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.