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Three
Solomon Stephens has perfected his three-lane technique in therapy sessions—where people make decisions based on aggressive (left lane), moderate (middle lane) and conservative (right lane) thinking—only to have his son Brian use the technique as a base for manipulating people to serve his own good. Brian’s son Oliver and his fanged friends from the Blood Shadow vampire series become the family’s last line of defense in stopping Brian and restoring order in the world.
144 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 20, 2015
About the author
Phil Wohl
63 books12 followersPhil Wohl is a professional writer by day and fiction novelist by night. Wohl has written 40 books and 3 screenplays/movie scripts as an independent author, including Inseparable, Locker Room, High School Rivalry, Experiment, Apprentice and Reunion, BlueBalance, Organic Nation, the Personal Truth series and Blood Shadow vampire series. The Brooklyn, NY native gains pleasure from making people feel anything and everything through his words.
Follow me on Twitter @philwohlbooks, wohl44
Currently:
High School Prom
Follow me on Twitter @philwohlbooks, wohl44
Currently:
High School Prom
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March 24, 2020Three by Phil Wohl opens with Dr. Stephens – a man obsessed with what he calls the ‘method of three’. He believes that life’s decisions boil down to three choices, similar to a three-lane highway: ultra-conservency on the right, the greatest chance to maximise potential (although at the greatest risk) on the left, and in the middle are those ‘middle-of-the-road’ decisions. Although his father, Dr. Stephens snr uses this method in a therapeutic way, the son, Dr. Stephens jnr uses it to get his own way.
As a linguist, and having recently completed a certificate in hypnotism, I found the idea of using language to influence which style of thinking people would utilise to be quite intriguing, e.g. Brian’s use of the almost alliterative ‘left it in the loo’ to persuade someone into left-lane style thinking.
Do I find the psychological analysis convincing, the linguistic triggers for the different modes of thinking realistic? Not especially. But these ideas have the potential for a great story.
The Stephenses (the much manipulated father, Solomon, and the perpetually philandering son, Brian) have a practice together – something which results in quite a bit of shouting between the two men. The author regularly uses bold for emphasis, which some purists may feel could be accomplished through word choice, but I found it worked quite well and made the dialogue sound natural.
The first part of the book is particularly interesting - it will have you analysing the dialogue as you go to try and guess what ‘lane’ of thinking the characters are trying to suggest one another take. The second part ‘changes lanes’ or perhaps even veers off the road, shifting genres rather unexpectedly to the supernatural (vampires). Ultimately, I would have liked to see less of this angle, and more exploration of the interesting language/mind control elements. (In all fairness to the author, I read the shortened version of the blurb on Smashwords before downloading this work, and did not see the final line which relates this book to the author's Blood Shadow vampire series)
Note: this book contains some sexual language, which is sometimes censored by asterisks and sometimes not.
As a linguist, and having recently completed a certificate in hypnotism, I found the idea of using language to influence which style of thinking people would utilise to be quite intriguing, e.g. Brian’s use of the almost alliterative ‘left it in the loo’ to persuade someone into left-lane style thinking.
Do I find the psychological analysis convincing, the linguistic triggers for the different modes of thinking realistic? Not especially. But these ideas have the potential for a great story.
The Stephenses (the much manipulated father, Solomon, and the perpetually philandering son, Brian) have a practice together – something which results in quite a bit of shouting between the two men. The author regularly uses bold for emphasis, which some purists may feel could be accomplished through word choice, but I found it worked quite well and made the dialogue sound natural.
The first part of the book is particularly interesting - it will have you analysing the dialogue as you go to try and guess what ‘lane’ of thinking the characters are trying to suggest one another take. The second part ‘changes lanes’ or perhaps even veers off the road, shifting genres rather unexpectedly to the supernatural (vampires). Ultimately, I would have liked to see less of this angle, and more exploration of the interesting language/mind control elements. (In all fairness to the author, I read the shortened version of the blurb on Smashwords before downloading this work, and did not see the final line which relates this book to the author's Blood Shadow vampire series)
Note: this book contains some sexual language, which is sometimes censored by asterisks and sometimes not.
Displaying 1 of 1 review