Night Over Water
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4.0 • 78 Ratings
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
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 . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The opulent interior of the first airliner, the Pan American Clipper, on a transatlantic flight from Southampton, England, to New York in war-darkened 1939, is the setting for Follett's high-flying caper, guaranteed to hold the reader in his seat. Recalling a time when air travel was an exotic adventure, master of epic suspense Follett ( Pillars of the Earth ) spins an excruciatingly taut drama on the aerial equivalent of the Orient Express. Persons unknown kidnap the wife of Clipper engineer Eddie Deakin from their home in Maine in order to force Deakin to maneuver an emergency landing in the choppy waters off Bangor. Apparently the shadowy conspirators plan to remove one of the passengers, an intriguing group who include an FBI agent transporting an extradited mafioso; a Russian princess; a British industrialist chasing his wife and her lover; an American movie star; an Oswald Mosely-like aristocrat turned fascist, his daughter and her lover, a young jewel thief. Details of early aviation firmly establish the cast in their era and a tantalizing mosaic of subplots whisks the reader through a whirlwind of romance and intrigue. Follet soars to a thoroughly satisfying ending with aeronautical precision. This is his best since The Eye of the Needle. Author tour.
Customer Reviews
Interesting to read of the flying boats
But the novel itself is somewhat tedious
Easy read
Not Ken Follets best but ok all the same, an easy read