The Three by Sarah Lotz is told in a really unique way. Rather than follow a traditional narrative, Lotz portrays the story through news articles, emails, skype conversations, interviews, etc. I thought I would initially be put off by this, but it was actually quite interesting to read. The story covers an event in 2012 called Black Thursday in which four passenger flights go down around the world and there are only three child survivors. Conspiracy theories abound about these children and bits and pieces are revealed through the book that lead you to believe the children are not what they seem. There are a few intensely creepy moments, such as when the uncle of one survivor starts having nightmares about his brother who died in the crash. It’s really interesting to watch his descent into paranoia and how much he struggles with his grief and fear.
One of the theories presented in the book, started by a group of religious fundamentalists in the States, is that the children are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and will bring about the destruction of the world. Another theory is that the children are aliens and are being controlled via microchips. There’s definitely something wrong with the kids and while we don’t find out in this book what exactly is going on, I assume we’ll do so in Lotz’s next book, Day Four.
If you like a bit of a psychological thrill then I definitely recommend checking out this book. It was recommended to me in store and I was a little skeptical since I don’t enjoy being scared, but I’m glad I bought it anyway. Lotz has quite a few other works that I’ll probably be checking out in the future.
Thanks for stopping by!
-Erin