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A Novel
by Daniel Kraus
Book Reviewed by:The critically acclaimed author of the "crazily enjoyable" (The New York Times) Whalefall returns with an immersive, cinematic novel about five World War I soldiers who stumble upon a fallen angel that could hold the key to ending the war.
Private Cyril Bagger has managed to survive the unspeakable horrors of the Great War through his wits and deception, swindling fellow soldiers at every opportunity. But his survival instincts are put to the ultimate test when he and four other grunts are given a deadly mission: venture into the perilous No Man's Land to euthanize a wounded comrade.
What they find amid the ruined battlefield, however, is not a man in need of mercy but a fallen angel, seemingly struck down by artillery fire. This celestial being may hold the key to ending the brutal conflict, but only if the soldiers can suppress their individual desires and work together. As jealousy, greed, and paranoia take hold, the group is torn apart by their inner demons, threatening to turn their angelic encounter into a descent into hell.
Angel Down plunges you into the heart of World War I and weaves a polyphonic tale of survival, supernatural wonder, and moral conflict.
Daniel Kraus's novel Angel Down takes place late in World War I, just weeks away from the November 11, 1918 Armistice. Private Cyril Bagger, self-professed gambler, con man, and card cheat, has remained safe behind the front lines by volunteering to dig latrines and mass graves. He considers himself a coward, but he's OK with that; his only goal is to survive the war. Told in a third-person voice entirely from Bagger's point of view, the novel unspools in one long stream-of-consciousness sentence. Kraus's prose is so glorious and his descriptions so alive that the entire book is a marvel...continued
Full Review
(779 words)
(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
Daniel Kraus's novel Angel Down is set on a WWI battlefield in France. After a particularly brutal shelling, Private Cyril Bagger is sent along with a small group of others to "take care of" someone shrieking nonstop in No Man's Land. Instead of a wounded comrade, however, he discovers what appears to be an angel. One of the squad believes she's the Angel of Mons, referring to an incident that occurred during the Battle of Mons on August 22-23, 1914. The rest of the novel follows Bagger's attempts to keep this enigmatic creature safe.
The British declared war on Germany early in August of 1914, and the first troops from the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were sent to France soon thereafter. The army was ...
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