When I requested this book on NetGalley, I did not realize it was written many years ago. For that reason, I don't feel comfortable reviewing it as an ARC. Thank you for understanding.

I picked this book up several times and kept putting it back down. It's premise was interesting to me and I liked where it could have gone. Or what I had hoped would become of it. It stars off with a bang, Sherry being abused by her husband, knocking him over the head to protect her son.

That was probably the highest point of the book for me, action wise. "The Balloon Man" made me think there would be something more dark and dangerous here. But really that doesn't have a ton to do with the plot. So that's slightly disappointing. Or maybe I just missed the execution of what message the author was sending.

Sherry leaves her husband and stays in a boarding home of sorts. I did not like that feel about it at all. The boarding home and the people in it were more of a yawn fest for me. Maybe it's the writing style, I don't know.

When Sherry's father in law gets involved, he's set out to prove her an unfit mother. Your typical dead beat dad's parents fighting for the grandchild when they don't deserve it. They are all evil and boring. Not a good combo!

It was an okay read. I read through it but would not read it again or recommend it to fellow readers.

My rating 3/5 stars.

I did not finish this book as I did not engage with this story at all.

This is the 2nd time around for this book as it was first published in the late 60's and some of the writing shows it by coming across as being a bit dated. It is an age old story of an abusive husband having attacked his wife and son, the wife (Sherry) leaving him for both her and her son's protection as well she should. However, when her affluent in-laws step in to try to take custody of the child as well as hiring someone to dig up dirt on her the plot gets a little more interesting. I'm not sure where the title fits in as the balloon man has very little to do with the story. Ok-not great.

Sherry Reynard is trying to escape from her abusive husband and his parents. She has a young boy who was greatly injured by his father ... that's when Sherry decides enough is enough. With her son in the hospital and having very little money, things only get worse when her father-in-law shows up and tells her he is going to fight for custody of his grandson.

While her son recuperates, Sherry moves temporarily into a boarding house a walking distance from the hospital.

Feeling lost and abandoned and hurt, a new boarder catches her eye. Clifford Stone is charming and good looking and seems to be sympathetic to her plight.

But he has a secret ... he's being paid handsomely to meet Sherry, love Sherry, destroy her very life, if that is what it takes.

Not a very suspenseful book, nevertheless, it does hold a reader's attention. It seems to be a bit outdated ... for example, a boarding house. The author did a good job in defining the main characters, down to the other female roomers, what my mother would call old biddies with their noses in everyone's business.

I would recommend if the reader is looking for something that moves slowly but it still interesting. Nothing jumps out to spike an adrenaline rush.

Many thanks to Open Road Integrated Media / Netgalley for the digital copy of this book. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Open Road Integrated Media and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Balloon Man. This is my honest opinion of the book.

Sherry Reynard has been carrying the family with her low paying job as a cocktail waitress, as her husband Ward and her son Johnny are counting on her. When her husband unexpectedly and violently attacks her, with their son ending up as collateral damage, Sherry tries her best to get herself and Johnny out of the situation. When Ward's wealthy parents begin to meddle, however, will Sherry be able to get out of the line of fire?

Right off the bat, I had trouble with the writing format and especially the sentence structure. With short, choppy sentences intermixed with rambling, long ones, the book seems off balance. I was not able to gain a foothold in the story and never really connected well with the characters. The Balloon Man was previously published and it shows, as the book was a bit dated. This was not the book for me, but readers who are looking for a more old fashioned read may enjoy The Balloon Man.

THE BALLOON MAN was a good read with interesting characters. Some of the villains were a bit cartoonish but still pretty believable. This book was written in 1968 and one has to read it with an appreciation of the era. I thought it made it even more fun to read knowing the history of the era. The book does make one point very clearly though: Don't take LSD!!! Or only if you know what your are getting yourself into ...

2 1/2 Stars

An old fashioned and dated suspense that held very little suspense! This novel, though short, was very slow going. Started out well, but quickly felt muddled and choppy. Not one that will be remembered.

For starters, I was surprised to find out this book, despite being an ARC for February 2017 publication, was actually first published in 1968- a year before the author died. I'm thinking this round of publication, with this new modern cover image, is the book's first time in e-copy format. But I digress...

Originally speaking, The Balloon Man may be an older book at this point, but it is no less intriguing now than it undoubtedly was nearly 50 years ago when it first hit the shelves. Considering it's being brought back for yet another publication cycle indicates it must be pretty darned good. Despite some of the more old fashioned writIng, the way Armstrong keenly twisted her story's fabrication makes it easy to understand what made the publisher decide to re-publish all these decades later. In fact, I found the suspense and mystery quite thrilling.

When Sherry's husband attempts to attack her, unprovoked, Sherry must consider not just her own safety but that of their 3 year old son as well. Taking risks with her own life is one thing; however, her precious baby boy means more to her than anything or anyone is the whole universe. Her husband must know that. So, it's with little surprise to anyone when Sherry promptly decides to file for divorce and therein full custody of their son Johnny. It won't be easy, but nobody ever said doing the right thing was.

It should be a fairly cut and dried case, closing in Sherry's favor except when her inlaws involve themselves. Harboring an age old grudge against Sherry, they feel it's their right and duty to fight for full custody themselves. And they aren't beyond playing dirty to get it. If she's going to protect her case and her rights as a mother, Sherry will have to be on the very top of her game. There might be wolves dressed in sheep's clothing just waiting to snap her up, and any false move could give way to Sherry losing everything.

Thank you to the author for writing this story, to this new publisher for taking a chance on it, and to NetGalley for helping facilitate getting me this review copy and opportunity. I've quite enjoyed myself.

This book held my attention through 3/4's of it. There was a part right before the end that was too long. The main character was given some hallucinating drugs and although it was an integral part of the story it went on way too long. Overall I enjoyed the book.

This book was originally released in 1968, and is now being re-released in February. Now, although the book quite old in terms of release date, I can see why it is being published again. This is an exciting read from start to finish. While some of it did lag a little for me, I enjoyed the plots richness and the way the author weaved this tale. This is a good book through and through and I wouldn't mind reading another one written by the author.

This was a good book! The reader is drawn to the main character right away. Her father-in-law and his associates are selfish and conniving. The other characters add color.

This was an interesting mystery about Sherry and her husband, Ward who are involved in a custody dispute when their son, Johnny is hospitalized in a violent rage-fueled attack by Ward. What follows is the story of how Sherry copes and how her in-laws attempt to win custody of their grandson. It's a good look at domestic violence and its repercussions, the extent to which wealthy people will go to win, and the nature of good-hearted people. I loved the three old card-playing women in the boarding house that gave the novel some humor. It was an odd choice of title as the Balloon Man isn't introduced until the end in a relatively minor role. Overall, I enjoyed it a great deal!

Great read! Looking forward to reading more books by this author!