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Night Over Water

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About this listen

At the outbreak of the Second World War, a mismatched group of passengers flee across the Atlantic to escape Britain and – thousands of feet in the air – find themselves facing grave danger. Night Over Water is a masterful historical thriller from Ken Follett.

The Eve of War
Britain has just declared war against Nazi Germany. In Southampton, the world’s most luxurious airliner, the Pan American Clipper, takes off on its final flight to neutral New York – a haven for those fleeing the conflict.

A Disparate Group Flees
The passengers aboard the plane each have their own reasons for leaving Britain. Amongst them are an English aristocrat fleeing with his family and a fortune in jewels; a German scientist running away from the Nazis; a murderer returning under FBI escort; a wife escaping her controlling husband; and a devious thief determined to keep his spoils.

A Journey into Danger
Trapped on the plane, with only their fellow passengers for company, their journey over the Atlantic becomes increasingly fraught. Especially when it becomes apparent a plot is unfolding that may endanger all of their lives . . .

 20th Century Action & Adventure Espionage Historical Historical Fiction Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Fiction Marriage War Aviation New York

Critic reviews

Master of the romantic thriller
The opulent interior of the first airliner on a transatlantic flight from England to New York in war-darkened 1939 is the setting for Follett's high-flying caper, guaranteed to hold the reader in their seat . . . the master of epic suspense spins an excruciatingly taut drama, a whirlwind of romance and intrigue . . . His best since Eye of the Needle.
All stars
Most relevant
Does Russell Bentley understand punctuation? It was utterly frustrating from beginning to end. Never again.

Shocking performance

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......except the narration was dreadful! However, after a few chapters I was so engrossed in the story I could tolerate the narration and sometimes even laughed at it's awfulness.
The story is gripping and very well written. Don't let the narration put you off.

Really good 5* story.....

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This was infuriating. The story and characters are a lot of fun - sort of orient express meets downton abbey beneath the shadow of war; romance and gangsters; might ‘die tomorrow so may as well sex’ in confined spaces.... But the awful narration was an insult to both listener and the poor author: like a cross between Thomas the tank engine and some awful vicar reading the bible; almost ever sentence read with a gap, then downward inflection (a full drop at the end as I came to think of it). Example of how little attention this lazy man gave to what he was actually reading was someone remarking ‘tonelessly’ with great animation and I could swear the characters were swapping accents. I ended up surviving the experience by mentally following the narration in my head and reinterpreting it as the words would have appeared on the page. Really do not know how anyone let this through the net. My advice - read the book and avoid this reader like the plague. (Oh and the characters, as depicted, were like cartoons - wildly ott accents that shredded the dialogue - so, maybe Thomas the tank meets chipper cartoon Americans and posh English people).

Good story diabolical narration

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Strange inflections suggest lack of understanding of what has been written. An intriguing tale nonetheless, but not one of KF's best.

Irritating narration is a let down.

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Narrator's voice dropped octave at the end of every single sentence. Very distracting. Otherwise the story was ok.

decent story, awful narrator

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