Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC! This reading experience took a lot out of me. I could not get behind the writing style. When the paragraphs got too big, the run on sentences were too much to handle. I do realize it was a stylistic choice but it just didn’t vibe with me. The story was absolutely wild and I did enjoy the plot. I did not enjoy the graphic animal gore, I can handle a lot but kittens are my line I guess.

and let me say, l was mesmerized by this book…

The entire book is a run-on sentence with each chapter starting with “and.” Consider the topic, war! The history of the human race is war after war after war. It is a run-on reality of life and so this format is perfect for this book.

The setting is the trenches in France, during WWI. Cyril Baggers, the son of a Bishop and a self-proclaimed con artist, assumes burial and latrine duty to avoid getting into the fray. As the troops leave the area, he and four others are commanded to enter no man’s land and put a screaming, dying comrade out of misery. Cyril and a fourteen year old recruit he has taken under his wing, find it was an Angel caught in wire, not a dying soldier, who needs their help.

Carrying the Angel back to the trench, the remaining soldiers want to use the Angel for their own purpose. All around them, the war keeps going. The author never shirks in his descriptions of body parts, the dead, the dying, the horrors and realities of war and the evils men do. Kraus does an excellent job of depicting the mysterious abilities of the Angel. Are they mystical, fantastical, spiritual or supernatural? Each reader will choose for themselves.

In life and war, there are so many agendas and choices. Making them on the battlefield where decisions must be made instantly can show someone’s true character. Kraus’s character development never leaves you doubting,

and once you start you will not be able to put the book down

and thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC.

This book is a wild ride. A compelling story highlighting the gruesome realities of war. Written as one long stream of consciousness, the book is truly unique. The prose is exceptional, difficult at times to stomach, very dark, but fitting to the story. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy on acid might be one way to describe it, as the book goes to another level with dark religious fantasy elements. You can feel, smell, and taste the horrors of the story.

Daniel Kraus is an excellent writer and what he does in this book is very ambitious and I'm sure will have a ton of fans. Personally, it didn't completely work for me for a few different reasons. One, the chief conceit here is that the book is one continuous sentence, and this is definitely an interesting thing but mostly fades to the background as the book goes on to the point that I wasn't sure why it needed to be written that way. The main issue that I had with the novel is that it is ultimately an anti-war novel and a pretty good one but doesn't particularly say anything that hasn't been said before. There are some very memorable scenes and set pieces that definitely make it worth reading, but didn't quite get to that next level that I think it was capable of being.

Angel Down is speculative historical fiction that stretches the limits of genre and narrative into something fully unique. I honestly believe this book could become a classic; it is breath-takingly good, and I'm not 100% sure how to review it except to say that it blew my mind, and everyone should read it.

In the trenches of WW1, Cyril Bagger is only interested in surviving the war by any means necessary so he can return to his life of cons and card cheating. But when he and a handful of other soldiers discover an actual angel shot down on the battle field, a being who can grant wishes and alter not only their lives but the entire war, everything he thought he knew about the world and himself is derailed. As he fights to protect the angel and the only other person he truly cares about, Cyril is faced with the horrors of war, man's nature... and the holy.

Angel Down is a brutal deep dive into the trenches of World War 1 that doesn't pull any punches in its portrayal of the violence, trauma, and misery of that time. (There is some serious gore in this book; I don't normally get squeamish, but there were a few parts that made me squirm.) But while it is unflinching in both its depiction of the terrible realities of war as well as the dark sides of human nature both caused and revealed by war, this is a story that tenaciously clings to hope in personal redemption.

This book is paced like a thriller, with action that starts almost immediately and seldom lets up; but it is also character-driven, and the action is meaningful and even frightening because the characters are so well-written you feel like you know them. Seldom have I rooted for a main character like I was rooting for Cyril through this entire story; his character is heartbreakingly real, and his fight throughout the book is as much with himself as with the foes around him. I won't say anything further about his character arc to avoid spoilers, but I will say I definitely cried at points. This book blends action and emotion seamlessly, which is incredibly impressive.

And speaking of impressive- this entire 300-ish page book is one sentence. And you would think that wouldn't work, or would interfere with the story flow, but it doesn't at all; in fact, it contributes so much to making this story what it is. I love books that do creative or non-traditional things with the words and sentences themselves, so this was right up my alley; but I think even if you haven't previously read something like that, you will still enjoy Angel Down. It is binge-level readable, and the creative narrative adds to the story instead of distracting from it.

It's dangerous to claim a book will be one of your favorites of the year in March, but I can say with zero reservations that Angel Down is one of my favorite books of this year, and I will be doing my best to get everyone I know to read it; it's truly amazing.

I would recommend Angel Down to readers who loved WW1 historical fantasies like The Warm Hands of Ghosts or Brimstone, or books that push the limits of normal grammar or narrative like Ella Minnow Pea or House of Leaves. I would also recommend it to readers who love war novels, speculative fiction, and historical fantasy. But let me be real: I recommend this one to all readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atrium books for the arc! All thoughts & opinions in the review are my own.

