99 Red Balloons

By: Elisabeth Carpenter

Narrated by: Sarah Ovens, Victoria Riley, Maggie Ollerenshaw, Dean Williamson, Paul Tyreman

Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

Two girls go missing, decades apart. What would you do if one was your daughter?

Eight-year-old Grace is last seen in a sweetshop. Her mother, Emma, is living a nightmare. But as her loved ones rally around her, cracks begin to emerge.

What are the emails sent between her husband and her sister? Why does her mother take so long to join the search? And is there more to the disappearance of her daughter than meets the eye?

Meanwhile, ageing widow Maggie Taylor sees a familiar face in the newspaper. A face that jolts her from the pain of her existence into a spiralling obsession with another girl - the first girl who disappeared....

This is a gripping psychological thriller with a killer twist that will take your breath away.

©2017 Elisabeth Carpenter (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic Reviews

"Libby Carpenter's beautiful writing draws you in immediately. Her characterisation is superb, and she skillfully delivers a pacey, suspenseful plot. 99 Red Balloons is an intelligent, taut and compelling thriller that manages to pack a punch - and still throws you right at the end. It's perfect - I loved every word." (Sam Carrington, best-selling author of Saving Sophie)

"This sharp, poignant domestic noir is like watching a snake slither towards its prey. You want to look away but somehow you can't stop looking. Carpenter emerges as an addictive new talent, climbing inside the characters and opening them up for the reader to devour. What a wonderful debut!" (Helen Fields, author or Perfect Remains)

I was waiting for soooo much more.....

I was really excited by all the reviews of this book! i thought it was going to be tremendous. I kept reading about the twists and turns, and the surprises... and there were some surprises... but i wanted so much more. There were so many unanswered questions, and so much that could have been explained more. I think my biggest issue with the book is the character development, I still have no idea who Katherine and Emma are, and after listening to the whole book, I don't understand the dynamic between all of them, or why? I am confused and left unsatisfied ...

Great Twist!

This book was very interesting at first – albeit a little slow paced, but after the twist was revealed it was downright captivating!

I did not see it coming at all; I did not suspect a thing!

Wonderful book!

Excellent book. I loved how the characters were separated by their own story and slowly linked together. Suspenseful, heartbreaking and joyful The narrators were wonderful.

Quick read. Good plot.

This book started off slow. It goes back and forth between characters. The narrator's did a very good job. But I found myself going back to remember which character was talking. Eventually I caught on and then I couldn't put it down. Good plot with twist and turns and an ending I did expect. Childhood abduction is difficult to wittness, which makes this book hard to read at times. But I needed to know what happened to these two little girls. I don't regret it. ENJOY!!

Pretty Good!

I wish the story of the characters were in depth like Maggie, but overall it was pretty good. Missing the main reason of why the girls were taken. But really not a bad book!

It was entertaining but a tad bit slow

The story itself was well done and included a very interesting plot twist I did not see coming.
A true thriller that is every parents nightmare of your young child going missing.
I purchased a paperback version first and when I realized I wasn’t going to be able to read it in time for my book club I bought the audiobook. The audiobook was a tad bit slow for my liking and I almost switched back to the paper back.

3 .5 stars. pretty decent book.

as always there will be no spoilers in my reviews
ok. this was a good book. I wanted to like it more but. I found parts if this book sweet the character of Maggie and Jim . steady paced no huge lulls . my only quirk was towards the end the characters were supposed to be in a car and then someone pulled up a chair. odd . I will also said I struggled with the who is who here and there but quickly got back on track.

99 Red Balloons

What a great book. So bittersweet, so sad too. What a picture in your mind ,as you listen, as though your watching as you listen. This is a good author. Minus language, expressive, but doesn't take away from the book. In its raw expression in adds the human feelings, I guess. Not always necessary though. Thank-you

Wow. What a beautifully written book....

Great title too. Yes it was a thriller but it was realistic, plausible and honestly I was so invested in the characters I was sad it was over.
This book has not gotten nearly the attention it deserves. I will be watching and waiting for more good reads from this author.

Wow! Wow! This is a thriller with a puzzle inside

Would you listen to 99 Red Balloons again? Why?

I did listen to it again! To see if I got all the clues correct. The thriller stands alone. Had me from the opening scene. The story is written in multiple POV. Which normally, I don't like. But there are mysteries inside and the clues are present. Amazing. I listened to it again slower a third time with my adult daughter. She was begging me to tell her and it was so hard not to say pay attention to this or that.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Maggie, the elderly lady in the story. I think in a weird way Maggie carries the story and is the protagonist. But I don't know what the author would say. The characterization of the players in this story is so real and so heart-binding that I feel like I know them and they are real people.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

Maggie

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

oh, yes. And as I said, the mysteries are like the "easter egg" they talk about in digital games. When you find the answer it feels great. It was there all along.

Any additional comments?

I believe this is a debut novel. It's also written in British English. The one word I couldn't pull a visual from the context was "jumper" as to an article of clothing. In Britain, it means a "sweater". I listen to audible books because I love stories and because my sight isn't as good as it used to be. But I really appreciated having the Kindle book and the audible version. No gore, no paranormal, no vampires- just ordinary people in extraordinary situations.

Very Good.

Excellent storyline and well performed by all narrators. Really enjoyed this book and will look for more by this author.

Brilliant

Absolutely loved this. At one stage i drove an extra 10 miles out my way to avoid having to stop listening. Storyline was great and the characterisation was wonderful.

Confusing read

Was expecting good things from this book but was left a bit disappointed. The suspense was quite good but the story dragged. It was full of padding and boring details that added nothing to the story ( the description of bingo for example) I got to the stage I just wanted it to be over, not that it was particularly bad, just slow and too long. The story was confusing, jumping back and forth between time periods and the narration didn’t help. All the female characters ( with the exception of the child) sounded exactly the same and it was difficult to distinguish between who was speaking. I kept waiting for a twist at the end which never came and I was left feeling that the whole book was distinctly ‘Meh’.

Boring

Glad this book has finished . Found it long drawn out and very boring and tedious.

Enjoyable

I got a little confused, with who was who, when it mattered but more my fault than the book. I got distracted at the most important time, therefore after that, I played catch up to the end. Enjoyable book and easy to listen to. I like all the performances also.

worth a read/listen

I found that it had a great twist but then it got a bit boring after that

Lovely book

a very nice read. Lovely book. characters are believable and easy to get on with. narrators were very good also.

Great story but jumps around a lot

Overall a 3 star - although the story and performance is good. But it jumps around too much, sometimes with a character speaking for less than a minute! Can be hard to follow if you don't pay attention, especially around 2/3 of the book...

Couldn’t put down. Great twist and turns.

A brilliant read. Narration was very good especially the Male narrators.
Kept me hooked all the way through.

great book

i really loved this book, the story is very clever and the narration is perfect