The Rule of Three; creepy, compelling horror

So unless you enjoy being scared the bejesus out of, I would suggest you don’t follow my example of reading The Rule of Three at midnight when you are alone in bed! Yes that was me the other night, and I was scared shXtless. But I couldn’t put the book down! I was so engrossed and needed to know what happened.

The Rule of Three is bit of a reading departure for me as it could be deemed as falling into the horror genre; and generally I’m not a fan of horror. But in a surreal way I enjoyed being petrified by this compelling narrative. It creeped me out in a similar way to how Koji Suzuki’s The Ring creeped me out. I feel it shares a similar claustrophobic unease with Suzuki’s bestselling thriller.

The Rule of Three chillingly explores the legendary superstition that bad things always come in threes; yet the definition of a bad thing in this story is death.

The novel is divided into three parts, with the first part dedicated to Amy who is on the brink of turning twenty-one. It is fair to say that Amy’s life is consumed with chaos. But when you read her story, you will understand why. Amy’s story had a real emotional impact on me; I really felt for her as she had to experience tragedy that no one should have to experience. Three years previously she discovered her parents after they jointly committed suicide. Three years prior to that, her older sister was fatally killed in a car accident. Don’t worry, this is not a spoiler. But Amy believes she will fall victim to the ‘Rule of Three’ and is doomed to die.

The novel, which is fast paced and made up of succinct chapters, moves onto Ila’s story. Ila hears about the ‘rule of three’ urban myth from almost a decade ago. As her own life could resonate with the chilling urban myth, she is determined to prove it wrong. Yet instead Ila discovers she shares a similar history to Amy and fears she herself may be a victim of the curse of the rule of three.

Eve is the focus of the final section of the novel. I love her determination, her spirit to beat the rule of three. Yet at what cost?

The theme of three brilliantly runs throughout the whole novel. For example, each of the names of the three main characters are made up of three letters. The tragedies in Amy’s, Ila’s and Eve’s personal backstories happen almost three years apart.

The Rule of Three is a thought provoking and scary novel that I really enjoyed. I read it pretty quickly, enjoying the intimate writing style where the characters directly addressed me as the reader at times. I liked this but I have to admit, it chilled me to the bone too. I personally believe that was Sam Ripley’s aim.

Released in the UK on 22 June, The Rule of Three is available now. If you are a fan of being scared witless, then I recommend you read this book. And if like me you’re not a big fan of being creeped out, I still recommend you give it a go. Like me, you might enjoy it.

Thank you to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to the blog tour of The Rule of Three. To read the reviews from my fellow book bloggers, please see below.