Angel Down by Daniel Kraus
My Rating: 4 stars
Cover Rating: 3/10 unfortunately as good as this book is for me that does not extend to its cover. It is just not a design that vibes with me.
Publisher: Atria Books
Publish Date: July 29th, 2025
Number of Pages: 285
Received: Netgalley provided an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Purchase: Bookshop.org
Synopsis:
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOKS OF THE YEAR • USA TODAY BESTSELLER
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. 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.
Opening Sentence: Unfortunately I cannot provide the opening sentence for this book as the entire book is a single sentence.
Musings:
I listened to this book as an audiobook and the performance was fantastic. However, I did not realize this book was a single sentence going into it and that was to my own detriment. Sometimes it was hard to focus on what was being said because it felt like there was so much being said without a pause. Now I know why that was the case and I feel like at a later date I should read this again with that knowledge in mind.
Angel Down really does feel like this relentless stream of consciousness of horrible thing after horrible thing. It takes the idea of a higher power that asks you to cast away the worst parts of yourself and if you do then something of great good will happen. There is a desperate feeling of, yes yes! I will do whatever you ask. I will cast away anything. However, saying and wanting is completely different from accomplishing what is being asked of you.
It also captures the desperate and relentlessness of war. Things get progressively more dire and relentless as it goes on and the ending lends itself to being never-ending. I feel that people that enjoy stories like Metro 2033 with the desperate and sheer hopelessness of that world, would also enjoy Angel Down.
I am definitely going to give myself some space from this one and revisit it later. Maybe listen and read it at the same time (truly the performance was so well done). I feel like this read through of it was not enough for me to fully take it in. The book definitely did make me uncomfortable and anxious and almost breathless. I just feel like I will be able to talk about it in more depth at a later date.
THANK YOU ALL FOR READING!
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