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The Balloon Man

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A woman attempts to flee her abusive husband in a thriller The New York Times Book Review calls “an unforgettable reading experience.”

Overworked cocktail waitress Sherry Reynard doesn’t expect much anymore from her husband, Ward, whom she’s supported for years. A struggling writer and sometimes-junkie coddled by his wealthy parents, Ward spends his days lost in a fog of self-pity and hallucinations. Then, one morning, he attacks his wife in a sudden, unprovoked, violent fit of rage. When he turns on their three-year-old son, Johnny, Sherry bashes Ward into submission, grabs her boy, and runs.

As Johnny recuperates in the hospital, Sherry rents a room in a boarding house—among a group of outcasts—anxious to escape her marriage and her memories. But when her vindictive in-laws file a suit for custody of Johnny, Sherry’s oppressive world starts closing in. She needs someone on her side.

When new boarder Clifford Stone arrives, he’s just what Sherry’s looking for. Charming and sympathetic, he’s promised to be there should Sherry ever need him—he’s also been hired by Ward’s calculating father to insinuate himself into her life. Clifford has been paid well to love Sherry, manipulate her, destroy her reputation, and, if need be, even worse.

The Balloon Man was made into Claude Chabrol’s classic 1970 film, La Rupture (The Breach).

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1968

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134 people want to read

About the author

Charlotte Armstrong

172 books75 followers
Full name Charlotte Armstrong Lewi. Wrote 29 novels, plus short stories and plays under the name Charlotte Armstrong and Jo Valentine. Additional writing jobs: New York Times (advertising department), Breath of the Avenue (fashion reporter).

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Linda Strong.
3,878 reviews1,708 followers
February 22, 2017
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.
Profile Image for Carla Remy.
1,063 reviews116 followers
October 12, 2019
From 1968
This could take place now or probably anytime. The abusive husband's parents have money and they want their grandkid and are willing to frame his mother to get him. This book might be overlong but it was not boring.
Profile Image for Betty.
2,004 reviews73 followers
February 7, 2017
I have always enjoyed Charlotte Armstrong 's books. I read as many as I could find in the 1970's. The conditions concerning domestic abuse that were in play at that period are correct. In the minds of the police and society, a woman was considered quilty of provoking her husband.
After fifty years and rereading the story, I feel it is one of the best stories I have read. It held my attention and Until I finished the book. The MC could have been very depressed of all the negative occurrence in her life, but she remains upbeat for her son.
Sherry Reynard is fixing breakfast for her husband, Ward when he started to chock her. She screamed and their two-year-old child, Johnny runs to Mommy. Ward picks up the child and throws him across the room. He went back to continue to chock. Sherry picks the frying pan and hits his shoulder. The police question her at the hospital if Ward wanted assault charges against her. Johnny had broken bones and a concussion.
Sherry realized that Ward was out of his mind and she cannot let Ward near Johnny again. At the point, Ward's, wealthy and controlling Father, attempted to control. Sherry declined and files for divorce. Her In- laws file for custody of Johnny. In order to win his agent must frame Sherry. This book has so many twists and turns that will grasp your attention. What does the Balloon man have to with this story? You will need to read the book to find out.

Disclosure: I received a free copy from Open Road Integrated Media through NetGalley for an honest review. I would like to thank them for this opportunity to read and review the book. The opinions expressed are my own.
Profile Image for Judith.
1,180 reviews11 followers
September 13, 2015
I bought this because it is by an Upper Michigan author. I hoped it would be set in the U.P. but it is not. I was also familiar with Armstrong's name although I don't remember having read anything else by her.

This book is hardcover, printed in 1968. It can be interesting and sometimes disturbing to read books from several years ago, as they reflect the culture of the time. This book is a good example of both "interesting" and "disturbing".

Sherry Reynard is married to a man, Ward, who has been experimenting with drugs. One day he comes out of the bedroom a badly changed man. He is violent and unseeing. He attacks Sherry and then throws their three-year-old son John across the room, unthinkingly. Sherry manages to hit ward with a frying pan and get John to a hospital, realizing that she cannot continue to live with Ward. She finds a room in a boarding house for the time that John will be in the hospital, and consults a lawyer about divorce.

All of this happens rather fast. I felt that the story was jumpy, assuming a lot, not filling in details. As it continued it seemed to find a pace I could accept.

