Elisabeth Carpenter

I appear to have Elisabeth Carpenter's first two books (99 Red Balloons and 11 Missed Calls, in case you were wondering), waiting for me on my TBR pile. I must rectify this as I enjoyed her latest offering, Only a Mother, very much indeed.

In fact, this is a book I found hard to put down, racing through the final 120 pages in one go. The story is told mostly from two characters' points of view: Erica's in the first person and Luke's in the third. Erica is the mother of Craig, a man who has show more been in prison for years for the murder of a young girl. When we first meet her, he is about to be released and she's wondering what life will be like with him back living with her after so long.

Luke is a journalist on the local newspaper. He lacks the ambition of some reporters but is always looking for a story. He's also probably far too kind and thoughtful for cut-throat journalism, but it made me take to him as a character.

Luke is obviously interested in Craig's release as a story, especially when another girl goes missing soon after. But this is really not the story of missing girls, it's very much a look at how a mother copes with the incarceration of her child. Erica is targeted by the local community, pretty much ostracised and lives a lonely life. I thought this angle was so interesting and it really made me think about how you deal with something like this as a parent.

Whilst not a story filled with action, I found it really fast-paced and exciting, one of those books I couldn't wait to get back to. I think the strength is very much in the characterisations, especially Erica who I thought had a compelling voice.

I must admit that there were no surprises for me in the plot. I guessed which way it was going fairly early on, but I didn't mind that. Whilst those 'OMG' moments are great, if a book is well-written it needs only that to hook me and reel me in. Only a Mother definitely fits the bill. show less

Wow! I loved this book. It's a super fast-paced story that had me on the edge of my seat and looking back now I can see that all of the clues were there but I walked, no make that RAN, past every one of them. If reading was a race, I would have won a gold medal for reading 99 Red Balloons.

With two stories of missing children, both are absolutely heartbreaking. Firstly, the story in the present is of sisters, Emma and Steph. Emma's daughter, Grace, has gone missing and it's usually a time show more when the family would rally round but this family is ODD. Emma and Steph's mother virtually has to be dragged there to support her daughter and Emma's husband seems to be hiding something...something that Steph is privy to.

The past story is about Maggie whose granddaughter, Zoe, was abducted. Zoe's mother, Sarah, died of a broken heart and Maggie never gave up looking for Zoe. She knows exactly what Emma is going through and I've read enough psychological thrillers to know that the two stories would link somehow, but I didn't expect them to come together is such a spectacular fashion.

99 Red Balloons is a proper edge of your seat, race against time, rollercoaster ride that had my heart rate soaring to danger levels. A magnificent debut by Elisabeth Carpenter that will be difficult to beat. Highly recommended.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. show less

Elisabeth Carpenter sure knows how to write a gripping page-turner as I found out when I read her fantastic debut, 99 Red Balloons, and 11 Missed Calls is no exception. From the intriguing prologue until the final page was turned, I was frightened to blink in case I missed a crucial word that would explain what happened all those years ago on the edge of a cliff in Tenerife.

11 Missed Calls grips the reader from the start as we meet Anna's mum, Debbie, on the edge of a cliff in Tenerife. With show more suicidal thoughts in her head, she thinks her family would be better off without her, but just as she's about to step off the edge someone else appears...of course, we don't find out who this was until much later so prepare to read very fast!

Thirty years later, Anna can't forget a mother she never knew and she's sure that there's more to Debbie's story than meets the eye. I certainly agreed with Anna and was really suspicious of the fact that Anna's Dad and Debbie's friend, Monica, were now together. Hold on a second...didn't Monica go to Tenerife with Debbie? Yes indeed, Debbie's story is sounding more fishy than Baldrick's apple crumble so I read with such eagerness to find out what really happened.

There's a lot going on in this book that can sometimes make it quite busy and a little overcrowded but do bear with it; I think I was so hooked on the Debbie story that it was all I could think about and I almost glossed over Anna's other drama with her husband, Jack. I think I just wanted to get back to the main storyline as quickly as possible with one huge question buzzing around my brain: did Debbie jump or was she pushed?

I always felt as if people knew more than they were letting on and I felt angry at times at the attitude that Anna shouldn't really be asking about what happened to her mother when she couldn't even remember her. The thing is, she remembers more than even she realises and I do believe that traumas in childhood can cause us to have phobias and fears throughout our life.

11 Missed Calls is such an intense family drama and that amazing prologue ensured I was hooked like a hungry fish from the very first page to the very last. Keep 'em coming, Elisabeth!

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. show less

Random library selection. I don't usually go for 'read and discard' crime mysteries, but I was intrigued by the blurb. A body is found in a downstairs flat on a Preston estate, and the woman living upstairs, a journalism student, decides to investigate. The chapters flip between Sarah the neighbour, told in third person, and Laura the victim, told in first (and in flashback, although the author leaves out the date for the first few chapters, so 'Laura' seems to be in the here and now).

I was show more really intrigued at first, and this is a quick, fast-paced book so the plot never really loses momentum, but I was disappointed when I realised where the story was going. And I wasn't really convinced by all the connections between Sarah and Laura's life either - small world, yes, but this was verging on the incestuous!

Good for passing an afternoon! show less