This book left me feeling underwhelmed.
A fan of Rosamund Lipton’s previous work, I had high hopes, particularly when I heard what the subject matter was.
The modern spate of high school massacres are both terrifying and strangely compelling, and I have read a lot of literature particularly about the event in Columbine.
I’ve always thought it would be a great subject to centre a fictional story around.
However, I felt there were too many similarities to the columbine massacre in this book - it was mentioned several times and it just felt like a slightly fictionised version of the event.
I didn’t feel any affinity with the characters and I became confused with the narrative leaping.
I would have loved more originality, a female shooter perhaps??
It left me wanting more.

Brilliant. Rollercoaster ride. Emotional. Superb read.

A wonderful read, I was completely caught up in the story from the beginning to the end. It didn’t stop for an instance to give me reason to breathe. Bang on topic.

Only criticism is that you called Katie Hopkins a journalist. Wrong.

In a rural English village in the middle of a snowstorm, the unthinkable happens: the school is under siege.

From the wounded headmaster barricaded in the library, to teenage Hannah in love for the first time, to the pregnant police psychologist who must identify the gunmen, to the terrified 8-year-old Syrian refugee, to the kids sheltering in the school theatre still rehearsing Macbeth, all must find the courage to stand up to evil and try to save the people they love . . .

The premise of this book is excellent, and I thought I would really enjoy reading it as I have enjoyed similar in the past. Unfortunately, this book fell a bit flat. I didn't feel connected with the characters straight away, although I really wanted to. The only one felt for was the headmaster, who was described well - but I didn't connect with other teachers or children, or the assailants either.

I can't say much more without giving things away, but this one just wasn't for me - still, I expect many people who enjoy Rosamund Lipton's style of writing will really enjoy it.

It took a few chapters for me to get into this book, but once I did I was hooked and could barely put it down. A school in Somerset is under siege by unknown gunmen and with an unknown motive. Specialist police forces must try to work out who the gunmen are in order to get the pupils to safety. A heavy snowstorm makes surveillance more difficult, and pupils begin to feel disorientated in their once familiar school. Parents wait anxiously for news that their children have been safely evacuated, and the world's media is watching.

With several key characters, it might have felt confusing but each character had been created so convincingly that I didn't struggle to keep up with them. Their stories were carefully woven together, with Lupton managing to weave the past and present seamlessly. The novel was made more terrifying by the fact that I could see exactly how such a hostage situation could occur in schools in the UK, and how children can slip away from their parents insidiously. The novel felt incredibly well researched, and I was amazed by the depth of information (particularly regarding terrorism) that was written in such a frank manner.

I read this novel quickly (ironically in just over three hours), and was surprised by its twists and turns. There was shocking terror mixed in with acts of pure love and selflessness. Three Hours showed the strength of both adults and children facing impossible situations, and the bravery some will show when faced with adversity.

I absolutely loved, loved, loved this book. Couldn't put it down- it had me on the edge of my seat plot wise, with a couple of great twists I didn't see coming, but also made me cry (which I don't normally do when reading). I can't recommend it highly enough. I've read all of Rosamund Lupton's books and I have to say I think this is my new favourite.

A small private day school by the coast in the Somerset countryside, with a liberal ethos. The compassionate headmaster has rescued two Syrian refugee brothers and brought them there. Now, on the morning of a snowstorm, there's a gunman or gunmen.

This is a very topical book. The story draws in terrorism, extremism, radicalization, the influence of mainstream media, social media, President Trump... A book of powerful themes too; it explores fear, friendship, power, betrayal, bravery and above all love of many kinds.

The thoughts and memories of key characters build depth and understanding. One such character, the mother of a missing boy did not resonate with me though.

Overall, the story was compelling and involving.

Ironically it took me around three hours to read Three Hours. For most of that time, my heart was pounding with a strong sense of fear and dread, my throat tight, my jaw tense. I barely took a breath, occasionally coming up for air. This is a race against the clock – and in various places I wished that I could press a pause button to give the characters extra time.

