A lot about Three Hours was excellent. I found it very gripping and well done a lot of the time, but it did have its flaws in the end.

This is the story of a school siege by initially unknown gunmen. The school is in an isolated part of north Somerset and it is snowing heavily, giving the story extra atmosphere which Rosamund Lupton does very well. It begins dramatically with the shooting of the headteacher and from there we get several points of view as it unfolds: various students including a refugee from Syria with PTSD, a parent, a police officer and so on. These are all excellently handled and feel very real so that even filling in the back-stories, a device which can sometimes feel very clumsy and tired, seems natural to the narrative. Lupton also writes very well much of the time; as an example, capturing the intensity of teenage love (before the siege has begun), “A white snowflake landed on a fiery gold strand of her hair and for a moment he saw the beauty of it,” which I thought very evocative and there’s plenty more of a similar quality.

For much of its length this was a five-star read for me – gripping, exciting, intelligent and thoughtful. In the last third or so, though, there began to be just a few too many unlikely contrivances for the sake of a tense plot which weakened it for me. Also, there is suddenly some rather heavy-handed political evengelising. I agree entirely with what Lupton is saying and she is making very important points, but it did feel a little clumsy and over-polemical to me.

That said, Three Hours is still very good. It is very well researched, I found it hard to put down and Lupton’s thoughtful and sensitive portraits of her characters are excellent. Recommended.

(My thanks to Penguin Books for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Wow! A rollercoaster of a book with a great plot. I really enjoyed this and came to care about many of the characters. Although the setting (a middle England, quiet school) did feel wrong as we are more used to hearing about these atrocities in America, I think this gave an extra chilling dimension to the story. Fabulous. I’m going to buy this in non electronic form for my husband as he only reads five books a year and this must be one of them

A school isn't under siege and no one knows why or by whom. We hear from the wounded headmaster, the young girl in love and the 16 year old Syrian refugee, desperate to find and rescue his brother. The story is set in winter in a snow blizzard which makes the situation more tense.
It is enthralling to hear the takes of each of these people and see how they entwine and to finally realise why the siege is happening.
Definitely worth a read.

Three hours is the tense and gripping story about an armed siege at a school. At first I assumed the school was in the USA and when it became clear that it was in fact a British school the story became all the more scary.
The story is so topical; dealing with refugees and radicalisation of young people.
Lupton's novel are compelling and this story is as brilliant as her others. You feel horror at the events she describes and empathy for one of the perpetrators and, in particular, for his parents.
I recommend this book 100%

Thought this book had a good plot and was thought provoking.
But I found it irritating at times, especially when the phones were either running out of charge or had ran out
Also got confused at times who was where
I have read all the previous books by this author
Unfortunately this one didn't quite hit the mark

Thank you netgalley, Rosumund Lupton and Penguin UK

This was a tense and intense book. Certainly gripping and compelling read with a scary realistic situation of a school under siege by radicalised youths. A roller coaster of emotions with plenty of suspense. Quite scary in how such a situation could indeed take place with control of social media and sophisticated internet use by extremist groups

It is a book that will stay with the reader long after finishing and should make us all more aware of what could happen.

Three Hours is a very compelling, dramatic book which kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. The subject of a school under siege by armed gunmen is a scary one, and the action flits from character to character both inside and outside the school, building tension continually. I have to say I guessed the last two twists in the book, which I don’t normally, but this didn’t stop my enjoyment. In fact it increased the terror factor as I knew what was coming. One of the few books I’ve read this year which I’m wanting time in my day to sit and read. Highly recommended.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my opinion. Rosamund is a new author to me, and I’ll be reading more of her books in the future.

The author tackled such a hard and emotional subejct of school shotings brilliantly. The painstaking research that she must have undertook is clear to see.

180 minutes that changed the lives of many people as sadly these incidents always do. You found yourself investing in the lives and safety of each character as the storyline built and agonising over the injustice of it all.
I was hooked from the moment I starterd reading it and this stayed throughout.

An excellent read.

Set in a school in Somerset, Three Hours is about a school under lock down. It starts with the headmaster being shot and the drama escalates from there. Some of the children have been evacuated but the rest are trapped in two parts of the school. While a young Syrian refuge struggles to rescue his little brother and locate his girlfriend, other pupils are being kept busy in the theatre rehearsing their production of Macbeth and the Police are trying to work out who is holding them hostage.

I read Three Hours while on holiday and kept making excuses to leave our group of friends to read more of this excellent book. A fast-paced, brilliant roller coaster read that I could not put down. Terrifying, exhilarating and exceptionally good!

This is a fabulous thriller by an author I had not read before - but maybe not advisable for parents of school age children!

Set in a school on the cliffs outside of Minehead in Somerset, a small bomb detonates in the woods, as the children arrive for school. The school initiates an amber alert, which quickly escalates and the school goes into full lockdown. The book describes what happens next from the viewpoint of some of the pupils, the parents and the police.

I enjoyed reading the different viewpoints. One minute you are considering the backstory of young Syrian refugees and then moving on to the anxieties of the parents with trapped or missing children and then reading about the children in the theatre rehearsing Macbeth. There are literary quotes throughout, mostly from Macbeth and they are cleverly woven into the fabric of the story.

The suspense builds and builds and it got to the point that I just had to sit in the garden and finish the book. There is a great twist at the end which I didn't see coming at all.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Penguin Books (UK) - Viking, for the ARC.

Wow! talk about mystery and suspense, bravery and emotion - what an excellent read! - and I read every word, soaking-in the atmosphere created by great writing - what an engaging film this would make!
(OK - you get the gist - I Loved it.)