Sherry's father-in-law has never liked Sherry, believing her not good enough for his son. She does not have the background or education his son has. He believes she is responsible for Ward's deterioration, and decides to find dirt on her so Ward can gain custody of John. To this end he hires shifty Cliff Storm, who is not above creating dirt if he can't find any. And thus the dirty tricks begin. Meanwhile, Ward is staying at his parents' home with a private nurse, a nurse who finds Ward's behavior erratic and unpredictable.

Thus Sherry is set up for difficulties. Will she be able to keep John? Will dark secrets emerge as Storm looks into her past?

Not a great book but readable, interesting enough to keep me going. What I found disconcerting were primarily two things: 1) Ward's permanent drug damage. Some people were damaged by LSD back in the early days but very few had permanent damage. I think Armstrong's perception was likely a common one at the time. 2) There is a young woman with Down Syndrome in the boarding house. She is referred to as "feeble-minded" and a "half-wit" and described as slow and uncomprehending. I think it's an unfair representation and insulting to boot. I don't know how common this perception was - I don't think I ever felt this way.
Profile Image for Denise Spicer.
Author 16 books70 followers
April 9, 2021
This has a somewhat contrived plot involving a young woman, Sherry Reynaud, in love with a drug addict from a wealthy family. Her husband's father hires a former friend of her husband to set Sherry up so the grandparents can get custody of the child. At one point the "friend", Cliff, pretends to work for the government in order to frame Sherry. p. 65 "Cliff went off, musing the strange way of people who "govern themselves" and go in terror of their government." Ambiguous, unsatisfactory ending.
273 reviews
December 29, 2022
The last Kelling/Bittesohn from the stack on my night table, probably the last one I’ll read of these wacky, highly improbable adventures. Some good characters, funny/zany happenings, this one with a very unexpected bad guy.
Profile Image for LisaMarie.
750 reviews3 followers
August 5, 2020
This is definitely more a sentimental favorite of mine, first discovered serendipitously in the older fiction section of the Worcester Public Library, back when I was still in high school. (The kaleidoscope eye balloons on the spine may have locked with mine.)
What first struck me as a riveting page turner now seems a bit farfetched, but it's my all-time favorite novel about character assassination, and I still love it when they bring in the titular day-saving witness, and you gotta love those Norns! I love that it is so dated yet probably pretty accurate about what it was like for a "square" to have a brush with the LA drug scene of the time.
One thing that irked me in this reading though: I guess I never thought much about it before but when the young Dr Joe Bianchi, the one who helped Sherry get a room at the Peabody's, literally runs into her while she's at the hospital visiting her son, he's all grabby "in what was, beyond any doubt, a real pitch of woo." Seriously? And at the hospital he works at (how professional!)? Understandably, it's implied, because the nefarious Cliff Storm planted the idea in his head that Sherry was some kind of loose woman so that makes it okay! And if not an Asian slur of an apology will do! (In past readings I probably had a "huh?" reaction to "so solly.") Okay, so not exactly attempted rape, but then at the end when she's moving out of the boarding house, there's a hint that she might be interested in seeing him again.("She liked him very much.")
Oh well, not all things age well.
Other books by CA that are pretty good: The Dream Walker and Mischief, which was made into Don't Bother to Knock where pre-sex bomb Marilyn Monroe plays psycho girl.
Profile Image for Joanne.
829 reviews49 followers
August 23, 2018
It kept my interest, perfect for days too hot to be outside.
Profile Image for Denise.
72 reviews
July 2, 2012
This was a very supenseful novel. It begins with Sherry's husband Ward, in a drug-induced rage, attacking her and their three-year-old son, injuring the little boy, and Sherry knocking out her husband. She decides that she needs to divorce him to protect their son, and his wealthy, privileged family, who have never approved of her, set out to discredit her and gain custody of little Johnny. The father hires a man to do so, and he will stop at nothing to find some dirt on her, or, failing that, manufacture some. The lengths he goes to are extreme, and had me not wanting to put the book down! Over it all is the watchful gaze of "the Norns", three elderly ladies living in the boarding house that Sherry is staying in. The situation finally reaches a crisis point, and the Norns, a balloon seller in the park, and another surprising source, will play a role in the denouement. Sherry is a very sympathetic protagonist, and the other characters are an interesting bunch. I enjoyed this novel.
614 reviews9 followers
February 3, 2017
Attacked by her husband and her son flung across the kitchen, Shelly Reynard flees, and with her child hospitalized, she finds a rooming house across from her son’s hospital and begins visiting him every day while trying to contact her New York friends for money to fly back once her son has recovered.

