Happy belated release day!
Thanks to Harper360 for the copy in exchange for my honest review.
99 RED BALLOONS – Elisabeth Carpenter (released September 26th)
Yet again, here’s a fantastic cover for another thriller!
My Thoughts: 3.5/5 stars!
The cover combined with the tagline across the top “Don’t take candy from strangers…” grabbed my attention right away. 99 RED BALLOONS by Elisabeth Carpenter had me anticipating an ominous abduction novel!
Grace is 8 years old and on her way home from a candy shop. She doesn’t make it home – her small town is thrown into a nightmare when she goes missing. When her story is on the news, a woman, Maggie, begins to make connections between Grace’s disappearance and her granddaughter, Zoe’s disappearance. Are these decades apart disappearances connected? Who can the family trust?
his book definitely started out with a bang. The first chapter will make your spine tingle. I was really hoping that this would continue throughout the novel, however it fell a little flat for me in places. That being said, there was still a great twist thrown in! Carpenter told the story from the multiple view points of the different characters (always a favorite of mine). This book had all the necessary elements for a great abduction thriller – ominous, unreliable characters, red herrings, and plenty of suspense. I can’t exactly put my finger on what was missing, but I felt like there was something more it needed.
Overall, this was a great debut and for those that love abduction suspense novels, then you’ll want to pick this one up! Very well-written with some truly spine-tingling moments.
Did anyone else sing the song in their head when they read the title?
–Jess
Jessicamap Reviews 