Set in rural Somerset; a large school campus within and bordered by forest, cliffs and sea. The Old (upper) School, Victorian, which has been connected to the new Theatre by a glassed-in corridor; the New (lower) School, situated above the cliffs; the Gatehouse guarding the long driveway. Forrest, forestry paths, snow and intermittent blizzard conditions provide the backdrop to this intense story.
Sixth-formers Rafi and Hannah are in love; Rafi's younger brother is in the lower school and suffers from PTSD from his life and escape from Syria - Rafi always there to protect him.
A sniper shoots Matthew Marr, the Headmaster, in the head. The 6th-formers are in the library stacking books against the door to protect them from the gunman stalking the corridor. Hannah tends to her Headmaster. Phone calls for help reach the police and parents. Parents are directed to the community centre to await news. The police set up a control room where a psychologist tries to identify who the gunmen might be.
A class is in the Theatre rehearsing Macbeth but the doors have to be kept closed against the walkway that could allow the gunman to enter.
A device explodes in the woods - Rafi recognises the sound and races to protect his brother.
How can anyone escape from this siege? What do these gunmen want?
Parents wait for news of their children but the tone of conversation begins to slant towards terrorism being brought to them by the presence of 'the refugees'.

This is just so intense, so moving; several story-strands coming together and lots of little twists and turns - couldn't guess the ending.
Thoroughly recommended.

An intriguing thriller with believable characters that kept me turning the pages! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced reading copy.

A refugee named Rafi is the first to spot that something is amiss on a snowy morning at school, attuned as he is to the sound of bombs and gunfire. This character-led novel has moments of tension and heart-break, but the spell is somewhat broken by a proselytising tone whereby every individual is either saintly or psycho. Beautifully written, but doesn't break any new narrative ground.

What a sensitive and brave subject Rosamund Lupton has tackled wonderfully. This topic was written about so well, considering how prevalent the subject of school shootings are at the moment.

I felt a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach almost all the way through the long drawn out 180 minutes, finding myself entirely invested in each character's safety. If you are into torturing yourself in that sense, I 100% recommend this book!

Effective character building and a seriously impressive ability to keep the reader hooked in the moment.

Oh my goodness this book was so emotional it had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn’t put it down.
This was written beautifully and I found it so refreshing that it was told by the true heroes in this kind of situation. I don’t want to give too much away as this is a book you need to read, but the characters in this were amazing people and it made you feel like you were really there with them. Such a relevant story at the moment too. A must read.

This has to be one of the best books I’ve read in a very long time. The action spans three hours during an attack on a school by what appear to be domestic terrorists, but that spare description really doesn’t do it justice. I’ve read Rosamund Lupton’s previous books but this one is undoubtedly her best so far. It’s a breath-taking read, she ratchets up the tension with every turn of the page and gets completely into the heads of her protagonists.

What’s so clever is the way she puts us right in the middle of the action in the school itself, into the minds of the teachers and pupils and the incredible acts of bravery and self-sacrifice which take place, and into the minds of the desperate families waiting for news of their children. It’s also an incredibly timely book, touching on themes of radicalisation and refugees, of belonging, and of the ways in which we ignore what’s really going on in people’s lives. From being in the room with a group of teenagers desperately trying to stay brave, to small children playing a terrifying game of hide and seek, while in the outside world, police investigators try to work out what’s going on and whether it’s safe to intervene, this is an extraordinarily gripping book.

I loved it so much that having raced through it a first time, desperate to know what happens next, I’m now reading it again in a more leisurely way – it’s one of those books which bears repeated reading, there’s so much richness and texture to it. Her descriptions are wonderful too, and it was a real heart-pounding, pulse-racing read.

I read this whenever and wherever I could grab a minute, I was so engaged. It was like going to the cinema to see a really good film, I couldn’t believe it when I got to the end, because I had been so transported by the story.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough - it’s an angry, moving, hopeful meditation on the power of love over fear and hatred, wrapped up inside a tense page turner of a thriller.

A school in Somerset is under siege, masked gunmen in the school and the headmaster has been shot. children and staff have barricaded themselves into classrooms and are at the mercy of the gunmen. due to a snowstorm and the cleaver plots of the gunmen, the police cannot enter the school.

I really enjoyed this book although it sounds wrong to say so. this book tugged at the emotions and having grown up and gone to a school in Somerset I could not help but picture the events unrolling in me school. children trapped in the gym or in the library, the courage of one young boy.

this book will not appeal to some because it is just too real.

Hands down my book of the year so far, and probably last year and next year too. This was absolutely stunning. I'm left somewhat shell shocked, actually. Full review to come closer to release, but wow. Easiest five stars of the year.

“Three Hours” is set at a progressive school in rural Somerset during a snowstorm. When the unthinkable happens and the school is held under siege, the community of teachers and students must pull together in order to survive. From the injured headteacher to a pair of refugee brothers from Syria to the class trapped in the theatre rehearsing for their performance of MacBeth, we follow the entwined stories while rushing towards an unforgettable climax. This book is a glorious thing: skilfully written, moving, and timely. I loved how Macbeth was threaded through the narrative, with the play’s themes mirrored in the plot, and I got genuine chills in the spectacular climax (don’t worry, no spoilers!). I was on the edge of my seat during certain sections of the book, and I couldn’t help but love the main characters, who were uniquely complex, courageous, and utterly wonderful. A brilliantly written story that had my heart in my throat for the most part. I will be thinking about this book and these characters for a long time to come, and recommending it to anyone within earshot. Truly incredible.

Note: I was provided a free ARC copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.