Defendants have failed to comply with App. R 28(b)(3). Neither the assignments of error nor the exception pertinent to defendant’s argument is set forth in the appellate brief. “Exceptions in the record not set out in appellant’s brief ... will be taken as abandoned.” App. R. 28(b)(3). The Rules of Appellate Procedure are mandatory. Craver v. Craver, 298 N.C. 231, 258 S.E. 2d 357 (1979); Pruitt v. Wood, 199 N.C. 788, 156 S.E. 126 (1930); State v. Brown, 42 N.C. App. 724, 257 S.E. 2d 668 (1979), disc. rev. denied, cert. granted, 299 N.C. 123 (1980).

For failing to comply with the Rules of Appellate Procedure, defendants’ appeal is

Dismissed.