Night over Water

By: Ken Follett

Narrated by: Tom Casaletto

Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

On a bright September morning in 1939, two days after Britain declares war on Germany, a group of privileged but desperate people gather in Southhampton to board the largest, most luxurious airliner ever built - the Pan American Clipper - bound for New York.

The passengers include a fascist English aristocrat fleeing with his family and a fortune in jewels; a German scientist escaping from the Nazis; a murderer under FBI escort; a beautiful young woman heading for a new life; and a handsome, charming, unscrupulous thief.

They will be in the air for 30 hours, soothed by the carpeted lounges, the curtained beds, the gourmet dining room, and the endless champagne. But once inside the flying palace, there is no escape. Over the Atlantic, the Clipper's passengers are gripped by mounting fear and tension as their journey reaches the point of no return.

©1991 Ken Follett (P)1991 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"Follet soars to a thoroughly satisfying ending with aeronautical precision." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Tom Casaletto's glib performance makes this seemingly endless journey fly by with ease. His many accents are first-rate." ( AudioFile)

A + For Follett & Casaletto Adventure

When I first listened to the short clip of the fictional story, I really did not like the narrator at all. I don't usually ever listen to fiction but because it was Ken Follett. I gave it a listen anyway because I intend on listening to every book audible offers by Ken Follett.
Some of the characters in this book and what they say will make you chuckle, or even outright bust out laughing. Follett's imagination and his ability to compose a book from beginning to end is something to be admired by any novelist, amateur or successful.
If you don't enjoy this book, you need to quit listening to this author.I sincerely recommend this book and think you will enjoy it after you get over the initial shock of the narrator's normal voice. No cast is needed here of different voices. This narrator, Tom Casaletto, is so skillful when changing his voice with the characters and the drama of the scene. Listen to this book you will enjoy it and look for another Ken Follet book read by the same narrator again I promise you!! (It does have a few very brief, honest, sex scenes in it done tastefully.)

Not one of the better audible books I have listened to.

The audible part keep reminding me what my Kindle sounded like before Whisper. There were times that it sounded like a computer. I am not sure if this was the reader or production of it. The story was ok, I was surprised that it was a Ken Follett book.

Surprisingly disappointing from Follett.

Unlike most Follett this didn't grab my attention much. It was okay which is a big disappointment from such a great author.

I love the printed version of this book

What did you like best about Night over Water? What did you like least?

I have read Night over water sever times (in two languages) and I loved it.
The narrator, however does such a poor job that I just wanted to stop listening several times.
It is hard to follow when a scene (or even a sentence) ends and when the next one starts. It almost feels a machine is reading the story, not an actual person.
Very disappointed with the narrator, but I still love the book.

Would you be willing to try another one of Tom Casaletto’s performances?

NO! If I was into futuristic books and Tom Casaletto was the robot in there, maybe.

Finish the job.

Well done in theory. Great premise. Character weaves were good and segued well with the story' direction. Reading was VERY good and well emoted. Some character phrasing seemed to be inaccurate for the period, but overall, insignificant to story flow. HOWEVER..the story ending was anticlimactic. After spending so much time fleshing out the primary characters to simply end the narrative with what might be compared to a Cohen Brothers ending. Poorly conceived with listeners/readers wanting and needing a more complete terminus after their investment of time, character association and empathy. DANGLING CHADS! The author here apparently tired of his own efforts and simply walked away..Grade A throughout, then spiraling to a C± ending.
Rodney Gray

Story pretty good, narration not so good

I enjoyed the story well enough although it took awhile to get it established. But I found the narration really distracting. The narrator didn’t do well with all the accents and sounded like somebody just reading a book aloud. On top of that, I thought the editing was poor because there was no gap at all between sections of the book. The narration would be talking about one set of characters and then suddenly talking about something completely different, and I’m sure in the printed book there was some kind of section break.

Night Over Water

Would you try another book from Ken Follett and/or Tom Casaletto?

Yes

Would you recommend Night over Water to your friends? Why or why not?

I'm mixed on this book, as it was entertaining until it rushed to conclusion. The ending seemed forced, as if the author was in a hurry to wrap up several plot lines.

Which character – as performed by Tom Casaletto – was your favorite?

No particular favorite

Was Night over Water worth the listening time?

Wonderful history and airplane background, characters were well developed. I disliked the rushed ending and nearly stopped listening.

Any additional comments?

No

An Agatha Christie over the Atlantic

I love travel adventures, great characters, intrigue and technical stuff. This had it all. It could easily be compared to Murder on the Orient Express except played out in the classic PanAm Clipper over the Atlantic in Pre-WW2. Loved it!

Fun read

It was a fun suspense story. A bit predictable at times but he kept throwing curveballs when I thought I had it all figured out.

the English folks sounded australian.

A bit of a struggle in the start but the story soon gets you hooked. the accents were WAY off which bothered me a bit.