I will tell you up front this book will not be for everyone. It is challenging, and experimental.
If you give it time to develop, and go along for the ride, you will find yourself getting lost in the structure and a hard time figuring out when the book ends and your life begins.

A masterpiece and a bold move from the author of Whalefall. With echoes of Clive Barker and Cormac McCarthy, Kraus has taken the war story and crafted something completely unique. Five misfit privates are sent into no man’s land by their commander to retrieve a downed soldier whose shrieks are haunting, even on the World War I battlefield. They discover that she’s an angel. The men are faced with a choice to use her power to end the war or to fulfill their own selfish desires.

Thank you to NetGalley for the early copy. And thank you to Daniel Kraus for writing this. I am simply floored by this book. It is unlike anything I have ever read. I have a feeling that many readers will DNF this book due to the writing style. I'm begging you not to. Give it a bit. Not only do you get used to it, but it seems to start to become lyrical. It starts to sing to you. The writing style is also propulsive in a way I have never experienced. It's like reading a movie filmed with only one shot. It reminds me of that one-shot scene in "Children of Men" - It's horrible, it's beautiful, and you're left wondering how they did it. This book is gruesome, and hopeful. It's filled with ugliness (past, present and future), and moments of joy. It's simply a revelation. I give it the highest of recommendations. You must read this book.

Going beyond the thematically resonant thrills and wonder of Whalefall, Daniel Kraus has set his sights on an ambitious work with this follow-up, bridging the gap between genre books and high-minded literature. I didn't know I was in for a challenging novel when I started Angel Down, and in general, it's not a description I would use for my favorite books. Many of the best novels of all time, though, would be considered challenging. Each reader will have an individual experience with this book, but it's a safe bet that it'll be a memorable one. Whether you feel challenged by the form, the vocabulary, the content or the message—or you're just thrilled by the vivid, heart-wrenching depictions of war—the story's visceral and provocative scenes will etch themselves into your mind like the crater left by an exploded ordnance.

In this haunting World War II tale of trench warfare, Kraus puts his allegorical and lyrical chops on full display, dazzling the reader with incandescent, concussive prose that glows like smoldering shrapnel. A few chapters into the book, I had completely forgotten the plot description that made me eager to read the book because I was so immersed in its characters and its military authenticity.

The story raises epistemological questions through the lens of Christianity, encouraging the reader to explore the implications of war. The fantastic events depicted may be apocryphal, but the story is a parable, serving a purpose suited to biblical study. Whether protecting yourself, your family, your fellow soldiers or your country, Angel Down insightfully addresses the ethical and moral considerations of combat.

It's no exaggeration to say that Angel Down is composed of one bombshell chapter after another, the breakneck pace culminating in a fusillade of literary fury that would rival any real-life firefight. The author delivers the penultimate chapter in a single relentless assault of a paragraph that more closely resembles epic poetry than prose, bringing a cinematic quality to the story that couldn't be achieved otherwise. The stylistic choice may seem strange at the beginning of the novel, but by the time the reader absorbs the intensity of the climax, it's clear that this format is the only one that could do the story justice. It reflects the great war literature of history and demands that the reader draw connections between the past and their modern lives from the grim realities illuminated by this book.


To anyone who yearns to read something substantive, creative and completely original, grab a copy of Angel Down.

A shell-shocked thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster/Atria Books for this ARC of 'Angel Down' by Daniel Kraus.

and WOW,

and WOW,

and WOW,

and WOW,

and WOW,

I could go on and on and on ... !

Grifter and conman Private Bagger is the central character of this sensational and uncategorizable novel. Despite doing everything he can to avoid the task he finds himself rescuing an 'angel' from no-mans-land deep between the trenches of Northern France during World War I.

What precedes and follows that crucial piece of action is as visceral a description of that war (and all wars) and survival as you'll ever read.

The structure is propulsive. There are no full stops, only commas, and the reader is driven along at a rate of knots by the story and this unique structure. The novel is one long, exhausting (in a good sense) sentence where the external and internal battles fought by Bagger and his squad-mates and the angel are laid out on the page for the reader and the horrors of the war and existence in the trenches are graphically described.

Bagger continuously fights against what he believes his true self to be and finds himself becoming the protector of the angel and the young, underage private that has attached himself to the squad and this leads him to a colossal dilemma wherein the fate of the world rests on his shoulders. That's where things get *really* dark.

I think a lot of people will struggle with this one but I thought it was genuinely astonishing.

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books for allowing me to read this book early. The opinion in this review is my own.

Cyril Bagger is a grave digger during WW1. While digging graves, his company is bombed, and then Cyril and some of his surviving colleagues are sent into a mass grave to execute a screaming soldier to end their suffering, but they find what they suspect to be an angel that has fallen into the grave. If you didn’t know that premise going in, I think this book would’ve been more frustrating.

