Whalefall

A Novel

By: Daniel Kraus

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER
Named a Best Book of 2023 by Book Riot, Shelf Awareness, and NPR

The Martian meets 127 Hours in this “astoundingly great” (Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author) and scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.

Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand—to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death by suicide the previous year.

The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles and drawn into the whale’s mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out—one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale.

Suspenseful and cinematic, Whalefall is an “powerfully humane” (Owen King, New York Times bestselling author) thriller about a young man who has given up on life…only to find a reason to live in the most dangerous and unlikely of places.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Kirby Heyborne embodies the gruesomeness and terror and beauty in Daniel Kraus’s story. Listeners will feel its intensity in the pit of their stomachs. Teenage scuba diver Jay Gardiner is consumed by guilt as he seeks to find the remains of his father, who died by suicide, in the Pacific Ocean. As Jay searches the ocean’s depths, he is swallowed by a sperm whale. As the story switches between key moments in Jay’s past and the rapidly decreasing air in his tanks, listeners will feel like they themselves are gasping for air. Heyborne’s performance robustly expands Kraus’s tale, and it is divine."

Overrated by other reviewers

Excellent narration. A painful, but relatable father/son reconciliation. Just a generally grotesque backdrop that could do with a lot less F-bombs.

...OH! It's Trauma!!

I really liked how extremely well researched the whale anatomy and facts of diving and physics of pressure were. That part was deeply impressive. I also thought it was an interesting nuance to have a hardcore environmentalist be the toxic, unavailable father instead him being ANOTHER fisherman stereotype.

Beyond that almost any time the story delves into Jay's past my brain kind of shuts off until we're back in the guts. I get that is some people's bag, and some people will say "Wow, I relate so much!" I'm good, thanks. But, our narrator did an excellent job vocalizing each character, and the "BOHM BOHM!!" of the Whale Heart was very pronounced.

Oh, and overall making a sort of Cosmic Horror level experience of being eaten alive by a being you can scarcely comprehend the scope of was very well done here. I just didn't care for it obviously trying to shove it through as a metaphor for overcoming trauma. Felt very forced that the only reason this kid got swallowed was so it could function as a metaphor. If it was more subtle, maybe it would have worked better, but it was very forced.

also, Beaky MVP.

Claustrophobic and Suspenseful!

I loved this story so much! The use of descriptive language and flashbacks really had me hooked.

Fantastic narration and a completely original thriller

Action, suspense, emotion, and a surprising amount of credible science on top of it all. A great listening experience to share. I’d love to own the physical book as well to re-read certain passages. P.S. if you’re a Steinbeck fan you appreciate the Cannery Row and marine biology references

moving, visceral and unsettling

the uniqueness of the story, and the unsettling setting and mental circumstance of the main character really made this book one that I couldnt stop listening to til the end.