Book Description The extraordinary new novel everyone is talking about from the Sunday Times best-selling author of Sister‘Gripping, intelligent, timely’ Marian Keyes’An amazing achievement’ Emma Healey’Exceptional’ Kate Hamer’Incredible’ Elizabeth Brooks’A tour de force’ Gillian McAllister’Simply stunning’ Dinah Jefferies’Phenomenal’ Fiona Mitchell’Brilliant’ Jenny Quintana’Mind blowing’ Francesca Jakobi’Staggeringly good’ Jane Fallon’Fantastic’ Kate London’Exceptional’ Sarah Edghill Three hours is 180 minutes or 10,800 seconds.It is a morning’s lessons, a dress rehearsal of Macbeth, a snowy trek through the woods.It is an eternity waiting for news. Or a countdown to something terrible.It is 180 minutes to discover who you will die for and what men will kill for. In rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege. Told from the point of view of the people at the heart of it, from the wounded headmaster in the library, unable to help his trapped pupils and staff, to teenage Hannah in love for the first time, to the parents gathering desperate for news, to the 16 year old Syrian refugee trying to rescue his little brother, to the police psychologist who must identify the gunmen, to the students taking refuge in the school theatre, all experience the most intense hours of their lives, where evil and terror are met by courage, love and redemption. Customers Review: Cliff Heights School – located in rural Somerset. Progressive, liberal, co-ed, for children aged 4-18.It consists of several buildings all isolated from one another:New School – the largest, and the closest to the road. Contains most of the classrooms.Old School – on the edge of the woods rests the original Victorian structure where the offices, library, and one English class are located. An enclosed glass walkway leads to a newer addition – the theater.The Pottery Room – a shed deep in the woods.Junior School – ages 4-10. Near the edge of the cliff, overlooking the sea.All linked and accessed by a private driveway.It’s the coldest day in five years – with a heavy snowstorm bearing down on the area.At 9:16am a single shot is fired.From that moment on, the school is under siege.And, in exactly three hours it will all be over, one way or another.A tension-filled, action-driven, fast-paced thriller, with some surprising revelations. The students and teachers were true heroes who did not did not take an attack on their school lying down. They fought back, displaying immense resilience, courage, and most important of all – love.Keep those tissues at the ready, because you are going to need them – Three Hours was a tear-jerker, but Rosamund Lupton handled a delicate topic with sensitivity and integrity. There were some upsetting scenes, but they were non-graphic and not just for the sake of gratuitous violence. The plot was character-driven, a psychological study unfolding through the eyes of a wide range of characters affected by the events – students, teachers, parents, and police.Since events took place in real time, with the clock ticking, multiple POV’s really ramped up the tension, and kept you apprised of what was happening all over the school, and with the investigation. Kids and faculty were trapped, cut-off, with no escape not only by the threat of an active shooter but severe weather stalling help and rescue.It’s been a while since I’ve read a novel about a school shooting, and it was interesting to witness how the latest technology both helped and hindered the situation. Also, of fascination was the lock-down procedures the school had in place, and how professionally and capably the teachers handled the threat and kept the children calm and distracted. The Shakespeare play Macbeth was often linked to the plot which I found clever and original, and fairytale, literature, poetry, and quotes were also used effectively.Another author whose backlist I will be adding to my tbr. Three Hours is deserving of all the hype and praise possible.
Hannah and Rafi were holding hands as they hurried through the woods to their class – they didn’t want to be late. It was cold, and the light fall of snow worried Rafi – so much that he hurried away from Hannah without an explanation. He needed to get to his little brother, eight-year-old Basi, so his fears wouldn’t overcome him. The noise was unexpected; when Rafi saw it, it took him back to the bad times when his parents were murdered. He must get to Basi…Students mingled between Old School and New School; their various classes drew them toward the classrooms. The rehearsal of Macbeth was that morning; the children in the pottery class with their teacher; the library would have other students working. But it was the call from Rafi to the headmaster that started the amber alert. Then the gunshot which meant red alert; police assembled with helicopters and tactical response teams – all controlled by two gunmen. Three hours of terror, uncertainty, courage and bravery.Three Hours by the gifted Rosamund Lupton; a tense psychological thriller which had my heart racing while I flew through the pages. I’ve loved this author’s work – Sister, Afterwards, The Quality of Silence – this one hasn’t disappointed. Highly recommended.
Three Hours, the latest novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author Rosamund Lupton, looks set to scoop up all the awards – it’s pacy, powerful and terrifying – a brilliant thriller – but so much more besides.The novel takes the reader to a sprawling middle-class school set in forested grounds in rural Somerset. The action covers three hours in the life of the staff, pupils and parents while a blizzard rages outside and the school is under siege. The headmaster is the first target, wounded on the first page and dragged into the library out of the way of the gunman by one of the pupils. A small group of sixth formers huddle in the library, trying to save the life of their headmaster and barricading the door with library books. More pupils are isolated in the drama studio, supposedly the safest place in the school. They are gathered there to rehearse the school play, Macbeth, and continue with their rehearsal, despite the seige. A further class of very young children are isolated deep in the forest in their pottery classroom. All of the pupils and teachers are trying desperately to understand what is going on outside and to keep in touch with their loved ones. This is undoubtedly a well-executed thriller with an intriguing storyline and it keeps the reader anxiously turning pages, uncomfortably aware of all the disparate groups.But Three Hours is much more than just a good thriller. For a start, the setting is clever. There is something of the fairytale about the snow-filled forest and the sense of danger lurking that creates an atmosphere of dread and anxiety. The novel is beautifully written, with almost poetic descriptions and with not a word wasted and I loved the way Lupton cleverly interwove the Macbeth story into this modern tale.This intriguing story is told from several different perspectives, inviting the reader to understand these horrific events in different ways – Mr. Marr, the kind and caring headmaster, whose concern is the safety of his pupils; two Syrian refugees, pupils at the school, caught up in the seige and forced to relive some of the trauma they have experienced during their flight from Syria; the parents, desperately awaiting news of their children; and the police psychologist, whose job it is to identify the gunman and attempt to establish his motivation.Like all the best of novels, Three Hours offers fascinating insights – in this case into some of the most disturbing elements of our world today – it is difficult not to think of Columbine. Lupton has clearly done her research, for the details of the counter-terrorism investigation are fascinating and disturbing in equal measure, for what the reader is left with is the feeling that, despite the best of measures, as this school clearly had in place, our children are vulnerable. It was also utterly intriguing to begin to think about how the process of radicalisation can happen and how the parents might be totally unaware. If nothing else, the experience of reading Three Hours will probably make most parents pay more attention to their children’s activities online.But, lest you think this is all doom and gloom, fear not. This novel, despite the extreme anxiety it provokes, ultimately gives you hope and faith in today’s young people, whose courage and faith provide redemption. |
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