But her father in law has other plans. He hires an old friend of his son to find some way to make her unfit to care for her child, so she not have custody when she files for divorce.

Most of this novel is about this ‘old friend’ plotting to make Sherry look bad in the eyes of a judge, and quite frankly the pace is so slow I began to wonder if he would ever get off his butt and crank his evil deeds in motion.

If the first 180 pages were as fast paced as the last 30 or so then this would be a terrific suspense mystery, as it is, it is mostly a yawner.
8 reviews1 follower
February 23, 2017
This is the 2nd time around for this book as it was first published in the late 1960's and some of the writing shows it by being a bit dated. It is the age old story of an abusive husband having attacked both his wife and son and the wife (Sherry) leaving him in order to protect herself and her child. However when her affluent in-laws step in looking to take custody of the boy as well as hiring a man to woo her at the same time as he tries to dig up dirt on her the plot picks up a bit. I'm not sure where the title fits in as the balloon man has very little to do with the story. Ok-not great!
156 reviews1 follower
March 27, 2021
A reread of a book I was gifted in the 70s from Burlington,Wyoming High School compliments of Student Council. I loved the 2nd time reading after all these years because it helped me remember the culture of the 60s and 70s with the radical change in society norms and of course the introduction of recreational drugs to public awareness. I was also delighted the way the story wove around the love of a mother for her child
Profile Image for Nolan.
3,747 reviews38 followers
October 9, 2025
One star. Pure radioactive trash. Every character is a moral black hole; even the toddler wants to unionize against them.

The plot hinges on balloons and scissors, which sounds whimsical until you realize it's a custody hearing-not a birthday party. And yet somehow, the real victim isn't the drugged wife, the broken child, or the stabbed husband. It's me. For the three hours I let this monster steal from my life. Opportunity cost: infinite. Entertainment value: negative.
Profile Image for Chris Bailey.
901 reviews5 followers
February 24, 2019
A good story. A heroine who you really wanted to win! Good plot. A little bit of a confusing writing style. Might be because it’s so dated. Also one scene flowed into the next without any distinguishing separation which was confusing. It’s possible this only happened in the ebook version I was reading. Anyway, I enjoy the occasional light reads of this author.
Profile Image for Cara.
51 reviews1 follower
May 19, 2022
This book was so funny and clever and refreshing - perhaps an odd take on a book written in the 60's, but there you have it. The heroine, Sherry, is someone you can wholeheartedly root for, and the happy ending is satisfying while not predictable. We don't get domestic thrillers this charming anymore. I loved it and can't wait to read the author's other books.
2,683 reviews
October 3, 2018
This is a really good book, but the subject matter is tough. Abuse is difficult to read.
Profile Image for Emma.
16 reviews
June 24, 2022
“Did they really believe that the everyday world can’t tell what’s real from what isn’t? Or is it just that they can’t? Now what is ‘mad’? And what is ‘sane’?”
4,095 reviews116 followers
February 21, 2017
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.
Profile Image for Rebekah Crain.
876 reviews22 followers
February 5, 2017
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.
2,276 reviews49 followers
February 21, 2017
I am a fan of Charlotte Armstrong .Her books are tense page turners with very interesting characters.
89 reviews1 follower
February 15, 2017
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 ...
Profile Image for Jared.
37 reviews4 followers
September 2, 2008
This book has interesting character development, but unfortunately the plot is boring for them to be built around. It ends up reading like a mid sixties midday soup opera, and is extremely dated.

And the balloon man has next to nothing to do with the book and I really cannot understand why it is named for him...

In the end it was a trouble to get through. Proceed with caution.
1 review
July 13, 2012
My favorite thing about this book was the descriptions of the characters and their development. Notably, the three old women were quite entertaining. I enjoyed the battle between good and evil (so to speak) and how in the end serendipity plays the most important role in determining the outcome, while causing one of the most minor characters to become one of the most important.
1,950 reviews51 followers
January 7, 2017
This was an interesting mystery with some nice twists but felt very dated. It was more plot-driven than character-driven and I usually prefer books where we get to know the characters better. The choice of a title threw me a little as well as the Balloon Man doesn't come in until the very end as he provides Sherry, the protagonist with an alibi. Overall, I enjoyed it and it was a fast read!
Profile Image for Berry Blake.
10 reviews
February 24, 2016
I randomly picked this up and was enthralled the whole time. Definitely reading more by this author.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 29 reviews

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