This is one of the most unusual books I’ve ever read. The format is kinda gimmicky with it being like a stream of consciousness type book, but delivered as one continuous run-on sentence. When you think a sentence should end, it continues with a comma and an “and”. It was kind of distracting and difficult to get used to. I couldn’t see a reason for this besides just completing a challenge. Also, the POV strikes me as weird. It’s written in third person, but it reads almost like the main character is talking about himself in third person.

Once I got into a groove of reading this, the story was compelling. It was very interesting, but it is gory at times and the characters are unlikeable, but that is by design. It does bring up conversations about how we judge each other of who is damned and who isn’t

I would recommend this book to people interested in this concept, but also are ready for this writing style.

This is a challenging book to rate and review. It kept me riveted to my seat, and the scenes are burnt into my memory. I was left in shellshock, so I believe the author achieved his goal. It can be classified as a historically inspired fiction, horror, fantasy-based, and a character-driven psychological story. Since it is set in muddy WW1 trenches, and the battlefield, the scenes are gross, ghastly, and grotesque, and vividly described. I was kept spellbound by the powerful narrative.

I received the much-appreciated ARC from Netgalley and the publisher. I had read both Whalefall and The Shape of Water, and I just discovered that Kraus had co-written The Shape of Water, an Oscar-winning best picture that was expanded into a book. I enjoyed them all.

The violence and gut-wrenching scenes will not appeal to all readers; many will find them disturbing. The book's structure and format will also be off-putting to some. It was quite strange and seemed experimental. All paragraphs began with 'and' and contained run-on sentences without periods.
Kraus showcases a vast vocabulary, including some obscure words. I was glad to be reading on my Kindle so that I could click on an unknown word to learn its meaning. However, I found the story gripping, suspenseful, thought-provoking, and tension-filled but also convoluted.

The premise is known. A scream keeps coming from an area where there are mass graves. The officer in charge of the battalion orders four men, whom he considers the most disagreeable and useless, to embark on a dangerous journey. The goal is to put the screaming soldier out of his misery by killing him. The story is narrated by the despicable Cyril Bagger who is one of the men sent to euthanize the screamer. He is known as a conman, a cheating gambler, who has won money from many in the troop. He serves as a gravedigger, which keeps him away from active duty and away from French enemy lines. He is disliked, except for a 14-year-old soldier, who admires and follows him. The shrieking person turns out to be a suspected angel. Each one in the group wants to possess the angel for nefarious purposes. Three of the men die horrible deaths. Bagger thinks he can use the angel to raise his status and end the war. He returns to headquarters carrying the angel. Of course, his meeting with the mission commander went badly, as the officer had other ideas.

Recommended to readers who don't mind a gruesome, heart-wrenching story of what WW1 must have looked, smelled, and sounded like, and can overlook what is an unusual writing style. It is due to be published July 29th.

“Angel Down” by Daniel Kraus is a highly stylized horror story set during World War I. The premise involves a group of soldiers sent into no man's land to silence a wounded, shrieking comrade. However, they encounter a fallen angel whom they end up rescuing.

This story prompts the reader to question who is truly fallen or damned—the soldiers or the angel? It reminds me somewhat of "The Buffalo Hunter" by Stephen Graham Jones, as both blend historical horror with themes of revenge, greed, and various sins or vices.

Like Jones's work, this captivating horror narrative parallels Albert Camus’ "La Chute" (The Fall). It explores themes of judgment, moral superiority, and hypocrisy, illustrating how individuals can justify their actions. Such justifications can lead to the emergence of oppressive regimes, like Fascism, or even to acts of genocide against those deemed sinful or inferior.

The author's stylistic choice, with each paragraph starting with "and," creates a sense of being on a long, epic journey. This approach reminded me of the film "1917," which is styled to appear as if it is one continuous shot over the course of a day and night. This technique enhances the feeling of a doomed, exhausting, and never-ending quest.

I recommend this novel. It may not cater to everyone’s expectations or preferences, but it is worth the experience. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC.

A tale of literary hell — a book where the chapters are numbered with Roman numerals, and EVERY paragraph begins with the word “and.” And each of those paragraphs is just a run-on sentence, so the entire book is devoid of ANY periods, including the last page.
WTH?

And this was SO disappointing since I truly enjoyed Kraus’ “Whalefall,” the story of a diver swallowed by a whale (those chapter headings were the amount of oxygen that was leftover). And I was so enticed by the teaser that a group of soldiers find a fallen angel and try to rescue her. And, yet it was a chore to eek out the story if I didn’t know about the angel in advance. And we know that the truly despicable main character, Cyril Bagger, is just barely surviving near the French frontline trenches of World War I, surrounded by death and gore, continuously musing about vulgarity, and considering himself lucky to be on burial duty. And his inner monologue is overwhelmingly depressing. And, and, and, are you annoyed yet?

I must note that the author forced me to look up the definition of “absquatulate” and I was inspired to do just that with the book. I absquatulated midway, did a speed reading through the next and, and, and chapters, read the last few in order to decide if I should go back, and decided that was enough. And an extravagant description of dead kittens was repulsive. And unnecessary. 2 stars.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy.