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Elisabeth Carpenter
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99 Red Balloons Paperback – September 26, 2017

by Elisabeth Carpenter (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 6,811 ratings
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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 Sharples 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.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Avon
  4. Publication date
    September 26, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    5.06 x 0.88 x 7.8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0008248869
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0008248864
  8. See all details
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Popular Highlights in this book
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Previous page
  1. Sarah and Zoe moved in with Ron and me six weeks before Zoe went missing.
    Highlighted by 30 Kindle readers
  2. But it never goes away. I’m meant to be sad. Nothing will change that.
    Highlighted by 23 Kindle readers
  3. My name is Stephanie. I don’t think anyone is going to call me Zoe ever again.
    Highlighted by 22 Kindle readers
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Editorial Reviews

Review

‘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, bestselling author of SAVING SOPHIE

Book Description

A chillingly clever psychological thriller with a stomach-flipping twist

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Avon (September 26, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0008248869
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0008248864
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.06 x 0.88 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 6,811 ratings

About the author

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Elisabeth Carpenter

Elisabeth Carpenter

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Hello, and welcome to my author page!

I'm the author of seven psychological thrillers, including 99 Red Balloons. The Family on Smith Street and, more recently, The Girl on the News, were published by Bookouture and are out now!

I live in Lancashire in the north of England with my family. When I'm not writing, I love watching films, travelling, and painting. Thank you so much for your interest. I really hope you enjoy my books. If have, please feel free to leave a review. It's always good to hear what you think.

Very best wishes,

Elisabeth

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
6,811 global ratings
Lots of twists and turns!
4 Stars
Lots of twists and turns!
Two little girls have gone missing but they were taken 28 years apart.Zoe was taken from a sweet shop in the 1980s and 28 years later Grace has been taken…from a sweet shop. Zoe’s grandmother, who has spent the last 28 years in misery wondering what happened to Zoe is shaken by the resemblance of the crimes. And then she is shaken by a picture she sees in the newspaper.Grace’s parents, Emma and Matt are holding on to every bit of hope they have, but the cracks in their relationship begin to widen the longer they wait for news. Emma’s sister, Stephanie is convinced that the mother who gave Emma up when she was ten is the person who took Grace. When Stephanie finally gets the courage to talk to her own mother about it, the answer she gets isn’t anything close to what she expected.With twists and turns that you don’t see coming, 99 Red Balloons by Libby Carpenter is a true thrill ride. About 2/3 of the way through this book, there was a twist that completely changed everything I believed about the story. It literally made me gasp at the shock of it! It is an easy read, but it will also seriously tear at your heartstrings.I highly recommend this book!See my other reviews on my blog, Propensity to Discuss
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Top reviews from the United States

M. Shell
5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting psychological thriller
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2023
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The author was great at leading you through the story. At times I was sure I knew how the story would unfold. I was surprised at the way some things events played out. I didn’t see it coming. To me that makes the author a good one.

Synopsis: A child was taken many years ago. Another is taken as the story unfolds. The question begs as to whether the abductions were related. Stephanie, Emma, and Grace are the major characters. Their life stories were sad but with hope always in mind. Enjoy the read.
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L. Hampton
4.0 out of 5 stars Didn't want to put it down
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2023
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I loved almost everything about this book. My only complaint is that it was a little confusing in a couple of spots. I loved the characters and character background, unique storyline, pace and plot buildup. What a great job for a debut novel! I think it was very well written and I will be reading more by this author.
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Victoria Hercolini
3.0 out of 5 stars Eh it was alright
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2023
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It was a good story but the writing was confusing at times and the plot was a little slow. You would think a story about kidnapped girls would be more intense but this was pretty calm for my taste.
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Kat Pharis
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting first book.
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2023
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The author really brings the characters to life, as though she has been through this experience herself. The story is told from different points of view so I had to keep reminding myself whose who sometimes (since I have a habit of reading three or four books at a time.) I would probably read another before deciding if this author will join the list of my favorites or not.
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Great!
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2023
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A very good read. Very believable. I will definitely read her again. Good characters and story line. Very well done.
3 people found this helpful
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Mary Ouellette
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read!
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2023
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This fast paced, suspenseful read had it all - relatable characters, suspense and had me flipping the pages at a rapid rate to see what would happen next. Highly recommend. The Author has done an outstanding job creating characters that has the reader invested in their thoughts and actions. Amazing first book from Ms. Carpenter!
2 people found this helpful
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Kyleigh
4.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2023
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I love this book! I really do! However there are some smaller thing I would have changed (not gonna put spoiler) but the story was really good overall!!! I have been recommending this book to everybody I know! You should be really proud of this book and reader's should really read it and get immersed in the story themselves!!!!
6 people found this helpful
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Kindle Reader
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting story
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2021
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This is another of those books that I very nearly didn’t continue to read because of the author’s writing decisions which might have pleased her but makes for a confusing reader experience. I read a lot of crime and psychological thrillers so I am well used to, and enjoy, books told from multiple viewpoints and which move through different time periods. However, in this one the author chose to use first person (I) for every point of view, this only accentuated that she hadn’t given the characters distinct voices or dialogue patterns to help differentiate them. Often I found myself having to go back to the beginning of a chapter to find out who was narrating. Changing to a close third person point of view would not have lost any of the inner thoughts and feelings of the character but would have made a far better reading experience. I see from other reviews that I am far from the only person to remark on this.