The writing moves at a cracking pace, switching from person to person, then back again, with some expertly woven twists – so cleverly structured. Afterwards, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the little things that now made sense and slotted into place, that I’d blinked over when I’d read them the first time.

I felt as though as I was there alongside the characters, as if they were my own friends and family – all of it feeling so real and close to home. Yes, the plotting is incredible but it’s the writing that wowed me in particular and wormed its way under my skin.

While there’s a mystery at the heart of the book – who are these gunmen and why are they targeting this remote school in Somerset? – for me, the book was an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end, fuelled by its human element and exploration of human nature. What drives us to perform immense acts of violence and also immense acts of love?

Three Hours was a traumatic reading experience in many ways – it challenged me, thrilled me, stunned me and upset me - but I am so glad that I immersed myself within its pages. In several places, I had to pause and take a breath – scared to read on, yet scared not to. My youngest teen came into the room at one point while I was reading and I just wanted to pull him close and hug him, never let him go. This book made me worry about my teenagers, about sending them to school the next day, about the future of society. Yet it also gave me a sense of hope.

Three Hours is a thriller about ordinary people doing what’s right, going above and beyond their natural capabilities and comfort zone. It’s a message about society and vulnerability, love and the importance of community. This will be one of my top reads of 2019.

“Love is the most powerful thing there is”.

So says one character in Rosamund Lupton’s Three Hours, an incredibly powerful, heart breaking and undeniably brilliant novel, the thing is you know, I believe that’s true. If you read this you’ll believe it too.

Three Hours. One School. A life threatening and life changing event.

Reading this book was both the best and most difficult three hours (ironically) I’ve spent inside a story for years. Gripping, almost gently breaking down your defences, that thing that separates your fact from your fiction, the characters within this multi arc drama are tangible and real. They could be your family, your friends, this is why your heart will pound out of your chest, you’ll have to step back sometimes but you’ll be drawn back in by the sheer emotion of it all – now I’m out the other side I’m a little in awe of how far I was in it. Actually I think powerful is understating it by quite a margin.

The writing is so beautiful. The inner turmoil, the bravery, the terror and the dawning of understanding, all brought to vivid, shocking life on the page. The author takes on all the nuances, all the emotional levels, every part of human nature both the best and the worst of it and makes you look, really LOOK at it and the world we are living in. There are no punches pulled, no promises made and yet at the centre of it all, through the trauma, there is hope. Hope and love.

Yes the story is ripped straight from a headline you hope never to see again. This has been done before you may say. No. Not like this. Not with this immersive level of quality in the prose, in the characters, in the overall impact of it. I cried for our society when I was done, I also believed in it.

Love is the most powerful thing there is.

Read this book. Live it.

Not for me, I’m afraid. I didn’t like the writing style from the get go, but I persevered through 3 chapters but I gave in. Seemed like such a good storyline too, but I would have liked a hint at who the gun man/men was/were before the 3rd chapter to keep me hooked.

Three Hours transports you to a sprawling, cosseted private school on the Somerset coast which is under siege by masked gunmen. But this is no ordinary thriller. The writer hops into the heads of the many different characters - allowing us to navigate the wonderful relationship between Syrian refugee brothers Rafi and Basi; brave school girl Hannah; heartfelt headmaster Mr Marr; Beth, one of the parents awaiting news of her son who is still inside the school, and many others. Multiple points of view might have diluted the depth of the story, but Lupton mines each of her characters’ thoughts so deeply that we feel what they’re feeling. The writing is first-class with sentences that are almost poetic in their beauty. The pupils that are stuck inside the theatre - the most impenetrable part of the school, and therefore the safest - carry on performing their production of Macbeth, so that Shakespeare’s lines about power and psychopathy haunt the narrative.

