Surviving on THE RULE OF THREE - a review of a book by Eric Walters

The Rule of Three, by Eric Walters

Reviewed by Joseph, age 16 

 What is "the rule of three"?

1) A person can last 3 minutes without air.

2) A person can last 3 days without water.

3) A person can last 3 weeks without food.

Imagine if all of a sudden the electricity went out and anything powered by a computer stopped working. No one would be able to turn lights on at home, cook food, use any water facilities, use a computer, watch television, use their phone, drive their cars; it's madness! How could anyone manage to live through a time like this?

One shocking afternoon, this catastrophe strikes sixteen-year-old Adam Daley's high school and he soon finds out that this event has spread further than anyone would have thought. With nothing working, many grow angry and fear that their region has become paralyzed because they do not know how long this problem will last for. It's amazing to see how the community begins to die within seconds. They begin to think of the long-term effects of this problem. Many realize that resources will dwindle, crises will mount, and chaos will occur, but how will everyone be able to pull through this? Adam soon understands that having a police captain for a mother and a retired government spy living next door are not just the facts of his life but the keys to his survival. These are the two people who help him bring together their suburban neighborhood for protection and manage to survive on their own. 

I really enjoyed this book because Eric Walters managed to put forth these questions about how a society would manage to survive if we suddenly lost something that we heavily rely on on a daily basis. His protagonist character, Adam Daley, possess the characteristics of a person who truly thinks of the "what ifs” in society and he is one of the few people who truly knows how extreme this situation has become. The book mostly focuses on how the neighbourhood comes together to survive through this crisis. What makes this book even more interesting is that the characters never find out what could have caused everything to go out so suddenly. I’m hoping that this question will be answered in the sequel, scheduled for release January 2015. 

Eric Walters' first book in this new trilogy is sure to have readers on the edge of their seats waiting for a promising and exciting sequel to surpass what we saw in this terrific story.

If you want a great book to read this summer, definitely check out The Rule of Three by Eric Walters by clicking on this Toronto Public Library link to place a hold. http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM3056092&R=3056092