This frustration aside I did find myself engaging with the story which is about the abduction of two young girls decades apart. I was pleased that unlike many books using a similar storyline this one didn’t move into torture or abuse but showed the anguish the parents and other family members were going through.

The most finely drawn character was that of Maggie, the grandmother of Zoe who was abducted decades before the current case. From Maggie's perspective we see the full devastation of living with the not-knowing what happened to her grandaughter for year after year, and also the effect it had on other family members.

I felt the ending was dragged out a little, but overall I enjoyed the book.
9 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Gwendy P.
5.0 out of 5 stars ... books about child abduction and this IMO is the best and my favourite
Reviewed in Canada on December 27, 2017
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I have read a lot of books about child abduction and this IMO is the best and my favourite. 5++ stars. Creative plot and skillful use of misdirection. I loved the pacing and chronology of the story. Realistic characters and character interaction. Highly recommend.
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Karen Cameron
5.0 out of 5 stars good book
Reviewed in Australia on February 7, 2024
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great read
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JenMedBookLover
5.0 out of 5 stars Family secrets come back to haunt
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2017
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When someone releases a debut psychological thriller, I have to admit to reading with more than a little bit of trepidation. This is a very popular genre and standards have been steadily rising, bit by bit, book by book, as have reader expectations. But… Wowsers. I am very happy to say that Elisabeth Carpenter met every one of my expectations when it comes to this genre, and then some. This is a stonkingly assured and gripping debut that I would happily recommend to anyone.

Now this is a very hard book to talk about as there are elements of it which kind of put me in mind of the movie, Fight Club. The first rule of 99 Red Balloons is, don’t talk about the plot of 99 Red Balloons. It has an amazing plot that you really want to talk about, but people need to have read the book first, if that makes sense. What you need to know about the plot is very much contained above. Eight year old Grace has gone missing, seemingly taken while on a very short walk home from school. The rest of the story is focused upon her family and the impact her disappearance has upon them and widow, Maggie Taylor, who is emotionally affected by Grace’s story as her own granddaughter went missing many years before. And that’s all I’m saying.

This was such a cleverly constructed story. So many secrets being kept, by both Emma and Matt, Grace’s parents. Neither has been entirely honest with the other, both worried that something they have done may have led to Grace being taken. While seemingly rock solid as a couple, they are being torn apart by the loss of their daughter and the way in which the author portrays this feels authentic and at times moving. The shift from anger and determination to absolute despair. They are both strong, but crumbling and in desperate need to support.

And this is where we meet Stephanie, Emma’s sister. She is at Emma’s side throughout the whole drama, undeniably close to her sister as her son, Jamie, is with Grace. She is perhaps not as strong as her sister and yet since childhood she has been there to protect Emma. Perhaps half of the story is told in her voice and we are privy to her dreams, nightmares even, and her fears. There is something altogether claustrophobic about Stephanie’s dreams, but we are never quite sure what.

Maggie was an interesting character. In her later years, her world has continued to get smaller ever since the loss of her granddaughter Zoe. A widow, she only has one true friend and her mind always turns to Zoe whenever she hears of another lost or missing child. I could really feel a kind of sympathy for Maggie, a woman who has had her life ripped apart and to whom, it appears, the truth may never be revealed. She had a quiet strength about her, a determined nature which kept her on her path, even if the easy option would have been to give in and be with her family. You had to admire her strength.

And then there are two more voices – the abductor and the missing child. All four distinct voices, all tinged with their own sadness, their stories unique and yet set to converge in the most shocking of ways. And it is a very clever ploy used by the author here. I kind of had a suspicion about one element of the story, but the way in which is was executed was so skilful, so unexpected, that it truly made me smile. And argghhhh. Give me a nudge when you’ve read the book for yourself and we can have a chat about it.

