A fresh and compelling read to keep it real. The story is haunting and absolutely terrifying. It made me scream out loud more than once.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster and Sam Ripley for this digital arc of The Rule of Three.

This story was touted along the veins of The Whisper Man,The Chalk Man and The Blair Witch Project, and I found that I wasn't a fan of the pacing or characters. I'd also assumed that this story would follow more of the supernatural aspects of the myth of 'bad luck in threes' but it pretty quickly took a turn into different territory.

The Rule of Three by Sam Ripley is a better fit for somebody wanting an unsettling read with slowly built suspense - exploring the idea of urban myths, bad luck, and the cycle of trauma.

TW: Mental health, suicide, drug abuse, stalking.

I had such high hopes for this one. At times I found it to be confusing and it was a bit too slow for me. The ending was a little flat so I was left feeling disappointed.

This was a good story which kept me turning the pages throughout the night. Great mystery, writing and plotting will recommend to all my friends who love this genre.

This is a book that I thought I might not like as it sounded a bit creepy. And so it was a bit creepy but so thrilling and intense. It is certainly a page turner and haunting as well. I liked it but at the same time didn't like it but I couldn't stop reading it as I wanted to know what happened in the end.

A story that starts slowly but builds throughout with characters that are well written. I really am unsure what to write about this one as I am still in two minds as to whether I liked it or not. But if you love a good creepy, horror type thriller than this is the book for you!

I think I must give it 3 1/2 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Very creepy. Starts off slow. Lots of discussions on suicide and drug use. I did not like the first third of this story. Amy’s story. As the story proceeds there are lots of twists and turns. Amy is afraid she will die three years after her parents. Her best friend Liz tries to help but can she be trusted.
Halfway through the pace speeds up with lots of creepy action.
This was a scary murder mystery. I loved the way the mystery unfolded and how people used online forums to follow clues to discover the mystery of the Rule of Three.

I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the was Sam structured this book and I don’t doubt that they will right even more great books in the future.

Firstly, there is a lot of discussion of suicide in The Rule of Three which makes its way into this review, so avoid if that's not helpful for you. This is basically a book that discusses an urban legend—the rule of three—where bad luck visits you three times before it's expended. It does so through the discussion of a story from three points of view: Amy, Ila and Eve. The three women all have an ominous feeling that they're cursed, and connected to each other.

All three lives have been beset by tragedies that leave them bereft of family, and all of them cope with this in different ways. For Amy it's suicidal ideation and attempts: "I can laugh about it now: buying cheap rope to save pennies when I was trying to kill myself. What was I trying to save money for? One more flower at my cremation?" This focus does mean she feels well versed in recognising the pathway to a suicide attempt in herself and when she has a car accident, she begins to suspect all is not what it seems.

The rest of the book assesses the same problem by building upon her predicament with the aim of saving a future life, as the protagonists try to unravel is correlation possibly causation: "We all think about weird things all the time. We only dwell on the tiny percentage that happens to sync up with the real world." This book might appeal to anyone who has wondered whether urban legends have any basis in reality: "Just a saying or is it rooted in something real, something primeval?"

The writing is decent, I found the three protagonists got progressively less annoying as the book moved forward. Amy was my least favourite, which I felt was intentional as she is set up as an unreliable narrator: "I'm a cocktail. I'm a chrome shaker filled with terror liqueur and a mixer of sparkling confusion, with plenty of cold cubes of refreshing agony. Pour into an Amy-shaped glass and garnish with a slice of self-loathing and a sprig of fresh regret." As you move forward the tension ramps up, and the narrators get increasingly reliable because they take less drugs, and have more of an idea what's happening to them. I liked but didn't love this one, so probably wouldn't pick up another book by this author.