Nils Mohl's new young adult novel
Saving angel

Seventeen-year-old Kester, a grammar school student disillusioned with the future, plans to end his life after a night of partying in Hamburg. But nocturnal encounters and an angel steer his story in a different direction.

By Roswitha Budeus-Budde

A school-leavers’ party by the sea: alcohol and drugs take their toll. The exuberant mood leads the teenagers to philosophise about the future, eventually convincing themselves that life’s ultimate high, complete with intoxication, dancing, and sex, can only be enjoyed if you draw the final line afterwards: “The night of all nights can only be the last.”

Among them is Kester, an exceptional student and outsider, with no plans for the future and frustrated by the prospect of growing up. He decides on the spot to drive to Hamburg. There, in a club inside a bunker near the Reeperbahn, he wants to spend his final night in ecstasy. Blanka, the only person in his class he trusts, lends him her car, even though he’s only 17.

Conversations and a way out

This is where author Nils Mohl begins his new young adult novel Engel der letzten Nacht (Angel of the Last Night) - a road trip through Hamburg’s nightlife. Kester encounters strangers and chance acquaintances, like the paramedic who takes him to hospital after an accident, from which he escapes to reach the bunker. On the way, he meets Kim, a professional soldier under the influence of drugs. Then there’s Lenny, a bottle collector with blue hair and flamboyant clothes, who is at risk as a trans person - pursued by a group of young street thugs, adding an adventurous edge to the story. Kester also meets the older Christina, who takes him to a strip club. With each person, he discusses life, learns more about himself, and each encounter ends with his death, which the author vividly describes every time.

In the following scene, Mohl always poses the question: “Is this his (Kester’s) end? Like this? Or not like this?” Is there no way out? There is, and each new adventure begins with the line: “So let’s start all over again.”

In the end, stories remain

Only two characters appear repeatedly: his friend Blanka - who, by the end, Kester realises needs his affection and help - and Bruno, who approaches him outside the club. As the title suggests, Bruno reveals himself to be the “angel of the last night”, Kester’s guardian angel. He explains that he can only be released from his duty if he finds a human soul willing to be saved. “You don’t have to like life, Kester. But if you like people, you’ll learn to like it. People are life. You have to like them, at least one. One person can be enough, just one.”

It is not only in the wild scenes, the playful passages and the spot-on dialogues that you notice that Nils Mohl knows the world of young people well. In his school workshops - one of which is featured in the book - and in Kester’s story, he shows how literature, writing and imagination can help teenagers find a way out of seemingly hopeless situations. In the end, the boy looks to the future and tells of the possibilities that await him and those he met along the way. “In the end, perhaps all we ever have are stories—to make life and its mysteries a little more tangible. Stories that can be told again and again.”