Nachzehrer

Nachzehrer is the life story of Gerald Kurt Paine, a self-confessed 'eater of souls,' as told to his friend, the teacher. It is the story of a young Canadian man who loved to fly bi-planes, and who at the outbreak of WWII convinces the Royal Air Force to let him fly a Hurricane, to shoot down Nazis.It is also the story of his capture and bizarre subjugation to a cruel Kommandant at the Plotzensee Prison.Nelson Keane's small novel is haunting and strange, and dark, yet it doesn't lack moments of levity and throughout exhibits a thorough understanding of the best and worst of human nature."By turns terrifying and beautiful, sometimes both at once, Nachzehrer, is a deep study of war and evil's toll, of perhaps tall tales, of ghouls literal and figurative, and of empathy, nudging us and then shoving us to consider what it means to be human in even the most dire circumstances." -- Michelle Butler Hallett, author