For a debut thriller, this was a cracker and I cannot wait to read more by the author. The pacing was just right, the moments of tension dotted throughout perfectly timed to keep me as a reader on the hook. I had to keep reading. I wanted to know more. I wanted to be proven right (and wrong) and I wanted to be surprised. Most of all, because from the very first page Elisabeth Carpenter had me engaged and invested in the fates of all of the characters involved, I wanted to know everything would work out okay. I can’t say that I loved all of the characters all of the time. Considering a child was missing, some of them were unbelievably selfish in protecting themselves first and Grace second. But you could not help but feel for Matt and Emma, suffering as they did with Grace’s absence, and for the impact that the revelations yet to come had upon the lives of those around them.

Elisabeth Carpenter could have taken an easy option at the end. Made everything all sweetness and light, a perfectly happy, Walton’s style ending and yet she chose not to, a very wise move. It made what happened ultimately more believable, more authentic, and all the more heart wrenching for it. Loved it.
9 people found this helpful
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Mary F
4.0 out of 5 stars good storu
Reviewed in Canada on March 15, 2018
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Very good, interesting story. Only reason that it's 5 stars is that I did in fact figure it out about 3/4 through.
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Read and Reviewed
4.0 out of 5 stars Less psychological thriller and more aptly classified as domestic drama with a strong focus on family dynamics - compelling.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 11, 2017
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In the overcrowded psychological thriller market it takes something truly distinctive to stand out from the field, particularly when the central premise of the novel hinges on a missing child. Whilst 99 Red Balloons is a solid and entertaining read it sadly doesn’t add much to the genre and is less psychological thriller and more aptly classified as domestic drama with a strong focus on family dynamics. As such, although I wasn’t expecting 99 Red Balloons to follow the course that it did, I found this a wonderfully emotive and sensitive study of the long held secrets within families and the tensions that can lie dormant for decades.

The story opens with eight-year-old Grace Harper discovered to have gone missing from her village in Lincoln following her trip to buy sweets at the paper shop on her walk home from school. This initial pace soon abates and the novel proves a slow burning yet increasing compelling read. Distraught mother, Emma, frantically scrambles to locate Grace and her family rally round, however discoveries prove unforthcoming and the focus turns instead to the characterisation of Grace’s family unit, with some pertinent questions soon forming in the minds of readers. As a charged atmosphere prevails between the anxious family, Emma, her husband and Grace’s father, Matt, are supported by Emma’s sister, Stephanie, and mother. Post-haste the undercurrents and tensions amongst the individuals become apparent; moving between the late arrival of Grace’s grandmother, her obvious preference for Emma and her capricious attitude to Steph. Altogether more disconcertingly though is the obvious chemistry of Matt and Steph’s cosy relationship and the persistent phone calls to Emma from ‘work’.

Simultaneously a parallel storyline focusing on lonely pensioner, Maggie Taylor, three-hours away in Preston is unfolding and through the media reports of Grace’s disappearance she relives every moment of the heartbreakingly similar disappearance of her five-year-old granddaughter, Zoe, three decades previously. With the support and unspoken affection of her friendship with her husband’s former colleague, Jim, she revisits the devastating fallout from that day and charts the loss of her offspring and husband. It is the story of Maggie and the tragic repercussions of Zoe’s disappearance that truly resonates and this subtle take on learning how to live with a less than perfect past is touching without being overly sentimental. Top marks for characterisation go to blunt and no-nonsense Maggie, who begrudgingly accepts the support of caring and genial Jim and Carpenter excels at breaking down the sharp edges of the hostile exterior that Maggie cloaks her emotions in.

Comprised of multiple narratives all in the first person, the majority of the unravelling in seen from the perspective of either Steph or Maggie and whilst these are differentiated by their acknowledgement of the narrator, shorter and untitled extracts are dotted throughout. At times these excerpts are only several pages and hence it can prove frustrating to have to read the first paragraph to understand whose take on the story is unfolding and has the potential to frustrate readers who read who consume this novel over a lengthy time frame. However, in all honesty it isn’t hard to intuit who these narrators represent. I found the dialogue element to be extremely well written and highly authentic, especially between Stephanie and her thirteen-year-old son, Jamie and the friction with Steph’s increasingly aggressive brother-in-law, Matt.

The suspense element of 99 Red Balloons is in all honestly minimal, and I feel that marketing it as a psychological thriller is something of a disservice as the novel proves both poignant and sensitively well observed and contains less of the thrills and spills that typically trademark the genre. Despite seeing the direction that the novel was heading towards at the halfway point it was irrelevant to my reading enjoyment as the depth of characterisation and human element made for a compassionate and insightful story. The police involvement of this story is muted, thus serving to emphasise the dynamics of the families involved and concentrate on seeing the turmoil of coping with abduction and coming to terms with a fractured past. As the drama ratchets up into a powerful close, this astute study of just what family means impressed me enough to ensure that I look for future offerings from this debut author. It is only on finishing 99 Red Balloons that readers will be able to fully appreciate the value of using unnamed narrators and their inclusion in the story.

Review written by Rachel Hall (@hallrachel)
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