The counter-terrorism investigation on the outside gathers force - Lupton’s research must have been meticulous. Indeed this fiction is so firmly rooted in reality that it is supremely disturbing. I find it interesting that Lupton has set her story in a liberal, fee-paying school with a massive budget - a school where people expect their children to be safe, yet the unthinkable still happens. Because it really can happen anywhere, to anyone - there will always be chinks that let the darkness in. Lupton explores just what it would take to be radicalised: the relentless racist messages thrown out by the press - the story is even intercut with Tweets from Trump and a vile diatribe by a former newspaper columnist - brainwashing by extreme groups and much more. While reading this book you will undoubtedly want to have a closer look at your child’s iPad and phone to see just what they have been looking at lately.

Three Hours is about hate crime, but what rings out from its pages - what is likely to stay with you long after you’ve read that magnificent last line - is love. I wanted to read Three Hours slowly to savour every beautiful word, yet it is so compelling that I couldn’t put it down. This one is destined for the best-sellers list, I reckon, and rightly so. It is phenomenal.

A thought provoking, powerful and plausible read. Definitely not one to read for escapism. Very well written.

A very thought provoking read, it’s very tense and I couldn’t stop reading as I just wanted to make sure the children were ok!

Loved it! It was a real page turner. It was hard to establish if this was a private school or state school - it was a little ambiguous - I would have liked that to be clearer, as it would perhaps have made it more plausible. But it certainly tapped into a parent's fears - that our children are now having to practice these types of drills, something you expect and seems mainstream in the US, but certainly not here in the UK. This story explored what happens when it really is the worst case scenario. There was a little of the 'We need to talk about Kevin' plot line - where the mother is trying to establish where her son is, and then realises the truth. But a very very good read, keeps you hooked right to the end, with a lot of different stories going on.

A really thought provoking and brilliant fictional look at a potential school massacre. I did know how you could tell it from so many angles and make me care but I did. Gripping and outstanding writing. Read it now!

I had read a couple of books by this author some time ago so I was really looking forward to it, I was not disappointed it was a very good read.

Nowadays, all schools have an emergency plan. The teachers who write that plan or discuss protocol will also fervently hope that they will never have to see it in action. In ‘Three Hours’ at a 3 – 18 liberal independent school by the Somerset coast, headmaster Matthew Marr does not only sound the ‘red alarm’ early in the school day; he is also shot and badly wounded at the outset of the novel by one of the terrorists on site.
Rosumund Lupton skilfully and quickly introduces us to the central characters of the novel through the way in which they react to the terrifying situation. Hannah, sixteen-year-old girlfriend of Rumi, a Syrian refugee pupil, begins the stressful task of nursing the wounded Head whilst her boyfriend can only think of how he must rescue his little brother Basi who is a mile away through the woods in the school’s Junior department. Parents gather, the police are informed; specialist units appear and yet, for some time, no one is any the wiser as to who is wreaking such havoc.
Many of the children are evacuated but, still, around seventy pupils and staff remain on site trapped either in the Old School, the theatre or the pottery room in the woods whilst the two terrorists – or are there three? – seem unstoppable.
The author not only manages to make this story seem horribly possible but, through it, reminds us of the everyday terror suffered by journeying refugees, of the power of the press to incite extremism, and of the extraordinary bravery of people determined to challenge hatred. The perpetrators of the terror are as believable as those trapped in the school. Lupton reminds us of recent US high school massacres through the character of DI Rose Polstein, brought on board for her expertise in this field. This device prompts the reader to recognise that, whilst a work of fiction, ‘Three Hours’ has its roots in reality.
Throughout the novel, ‘Macbeth’ is referred to over and over as the pupils in the theatre are rehearsing for a school show. This allows Lupton to use quotations from a play which explores mankind’s motivation for power, for jealousy, for violence, for evil. Whilst school massacres are a relatively new phenomenon, the running references to Shakespeare’s play reminds us that these actions have long been recognised as the darker side of the human condition.
A powerful, timely and engrossing read.
My thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Really enjoyed this book finished it in two sittings. Not my usual genre but full of tension and suspense. Very atmospheric, Really good read.

A small school in the middle of a snow storm is under threat. Gunmen have arrived and shot the head teacher. Children are scattered about but why this school and why these children?

This was such a gripping read. Beautifully written and heartfelt. I was hooked from the start and paid no attention to anything else going on apart from this book.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.