Night Over Water [Paperback]

Ken Follett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1992

1939. The world's most luxurious airliner is heading straight into a storm of international intrigue, violence, war, and betrayal...

Editorial Reviews

From 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.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

With the Dark Ages (The Pillars of the Earth, 1989) out of his system, Ken Follett returns to the spies, sex, and Nazis that did so well for him in Eye of the Needle. Fascinated by the huge flying boats launched by Pan Am in the late 1930's to fly the north Atlantic route, Follett has cooked up a sort of Airship of Fools or Flying Grand Hotel about a Clipper load of rich folks and lowlifes fleeing England after the declaration of war. The passengers include a fascist marquess and his family--so much like the Mitfords as to include a Nazi daughter and her socialist sister; a cuckolded industrialist chasing his pretty wife; an aging movie star; a Jewish refugee physicist; a suspected mafioso; a rich, powerful, but unloved American widow; the widow's weak, treacherous brother; and the handsome young jewel-thief without whom no such epic is complete. The danger that hangs over all these worthies is sabotage of the flight plan by an otherwise trustworthy flight engineer whose wife is being held captive in Maine by nameless rotten scoundrels. The merciless kidnappers want the plane set down early in order to remove a nameless someone before it reaches New York. Since the plane flies rather slowly and since there are three refueling stops, and since the beds make up into comfortable little berths, there is plenty of time for the passengers to search for the marchioness's priceless rubies, counterplot against the bad guys, stretch the legs in Irish pubs, quarrel, have reconciliations and indulge in a fair amount of good, healthy sex. No technothrills. No psychodrama. No fine writing. Hours of good storytelling. (Book-of-the-Month Split Main Selection for November) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 526 pages
• Publisher: Signet Book; 1st edition (September 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451173139
• ISBN-13: 978-0451173133
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ken Follett was only twenty-seven when he wrote the award-winning EYE OF THE NEEDLE, which became an international bestseller. His celebrated PILLARS OF THE EARTH was voted into the top 100 of Britain's best-loved books in the BBC's the Big Read and the sequel, WORLD WITHOUT END, will be published in Autumn 2007. He has since written several equally successful novels including, most recently, WHITEOUT. He is also the author of non-fiction bestseller ON WINGS OF EAGLES. He lives with his family in London and Hertfordshire.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fictional tale about the last flight of a Pan Am Clipper as WWII begins, September 15, 2006

By 

Carolyn Rowe Hill "author of 'The Dead Angel" (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night Over Water (Paperback)

If you like airplanes, intrigue, World War II stories, and good writing, you'll enjoy this novel by Ken Follett. Follett always does his homework and I always learn from him. This story takes place at the beginning of England's entry into the war against Nazi Germany in 1939. It is about the last flight of the flying boat, the Pan American clipper (Boeing 314), from England to America. The luxurious, short-lived air ship began life in the summer of 1939 and ended a few weeks later when Hitler invaded Poland.

On board is a troubled aristocratic British family; an American actress; an Englishwoman running off with another man, leaving her husband; a young jewel thief; a criminal being returned to the states by authorities; a grumpy, demanding old princess; a German scientist and his companion; and others. This mix of characters and the situation in which they find themselves, make for an excellent story, especially considering the terrifying news flight engineer, Eddie Deakin, receives shortly before takeoff.

The writing is tight, the suspense builds with every page (as events in a well-crafted story should), and the wartime events are accurate within the scope of a tale of fiction. I found it enticing, riveting, and plausible. I cared so much about some of the characters that at the end of the book I wanted there to be a sequel. I wanted to know what happened to Margaret and Harry, Diana and Mark, Nancy and Mervyn, young Percy, and even Margaret's sister, Elizabeth, who left the story fairly early on. The only problem with this book was that the copy I received from Amazon had 32 missing pages! I had to borrow a copy to read the missing text!!

Another good Follett book with airplanes and a World War II setting is Hornet Flight (November 2003).

Carolyn Rowe Hill

36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ,...spies and Nazis, March 13, 2002

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night Over Water (Paperback)

Yet another gripping story by Ken Follett. On the eve of the outbreak of WW2, a clipper ship of the Pan American Line is due to fly from England to New York. These massive flying boats are the epitome of luxury and passage can be afforded by only the wealthy. It's a mixed bag on this trip-an aristocratic family who have been forced to leave England because of the fathers fascist views, a petty crook,an eloping couple who are being pursued by the womans jealous husband and various others.It's a gripping and exciting tale, well written in the Follett style and a good,fast,satisfying read.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome Aboard the Pan Am Clipper, March 16, 2007

By 

Night Reader (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night Over Water (Paperback)

I read this 544 page paperback in 3 days. Its "Ship of Fools" meets the Pan Am Clipper in 1939 at the very beginning of WWII. Everybody on the legendary flying boat seems to be running away from something and their stories all intersect during the 40 hour flight from England to the U.S. Its an easy and fun read, and the closest we'll ever get to experiencing the golden age of travel by flying boat.