What do you think?
Rate this book
Wings in the Night #12
Angel's Pain
Briar needs just two things: blood and vengeance. The first sustains her immortal life; the second gives it meaning.
First on her hit list is Gregor, the renegade vampire who schooled her in brutality, then betrayed and tortured her. To achieve her deadly ends, Briar joins the inscrutable Reaper and his misfit gang of vampires who are also hunting her old mentor.
But once she's destroyed Gregor, she'll be gone. The group means nothing to her. Not even Crisa—damaged, defenseless, a liability in every way—the childlike vamp with whom Briar shares a blood bond. Or Reaper. Though they shared one moment of pure passion, it's not as though Briar has feelings for him.
Because Briar needs no one. She needs only to satisfy her twin hungers—ones that may ultimately consume her.
First on her hit list is Gregor, the renegade vampire who schooled her in brutality, then betrayed and tortured her. To achieve her deadly ends, Briar joins the inscrutable Reaper and his misfit gang of vampires who are also hunting her old mentor.
But once she's destroyed Gregor, she'll be gone. The group means nothing to her. Not even Crisa—damaged, defenseless, a liability in every way—the childlike vamp with whom Briar shares a blood bond. Or Reaper. Though they shared one moment of pure passion, it's not as though Briar has feelings for him.
Because Briar needs no one. She needs only to satisfy her twin hungers—ones that may ultimately consume her.
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 2007
55 people are currently reading
1303 people want to read
About the author
Maggie Shayne
257 books2,571 followersI live in the teeny, tiny town of Taylor, NY, (Alliteration Alert!) though my mailing address is Cincinnatus, my telephone exchange is Truxton and I pay taxes and vote in Cuyler. All of these are at least in the same rural county in the southern hills of New York State; Cortland County. There are more cattle than people here. The nearest “big” cities are Syracuse and Binghamton and they are an hour away, in different directions, and not really all that big by most standards, though they both seem humongous to me. I look out my window to see rolling, green, thickly forested hills, wildflower laden meadows and wide open blue, blue skies. My road is barely paved. The nearest neighboring place is a 700 acre dairy farm.
My house is a big, century old farmhouse. I moved in here after my divorce in 2006. Just a little over a year later, the house, which I had named, SERENITY, burned. It was 99% gutted, and I lost my two dogs, Sally, an 11-year-old great Dane, and Wrinkles, my 14-year-old, blind bulldog. This was the culmination of my Dark Night of the soul, which had seemed to hit me all at once in 2006-2007. My mother died that year, after a 14 month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was only 60. The youngest of my five daughters had left home that same year, and while that’s not a tragedy at all, it felt like one to me. Then came the divorce. And finally there was the fire--it seemed my darkest night wasn’t quite finished with me after all. I had lost almost everything before that point, and as I poked through the wet ashes and soot the next day, I realized that I had now been stripped all the way to the bone.
No better time to start over. (And no, I didn’t come to that realization that day--there were a few days of wallowing in pity first, particularly the day after the fire, when I hit a deer and smashed up my car, which I was practically living in!)
That’s when I started to laugh. Just sat on the side of the road as the deer bounded, uninjured and carefree, out of sight, and laughed. It was just too ridiculous at that point, to do anything else!
And from there, I picked myself up, and brushed myself off, and said, okay, there’s only one way to go from here. Forward. And that’s what I did. There I was at the age of harrurmphemmph, living in my one, mostly undamaged remaining room, with a dorm-sized mini-fridge, a futon, a TV, my cat (nine lives!) and a laptop. And not much else. (Though thank goodness the room that survived the fire, was a room that had its own attached bathroom!)
Since then I have rebuilt my beloved home, which really has become my haven, my “Serenity.” I share it now with my fiancé, Lance, and we have accumulated quite the little family together. “Little” being a relative term. We have a pair of English Mastiffs, Dozer and Daisy, who weigh 203 pounds and 208 pounds respectively, and a little pudgy English Bulldog named Niblet, who is bigger than both of them, inside her mind. We also have the aforementioned cat, Glorificus (“Glory” for short,) who adores her canine pups and keeps them firmly in line. And we've acquired a pair of stray cats as well, a mother and son, Luna (Lulu for short) and Butters aka Buddy. Lulu showed up pregnant during a lunar eclipse, had a litter, and vanished again. We found homes for all the kittens except one. Butters. We got him fixed and kept him. A few months later, Lulu returned, again expecting. This litter was born on the "Monster Moon." Again, all the kittens were spayed and neutered and placed in homes, and this time we got Lulu to the vet in time to spay her before the cycle could repeat.
Glory is not amused.
