99 Red Balloons cover art

99 Red Balloons

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99 Red Balloons

By: Elisabeth Carpenter
Narrated by: Sarah Ovens, Victoria Riley, Maggie Ollerenshaw, Dean Williamson, Paul Tyreman
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About this listen

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

When eight-year-old Grace goes missing from a sweetshop on the way home from school, her mother Emma is plunged into a nightmare. Her family rallies around, but as the police hunt begins, cracks begin to emerge.

What are the secret emails sent between Emma’s husband and her sister? Why does her mother take so long to join the search? And is Emma really as innocent as she seems?

Meanwhile, ageing widow Maggie Taylor sees Grace’s picture in the newspaper. It’s a photograph 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.

‘An intense domestic thriller, twists and turns galore, and a host of family secrets. An absorbing read.’ Paul Finch, bestselling author of Strangers

‘An intelligent, taut and compelling thriller’ Sam Carrington, bestselling author of Saving Sophie

‘Carpenter emerges as an addictive new talent’ Helen Fields, author of Perfect Remains

‘The plot is seamless’ Amanda Robson, author of Obsession

©2017 Elisabeth Carpenter (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers
Crime Fiction Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Crime

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

Lovely book

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Great story, brilliantly narrated by a variety of narrators, wish there were more books in the series

FANTASTIC

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I love books that capture you from the very first page. Full of intrigue, characters that were believable and likeable...well most of them anyway. The author manages to provoke such an array of emotions, tears, frustration, anger, sadness, little smiles and hope. Families struggling to cope with such huge tragedies, the tensions that threaten to rip them apart. The narrators did a fine job adding to the enjoyment. Loved it!

Gripped from the first page!

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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...

Great story but jumps around a lot

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

Very Good.

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