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99 Red Balloons cover art

99 Red Balloons

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

What listeners say about 99 Red Balloons

Average customer ratings
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Very Good.

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

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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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.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Boring

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

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3 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Didn't live up to the hype

Disappointing, slow moving and predictable. Narrators had annoying whine too which didn't enhance the experience. A shame

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

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’.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

worth a read/listen

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

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Lovely book

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

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

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...

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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