasn't sure what was going on or where things were headed.

If you're after a thriller that'll keep you up at night - you've got it.
Chilling - cleverly written, and utterly compelling

This had a great blurb and I had high hopes, sadly it didn’t deliver and I didn’t. Thanks for the chance to review it.

I ate this one up! As per the title, there are of course 3 different voices telling this story. The first character immediately caught my attention and felt very relatable. I was thrown off a bit though when it switched to the second character, who felt much more dull. Obviously every character can't have the same personality but I wasn't ready to depart from the first one. SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT... I was a bit bummed that the ending was not quite supernatural, as implied by the synopsis. I love horror and am always sad when the story turns into just another crime plot. Would have gotten 5 stars from me if it had stayed horror.

Thank you for the ARC!

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve started to read this and put it down, each time a couple of pages further into it. I was intrigued enough by the description to want to read it, but my goodness, it’s a struggle, and not one Im going to win.

Briefly – Amy obviously has mental health issues, and extremely protective parents. I don’t know if this is as a result of Amy’s suicide attempt as I haven’t read that far. Amy returns home one day to find both parents – whom she refers to by their first names – dead in the garage, having hanged themselves. Obviously this doesn’t do her much good and so she swallows enough pills to kill herself, but doesn’t quite achieve the desired effect….

And on this sad, depressing tale goes, but it will have to continue without me as I just can’t take any more. I’ve probably read only about 10% of this kindle download, but it will now be deleted, sent back into the ether where it belongs.

Apparently Sam Ripley is the pseudonym of a bestselling British thriller writer.. I hope his other books are better than this!

My thanks to Netgalley without whose ARC I wouldn;t have know how awful this is.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this arc.

I sadly had to dnf this book as I just couldn’t get into the story. The characters weren’t interesting and I just couldn’t get pulled in.

I thought I was going to love this but I ended up getting so bored and frustrated with the main character, and so sick of reading about drug use that I found myself switching off and sadly not enjoying it! Good concept, but huge posts about drug taking could have been taken out for the better!

I didn't know if it was going to be a horror or a psychological thriller. It was a bit of each and I found the blurb intriguing.
It starts strong and then becomes a bit repetitive and slow.
There's a lot of potential and I think this author will write excellent books.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

We've all heard the old adage that bad things always happen in threes. and that is what this twisty mystery is all about.  But is it just down to awfully bad luck and coincidence is is it all by some design?  
I really enjoyed this book.  It gets a tiny bit repetitive at times and a lot of the characters are somewhat unlikable, but it is an engrossing read, quite disturbing at times, and it was a clever and pretty original story.

The cover and the premise really drew me in. Part thriller and part urban legend but for me it was mediocre. I put this book down several times as nothing was happening. As for the main characters they were unlikable and very annoying. I did persevere and finish this book and it Dr get better. The Last 25% was what I was hoping for. This could have been a really good read. So disappointed.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the Arc in return for an honest review.

"Bad things always happen in threes"

I have always believed this. Whether it be an item breaking, bad luck or hearing of a death. It always comes in threes. So, obviously I was going to read this book. My lucky number is 3, I was born on the 3rd, 3 is my number.

Amy is in a bad place. Her sister was killed in a car accident, her parents then committed suicide almost 3 years later. Is she next? This book has a way of building you right up then dropping you back down only to do it all over again! I really liked it.

Absolutely brilliant! I loved the format of following the story from person to person, to see how it all unfolded. It certainly had me gripped from page one, and I just *had* to find out what happened.

I've tried multiple times to finish this book. Unfortunately it did not work at all for me. The story lacked everything, the characters were quite annoying and not relatable whatsoever. The story is so extremely slow it's extremely difficult to keep the attention on the book. I stopped after a third of the book.

This is a fascinating debut to review!
If you like the number three, check out this book! There are themes of three everywhere in this one, and I loved that, it was a very cute touch from the author! I wonder if that will run into Sam Ripley's later books? It keeps you on your toes, that's for certain. It felt a little jarring at times, but when you look at the 'rule of three', I didn't mind it! It's for the needs of the book.
There is sinister goings on, and some readers may need to pay attention to the trigger warnings.
This is a promising start to Sam Ripley's writing career.

I was really impressed with this book. I agree with some other reviewers that the book was slow to start but once it gets going, it really grabs you and doesn't let you go

This was a dark thriller indeed, but perhaps a bit too slow paced. I only really got into it from the last third of the book onwards, but overall it was a pleasant read.
Thanks to NetGalley, the editor and the author for the opportunity to access this ARC.