Three Hours: The Top Ten Sunday Times Bestseller
£3.80
‘If you read only one thriller this year; make it this one’ Daily Mail
‘Gob-smackingly, heart-stoppingly, breath-holdingly brilliant’ Ruth Jones
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THREE HOURS TO SAVE THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE
In rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege.
Pupils and teachers barricade themselves into classrooms, the library, the theatre. The headmaster lies wounded in the library, unable to help his trapped students and staff. Outside, a police psychiatrist must identify the gunmen, while parents gather desperate for news.
In three intense hours, all must find the courage to stand up to evil and save the people they love.
A TOP 10 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
THE TIMES THRILLER OF THE YEAR
A BEST BOOK OF 2020 IN THE SUNDAY TIMES, TIMES, GUARDIAN, MAIL, MIRROR, LITERARY REVIEW, STYLIST, RED AND GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
A TIMES & SUNDAY TIMES THRILLER OF THE MONTH
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‘Brilliant’ Lee Child, Better off Dead
‘A brave, timely and intricately crafted work’ Emma Stonex, The Lamplighters
‘Superb’ Kate Mosse, The City of Tears
‘It’s beautifully, elegantly written, SO gripping, intelligent, timely, affecting and moving’ Marian Keyes, Again, Rachel
‘A brilliant literary thriller… moving, masterly’ Sunday Times
‘Kept us on the edge of our seats from start to finish’ Independent
‘A novel that you live rather than merely read’ Daily Telegraph
‘Amazing’ Davina McCall, Menopausing
‘An electrifying, pulse-racing novel’ Red
‘Wow! This is a stunner of a book, staggeringly good’ Jane Fallon, Just Got Real
‘An emotionally devastating and beautifully observed literary thriller’ Observer
‘Astonishing, powerful, terrifying, heartbreaking’ Emma Flint, Little Deaths
‘Intersperses scenes of breath-sucking tension with stirring meditations on human nature’ Guardian
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Additional information
| Publisher | Penguin, 1st edition (6 Jan. 2020) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 1658 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 306 pages |
by damppebbles
I have been umming and ahhring about writing my review. Why? Because Three Hours absolutely broke me. Never has a book had such a powerful effect on me. It’s a sublime read but utterly devastating. I loved it but it ended up changing my mood. It made me terribly sad and I hugged my kids just that little bit tighter because of it. Three Hours will stay with me forever.
On a snowy December day, oblivious to what is about to happen, the parents of Cliff Heights School drop their children off believing it to be just like any other school day. Only an hour later, the children start texting and tweeting their parents. There’s a gunman in the school. They’re terrified and hiding for their lives. The parents rush to the school but they’re turned away by the police, they feel helpless and can only watch from afar. The clock is ticking…
I’ve never read such a tense, compelling novel before. My heart was in my mouth from the very start and it stayed there throughout. I was living and breathing the story alongside the characters, like a movie playing in my mind. And the terror felt real. It was insane how deeply this book burrowed its way into my being. It was such an intense, emotional experience reading Three Hours.
I felt there were two sides to this story. You have the human side; the kids and teachers trapped in the school in fear for their lives, the parents being kept at a distance whilst being utterly helpless. And then you have the technical side; the police analysing every move the gunman makes, trying to pre-empt any demands and the reasons for carrying out such a horrific act. I loved the juxtaposition of these two faces – emotional versus technical and scientific. It’s a true race against time and I was on the edge of my seat throughout.
I had a feeling I knew where one of the plotlines in the book was heading but it still broke my heart into a million pieces when the truth was revealed. The author has written such an immersive, current and hypnotic novel. The bravery shown by the kids, the resilience and determination shown by the teachers, and the heartbreak shown by the parents makes for absorbing reading.
Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Reading Three Hours was such an experience for me that it will be impossible to forget. Beautifully written, full of drama and shedloads of terror-filled suspense. I devoured the book. It affected me greatly. Recommended.
by Cathy D
Whilst we know a familiar story from true news events i.e. School under siege by gunman; the author makes it her own. Gripping the reader from the beginning and continuing the suspense from start to finish with fully engaging momentum and excellent writing style. I thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of reading this novel and the urge to turn each page again and again!
by Suzy Q
While I found myself gripped by the story and anxious to know the outcome I feel it was let down by the author putting every convention there was into the story. The heavy snowfall was just one of the silly things put there to make life difficult for the police. The way the junior school was evacuated was so unlikely as was the little boy running off. Shame really
by Amazon Customer
I thought this would be an exciting thriller with children and teachers hiding from gun toting madmen who were trying to kill them indiscriminately. I was sorely disappointed. It was a monotonous snooze fest! Children hiding but nobody actually attacking them despite knowing where they were! It did not ring true!There were no holding your breath moments! And performing Macbeth whilst being barricaded in the theatre was absurd. As for the police and SWAT teams, they were absolutely hopeless! I would hate to think in real life they would do nothing for 3 hours whilst over 70 kids were still in the school with the shooters! This book had the potential to be a winner but sadly it was not, due to the lack of action in the book!
by Lauren J
This is about a school shooting in Somerset, UK and it draws its parallels from the various USA school shootings. This is a really unsettling and stressful subject and it keeps you reading as you wonder what is going to happen. That being said, for a ‘thriller’ and taking into account the subject matter, this book was quite slow. It did pick up towards the end, and I enjoyed the police procedural elements of the book. However the characters seemed very ‘young adult’ and I struggled to connect with the school children which is strange as you would think this would be the most significant part of the book under the circumstances. I think it is something to do with the style, the author almost dilutes the subject matter. The school layout was confusing and did not really make much sense, and the continued theme of MacBeth I did not like at all. Couldn’t appreciate the parallels there and it seemed very naive. I did enjoy the ending with regards to the ‘third gunman’ (no spoilers) and I definitely didn’t see that one coming. Made the book more enjoyable for me but overall a high 3 stars put of 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
by speedsister
Could not put this book down! Heartfelt sad scary and a sad indictment on the times in which we find ourselves. Ps I never leave reviews so that’s a testament to how good this is
by Sylvie Sullivan
This is the story of a quiet and liberal British school being attacked by terrorists. It shows the heroism
of the headteacher and his staff who will do everything in their power to protect the children from the evil wanting to destroy them over the course of three hours. The two young Syrian refugees will show immense courage to defend their fellow pupils. The story is tense, with twists and flashbacks. The reader will wonder who the terrorists really are and why they have been pushed to commit such a horrific attack. This is a book you will not be able to put down, a very emotional story that felt very real.
by Lilliepad
This book grips you right away and doesn’t stop until it’s over. You will have physical responses to this book – laugh, cry, feel your anxiety rise. So, so good.