Devious Brain Candy

Usually when a book says it’s got a huge twist, I either find that the twist is so obvious that it hits you in the face long before the official reveal or I find myself finishing the book wondering what the twist was.

This has twists – multiple. A few little ones you’ll see coming, but there were two that left me with my mouth gaping open. I simply didn’t see them coming.

This is a wonderfully twisty thriller. I was very wrong about quite a few things and I loved the fact that the author surprised me. Add to that characters I actually cared for and this was one of those books that I simply didn’t want to stop reading.

Is it a beach read? Absolutely. But it’s that kind of delicious brain candy beach reads that is simply a pleasure.

Very, very enjoyable!

Enjoyable story. Well written. You think you're being given details about Grace, only to have a slight plot twist. Very believable characters.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley. This book was really good! It had a lot of twists and turns and I did not expect the ending at all! I always say a book is great if I can't figure out the ending as I am reading it and I didn't. I was really impressed--great story, characters, suspense, changes in the plot. Loved it so much! Highly recommend!

An excellent read that keeps you guessing. Whilst not having a massive OMG twist I was constantly wrong footed, thinking I knew exactly what was going on and being way off. Two missing girls, years apart, how could they possibly be connected? More of a family drama than a crime novel I did feel it lacked slightly as the reader is completely unaware of the police investigation and suddenly a character is arrested out of nowhere but that's my personal preference for crime over drama. A good holiday beach read.

A gripping thriller with a plot with many twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. Very good book.

I think this is the fourth book in a row to get 5 stars. All of them have been stellar reads. I don't know if I am just lucky or what in my selections. I cannot believe this is a debut novel. It has a maturity in the writing and a patience while the story builds. I know that it is all the rage to have a "twist" in the novel. This one, however, does the twist with perfection. When it was revealed I had to go back and read it again just to make sure that I understood what was happening. I am adding Elisabeth Carpenter to my fav list.

The beginning of the book you really had to pay attention. They introduced a lot of characters, after getting into the book, it was a fast read.

Wow! Takes your breath away! Great thriller with some good twists

The book 99 RED BALLOONS deals with the very serious and sad topic of child kidnapping and the effect and it has on the families involved. In the case in this novel, the child has gone into a newagent's shop and has been stolen away. The next thing we see is a grandmother who is weeping about a similar incident years ago when her granddaughter was stolen in the same fashion. It is all a very confusing tale with Maggie, the grandmother, still grieving over her loss, and Emma, the mother trying to find her child. Meanwhile, there is the side story of the child who was stolen making a new home with her new family and her new mom and dad, Catherine and Michael. She changes her name to Stephanie by drawing a paper out of a fishbowl. She was delivered to this new family in a suitcase and forgets her old family completely. The author does not satisfy the reader with an explanation as to how or why this is possible. Now a new child is missing and somehow her abduction is connected to the long-ago kidnapping of "Stephanie." Without giving away the ending, I cannot diviulge any additional details. The plot is so convoluted that is hard to give a sound review; the reader will have to read it for oneself to decide if you enjoyed it or not. In the end, it was worth reading, but the book was rather confusing with many characters that were not very well-developed who came on the scene briefly and then disappeared quickly. It was a good read but by no means excellent. I would read the book for a while and then have to re-acquaint myself with the characters because there were so many. Perhaps a list of characters at the beginning of the book would have been helpful to the reader, but then again, that may have led to spoilers. All in all, I am not sorry that I read the book and neither will you be if if you choose to read it. You will just need to stick to it until the conclusion to find out what in the heck is going on!

Two young girls are abducted 30 years apart and the cases may be connected. When Grace disappears on her way home from school, her parents and aunt work with the police to get her back. Maggie follows the case in the news, as she does all stories of little girls missing ever since her own granddaughter disappeared 30 years earlier. The story goes back and forth between Grace's aunt Stephanie, Maggie, the abducted girl and the kidnapper. It was a pretty good story with a few surprising twists. It's kind of hard to surprise me in this kind of story because I always feel like I can see the twists coming (if you read enough of these, it becomes pretty obvious), but this one surprised me twice. Four stars.

This isn't my usual "type" that I go for. I wasn't too sure I would get into the story, I did find the different characters a bit confusing at the start but after the first few chapters I was drawn in! There are many many twists in this story, which I loved! I actually read this really quickly once I got into it, I finished it in one sitting! I would highly recommend this, and will look out for more from this author!

What a fantastic storyline. Real heartjerker moments and twists that added to the enjoyment of reading this book. Will be in the lookout for this author definitely on my list of author's to read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this psychological thriller. It was told from alternating viewpoints which I thoroughly enjoyed. I will definitely be looking out for more by this author.

This is an excellent debut which I couldn't put down. It's the story of 2 kidnappings of two young girls, one in the 1980's and one in the present day and both are somehow linked. There are 3 points of view, Stephanie, Maggie and also the events and aftermath of both kidnappings. I loved Maggie's character and Jim, and I definitely had the outcome all wrong in my mind!
Look forward to the author's next book.

