Daniel Kraus's 2025 novel, "Angel Down," begins with the word "and" and ends with a comma. Between these, the author writes a single sentence that neither begins nor ends for over 300 pages. Conjunctions abound as the sentence spans paragraphs and chapters. You could easily ignore this literary device, but it creates a frantic pace in the narration, and the lack of a beginning and end gives the story an open-ended feel.

The story begins during a German mortar barrage in the Allied trenches of World War I. The frightened soldiers hear a nonstop shriek from the No Man's Land between the opposing armies' trenches. Major General Reis orders Private First Class Cyril Bagger and four other American soldiers to find the source of the shrieking. The five soldiers discover and rescue a literal angel shot down from its heavenly perch and trapped under barbed wire. The angel proves her divinity by performing a series of miracles, but each man attempts to exploit its power for his own benefit.

Kraus's narrative provides a striking contrast between Heaven's angel and the Hell that is war.

He builds a compelling, flawed protagonist in Bagger, the cynical son of an Iowa minister, who spent his prewar life swindling others. Bagger's tender relationship with the underage Arno contrasts sharply with his callous mistreatment of others.

Known for horror-genre novels, Kraus does not shy away from the horrors of war. The book opens with Bagger digging graves for his fallen comrades. When an enemy shell explodes amid the graves, the resulting explosion showers him with cadaver parts. Such graphic descriptions of the battlefield's terrors continue throughout the story.

"Angel Down" is a supernatural, fast-paced war drama that will hold your attention throughout.