Angel Down by Daniel Krauss

 

World War I is known for it's brutal trench warfare.  Men from either side hunkered down in rat-infested trenches, firing at each other from yards away, fighting for feet of territory.  It was a bleak environment with little food, mud, torn clothes and tempers flaring.  One day a piercing scream was heard.  A commanding officer sends five men who he thought of as losers and very expendable to check out what was going on.

Private Cyril Bagger is the main character.  He has survived by being the con artist he was before the war and avoiding as much battle as he can.  Bagger knows how to make the best of every skirmish as he is skilled at sizing up and taking advantage.  He has one weakness.  Private Louis Arno is a fourteen year old kid who lied about his age to join the army and now is unlikely to see fifteen.  Bagger looks out for him as much as he can and reads him books, especially Tarzan.

Private Hugh Popkin is a huge man, extremely strong but not smart.  He is the most gung-ho of the men and wants to kill, not for his country necessarily but for the thrill.  Private Vincent Goodspeed is a scavenger.  He grabs up artifacts like bits of German uniforms to sell on the black market along with any other goods he can scarf up.  Finally, Private Ben Veck has just joined this group of soldiers.  He is the only black soldier and his job is as a flamethrower.

When the five reach the scream, they stop in amazement.  What they find is not a soldier caught up on barbed wire or suffering from a gut shot, but a woman who emits a piercing light.  As they get closer they discover that it is an angel.  All five want to save her but for very different reasons.  Some want to use her to make money, some want to help her because they haven't seen a woman in weeks, some for religious reasons.  Regardless, they rescue her and start to carry her back to their ranks.

As they make their way back, the five start to fight about the angel and who she belongs to.  Soon there are battles among the men as each believes he should be the angel's owner and that she can grant wishes and save them from the war-torn territory in which every minute can be a man's last.

Daniel Krauss was born in Germany but now lives in the United States.  He has been best known for his work in the fantasy and horror genres and his collaboration with other authors such as Guillermo del Toro and George Romano.  This novel won the Pultizer Prize this year and was also a New York Times Best 10 Books Of The Year.  The interplay between the soldiers and between their visions of the angel and what she means make up the majority of the book.  Perhaps she has been sent to stop wars forever but only if men can change their natures.  The format itself builds the tension as the entire book is one long sentence  It is one of the most stunning books I've read lately and will definitely be in my top reads of 2026.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.