Interesting story and I enjoyed the intertwining of the two events. I felt that the characters were well written and had distinctive voices. I would have been interested to hear more from Catherine though to understand more about this character.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books UK for an advance copy of 99 Red Balloons, a psychological thriller set mostly in Lincoln.

8 year old Grace Harper goes missing outside a sweet shop in Lincoln. Her family are frantic but, despite a massive police hunt, there is no sign of her. In a village in Lancashire Maggie watches the news of Grace's disappearance in fascination as the same thing happened to her 5 year old granddaughter, Zoe, 30 years ago.

I have mixed feelings about this novel. I like the storyline and the way it developed although some of the vaunted twists are too well signposted and thus easy to guess. I also like the characterisation as I think their reactions seem very natural. I don't think it's an understatement to say, however, that I hate the format. The novel is told from multiple points of view and every one of them is a first person narrative. Helpfully the chapters from the main narrators, Maggie and Stephanie, Grace's aunt, are labelled with their names but there are other unnamed narrators with untitled chapters. I assume it's intended to ramp up the tension and the psychological factor but for me it was plain annoying. There is no continuity between chapters with each one presenting another point of view so it is difficult to get settled in the novel.

The plot itself is unusual and I like the way it creeps towards an interesting conclusion, uncovering small and large family secrets as it does so. The strength of the novel lies in the characterisation. Poor Maggie, waiting all these years to find out what happened to her granddaughter and gradually losing the rest of her family along the way, leaving her an embittered old woman. The main emphasis is on Grace's family and the weird dynamic between her mum, dad, aunt and gran which the situation brings to the fore. Every one of them has secrets and the stress of not knowing what has happened to Grace and the police investigation leads not only to their uncovering but harsh words and some irreparable damage.

99 Red Balloons is not a bad book, in fact I'm sure many readers will rate it highly, it's just not written in a format I enjoy.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read 99 Red Balloons by Elisabeth Carpenter. A young girl is kidnapped in broad daylight, her mother and father are frantic. The young girls aunt and grandmother support the parents but they have secrets.
In another town, a woman grieves for her daughter who killed herself after her own child was kidnapped many years ago.
A young child must survive a new life with strangers that want her to be someone else.
These storylines cross as each group re-lives the past, present and the possible future of their own personal tragedies.
Well written with a surprise ending. Very good.

99 Red Balloons
by Elisabeth Carpenter
psychological thriller
ARC NetGalley
5 stars

What 's its about :
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.

my thoughts :
This book is a must read, because once you start reading it you won't want to put it down, its the type of book that plays with your mind all the way to the every end, it makes you second guess your self, which I loved even if I did guess wrong .
Its told in different perspective : one is ageing widow Maggie , one is Grace's Aunt , and then you have one that keeps you guessing, because you don't know which little girl/ kidnapper is talking , is it both, is it Grace / her kidnapper or the other little girl / her kidnapper that went missing a long time ago, and mixed into that you have a lot of secrets and lies that need to come out , and once again your guessing , what are the secrets and lies , who's telling the truth ,and who's lying. So with that said get ready for the ride of your life . Because you won't see the end coming unit its on top of you. With that said I would love to say thinks to NetGalley for giving me this chance at reading what might become one of my new favorite books of 2017 , can't wait to pick up a copy and add it to my library.

Without doubt this Book is going to be HUGE! One of the Biggest Bestsellers of 2017. I havent been conned by a Book in such a long time but 99 red ballons absolutely floored me. Two shocking stories crash together in this compelling,addictive read. How well do we really know our family? This is the question you'll be asking yourself when you turn the final page. It's gripping...
It's shocking and rolls along with the speed of a rollercoaster! I dare you toguess the ending.....You won't see it coming! Miss 99 red balloons and you'll miss one of the biggest books of 2017!!!

So many books these days make promises about killer twists that will take your breath away or you won't see coming.So you start the book expecting something unexpected to happen but end up feeling disappointed by the time you get to the end.This brilliant debut thriller actually does have a totally unexpected twist that took my breath away and had me sitting in my comfy chair for at least five minutes waiting to get over the shock of what I had just read before I could carry on reading.

Eight year old Grace was last seen in a sweetshop.Her mother Emma is living every parents worst nightmare.But as her loved ones rally round her cracks begin to emerge.

What are the emails sent between her Husband Matt and her sister Stephanie? Why does her mother take so long to join the search? And is there more to Grace`s disappearance 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 decades ago.

This riveting story is voiced by a number of characters in the alternating chapter format but it is mainly voiced by Emma,Stephanie and Maggie.If I'm honest although Maggie's chapters where integral to the story I didn't think they where as gripping or Intreguing as Emma and Stephanie`s chapters.There is also some chapters that are narrated by a little girl that where really heart breaking,the authors portrayal of the thoughts and feelings of a scared young girl where scarily realistic.Almost all of the adults in this story are not very likeable or trustworthy and I had my doubts and suspicions about most of them as the story unfolded.

It's a Intreguing,riveting debut thriller about families,secrets,lies and revenge.It's very well written,keeps the reader guessing and contained a twist that honestly took my breath away.I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading more books by this author in the future.