This month I received a copy of The Three* by Sarah Lotz, which is officially out this Thursday, the 22nd of May. I was selected to be one of the first to read and review the book and I can already tell you The Three is worth reading (be aware this is a long post).
|How it begins|
I read little about the book beforehand, so I didn't know much about the actual content of The Three. With this cover, I was expecting something like a thriller set in WW II, you know, this sort of thing. But I couldn't be more wrong.
The frame story centers around Black Thursday, a day when four planes crash at the same time in different parts of the world. Only three children survived the catastrophe, marked by the media as 'The Three'. The interest of the media in the kids is immense and soon gets out of control, when a message recorded shortly before the crashes, is found.
There here. I'm....don't let Snookie eat chocolate, it's poison for dogs, she'll beg you, the boy. The boy, watch the boy watch the dead people oh Lordy there's so many...They're coming for me now. We're all going soon. All of us. Bye Joanie I love the bag bye Joanie, Pastor Len warn them that the boy he's not to -
These last words of a dying passenger stir the interest of religious fanatics and conspiracy theories flourish around the mysterious survival of the three kids. In a documentary style narrative, witnesses, descendents and relatives depict the aftermath of Black Thursday and how this day has changed their lives forever.
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The way the story unfolds was unusual to me, as I've never read anything like it before. The Three is a documentary book in itself with a strong narrative structure. In recordings, articles and interviews, the case of 'Black Thursday' is depicted from different angles and perspectives, so the reader can draw their own conclusions and form opinions.
The first 30 pages were hard to read and I felt lost. The more I read, the less I understood. The episodic character took me a while to differentiate, as the tone of the different people stayed almost the same and there was hardly any deviation to make a distinction in the characters. I can imagine people with little reading experience might turn it down because of that. However, once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. The events happening are told rich in detail and draw perfect images whilst reading. More and more I visualized The Three as a film (rumour has it there's the second book in planning and a TV adaptation, too).
So reading becomes much easier after the first few pages and turns into a gripping page-turner.
Linguistically, the structure is dense in information and complex. The sophisticated structure of the book and the extraordinary narrative applies a high reading level to The Three which demands the constant attention of the reader. Every entry has a purpose, every detail is important to get the bigger picture. The Three is definitely not a book to take off your mind, it wants you to think, it wants you to solve the mystery on every single page.
It feels like a big puzzle, like those ones with a 1000 pieces that are messy, hard to crack but once you got the frame and sorted colours neatly (well, in this case, characters and their relationships), have your eyes focused and you've agreed to solve it, it flows.
|The story unfolds|
It gets a hell creepier and the different conspiracy theories how the planes and why they've crashed become a major part within the first half of the book. Short chapters for reading breaks and different text designs and formats to casually break up the text make Lotz's work feel authentic and realistic.
|The Break 200-300 pages (SPOILER)|
I was a bit confused towards the middle when strong plot lines suddenly deviate and turned shallow. Less and less is known about the children and there's hardly any focus on the African crash. The carefully structured plotline around the Japanese kid is evolving into a cheesy love story. It would have been more interesting to stay focused and for example receive more insights into Paul's character.
|How it ends (SPOILER)|
The ending is obscure and left me with a tonne of questions. After hours and days of reading, I was confronted with an absolute WTF showdown and I'm still wondering if I got it or not. I have a theory about the ending, but the text is vague about it and I need it a bit more obvious for my taste. Apparently, a second book is in planning (if one can trust the online rumours) which will hopefully shed some more light into the mysteries and provide a proper solution.
|Final Word|
Lotz's book covers several current topics. From religion to a fanatic and obsessed American nation to the influence of social media on teenagers, the discrimination of gays and the fear of the unknown. All topics are cleverly interwoven and carefully researched which makes The Three a compulsory read this year. With its strong characters and plot lines, I can see myself reading it again to discover more details I might have missed in the first place.
This is Sarah's first novel published in her real name. The South African writer has released stories under various pseudonyms, but with this amazing novel, it's not necessary to hide behind fake identities :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_w2LxuXpiU
The Three is out this Thursday and you can get a free E-book sample from amazon. Don't forget to check out Sarah Lotz on Twitter and her homepage.
GET A COPY OF THE THREE
Yes, you've read correctly. I'm generous again and you could win a copy of The Three. Simply head over to my Twitter and RT my blog post. Winner will be announced Sunday 01/06/2014. Good luck!
Till next time and feel free to comment, I reply to every post.
NEXT MONTH: THE DEATH OF A POET BY N.QUENTIN WOOLF
*PR sample
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