Three Days, A Review of The Rule of Three

Now imagine this, three days, no lights, no cars, no electricity. This is the world Eric Walters created in his book trilogy, The Rule of Three, a sci-fi, dystopian, thriller. At Adam Daley’s high school, the computers shut down at once, everybody assumes it’s a power outage. Soon, people realize power isn’t coming back anytime soon. The only cars that work are ancient ones that don’t have computers. The book is set in Eden Mills, so if you live in Mississauga, Ontario, you might know some of the places in the book. Before reading any further, I just want to mention that there will be minor spoilers for The Rule of Three trilogy throughout this review.

Adam Daley is a teenager who comes up with ideas for the town of Eden Mills after the power outage and is its unofficial leader.

He came up with the idea of the town banding together, building a wall to protect against outside forces, recruiting the Petersons—a family of farmers—rationing the food, and putting on a movie at the high school to distract people from what is happening around them.

Adam’s mother is a police captain, and is in charge of keeping the people of Eden Mills safe. His father is a pilot, after the power goes out, he is stuck in Chicago. Adam has two siblings, Rachel, and Danny. Todd is Adam’s best friend, and helps break up the intensity of the book with his jokes.

Many times, people walk up to the wall looking for refuge from people with guns. However, most times the guards have to refuse them entry. Eventually a group of tents appear by the wall, using the guards for protection.

Herb, a retired government agent, gathers resources like chlorine to clean water for drinking, gas for police go karts made out of old lawnmowers, and other vehicles. The Baskin Robbins gives out free ice cream because their freezers don’t work, and people lose access to credit and debit cards. The world is a wreck. People turn to looting, vandalizing, and killing.

After the first few days, a rationing system is put in place by Adam’s mother, a police officer, and Herb, a retired government worker, to keep food around for as long as possible. Adam attempts to create a money system for the town. 

Food is a problem in The Rule of Three, so Herb and Adam go to find Lori Peterson’s family farm. Herb and Adam take the cattle and some vegetables back to Eden Mills. The food the people of Eden Mills eat consists of meat from animals they hunted, canned food items scavenged from old shopping malls, and deceased pets. Whoever brings in the animals gets more food that day.

The Peterson’s help provide protection and food for the people of Eden Mills. Adam comes up with a plan to build a wall to protect the town. The Rule of Three is told from multiple perspectives, giving the reader an understanding of the thoughts that go through Brett’s mind. Brett is the main enemy of the town of Eden Mills. At the beginning of the book, he works for the police captain, Adam’s mom, but further on in the series, we begin to see a darker side of him. The side that kills. The side that steals.

Former members of the military shut down roads and force people to give them their resources. If they refuse, they are slowly killed. Brett is a member of this group. Adam Daley has something they want. One of the few aircrafts that still work, a homemade Cessna. He also has something they are afraid of, an organized group of people.

The Rule of Three was written perfectly. Clearly, I’m not the only person who thinks this book is great, because over four hundred thousand copies of the book have been sold in North America alone.

This young adult thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat while reading. In 2021 the rights to making a tv show based on The Rule of Three were sold to Mad Samurai Productions. 

Eric Walters is a Canadian author, born in Toronto, and has written 99 books according to his website. He used to be a grade five teacher and now writes books targeted at children and young adults. He has won over 100 awards for his writing and is the only person to win three separate Silver Birch and Red Maple awards. The Rule of Three Won the Red Maple Award. You can visit his website at ericwalters.net

There’s not much else I can say about this book without spoiling it for you, however, I will say that you will enjoy this book if you like sci-fi books or historical fiction. I was drawn to the book because of its unique title and concept. I hope you pick up a copy of this book, and while you’re at it, you might as well get the other three books, Fight for Power, Will to Survive, and the spinoff, Fourth Dimension.