She has a story of her own, my old Glory cat, having been with me before the Dark Times descended, she went through it all with me, moved with me, survived the fire, and remains with me still. She's tolerating the newcomers. Barely.
My partner is an artist, a mechanic, a welder and an inventor, and the rumors are true, he is much younger than I
My house is a big, century old farmhouse. I moved in here after my divorce in 2006. Just a little over a year later, the house, which I had named, SERENITY, burned. It was 99% gutted, and I lost my two dogs, Sally, an 11-year-old great Dane, and Wrinkles, my 14-year-old, blind bulldog. This was the culmination of my Dark Night of the soul, which had seemed to hit me all at once in 2006-2007. My mother died that year, after a 14 month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was only 60. The youngest of my five daughters had left home that same year, and while that’s not a tragedy at all, it felt like one to me. Then came the divorce. And finally there was the fire--it seemed my darkest night wasn’t quite finished with me after all. I had lost almost everything before that point, and as I poked through the wet ashes and soot the next day, I realized that I had now been stripped all the way to the bone.
No better time to start over. (And no, I didn’t come to that realization that day--there were a few days of wallowing in pity first, particularly the day after the fire, when I hit a deer and smashed up my car, which I was practically living in!)
That’s when I started to laugh. Just sat on the side of the road as the deer bounded, uninjured and carefree, out of sight, and laughed. It was just too ridiculous at that point, to do anything else!
And from there, I picked myself up, and brushed myself off, and said, okay, there’s only one way to go from here. Forward. And that’s what I did. There I was at the age of harrurmphemmph, living in my one, mostly undamaged remaining room, with a dorm-sized mini-fridge, a futon, a TV, my cat (nine lives!) and a laptop. And not much else. (Though thank goodness the room that survived the fire, was a room that had its own attached bathroom!)
Since then I have rebuilt my beloved home, which really has become my haven, my “Serenity.” I share it now with my fiancé, Lance, and we have accumulated quite the little family together. “Little” being a relative term. We have a pair of English Mastiffs, Dozer and Daisy, who weigh 203 pounds and 208 pounds respectively, and a little pudgy English Bulldog named Niblet, who is bigger than both of them, inside her mind. We also have the aforementioned cat, Glorificus (“Glory” for short,) who adores her canine pups and keeps them firmly in line. And we've acquired a pair of stray cats as well, a mother and son, Luna (Lulu for short) and Butters aka Buddy. Lulu showed up pregnant during a lunar eclipse, had a litter, and vanished again. We found homes for all the kittens except one. Butters. We got him fixed and kept him. A few months later, Lulu returned, again expecting. This litter was born on the "Monster Moon." Again, all the kittens were spayed and neutered and placed in homes, and this time we got Lulu to the vet in time to spay her before the cycle could repeat.
Glory is not amused.
She has a story of her own, my old Glory cat, having been with me before the Dark Times descended, she went through it all with me, moved with me, survived the fire, and remains with me still. She's tolerating the newcomers. Barely.
My partner is an artist, a mechanic, a welder and an inventor, and the rumors are true, he is much younger than I
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
October 14, 2015
This series is really starting to lose steam on me. The lack of appearances from the original group of vampires that I've grew to love - except in cases of emergencies where they swoop in like super heroes - has really hurt these for me. The new batch just isn't as much fun at the old one.
Reaper and his gang are on the hunt for Gregor for a multitude of reasons. In fact, as the story goes on, more and more reasons pop up. Soon it seems like each of the good vamps has their own personal vendetta against the guy. He's bad - like really really bad - but it was a little much.
Crisa was a little over the top and the story really seemed to revolve around her instead of Briar, who is our main female in the romance. Perhaps this one took a little more of an Urban Fantasy feel to it. I love a good urban fantasy, but I went into this knowing I wanted to read a romance. The romance just didn't seem to take center stage like I would have expected it to.
There was a lot of action, but much of it was over the top and seemed to be thrown in there just to be there sometimes. I'm really hoping that future books get back to the feel the series had in earlier titles.
Reaper and his gang are on the hunt for Gregor for a multitude of reasons. In fact, as the story goes on, more and more reasons pop up. Soon it seems like each of the good vamps has their own personal vendetta against the guy. He's bad - like really really bad - but it was a little much.
Crisa was a little over the top and the story really seemed to revolve around her instead of Briar, who is our main female in the romance. Perhaps this one took a little more of an Urban Fantasy feel to it. I love a good urban fantasy, but I went into this knowing I wanted to read a romance. The romance just didn't seem to take center stage like I would have expected it to.
There was a lot of action, but much of it was over the top and seemed to be thrown in there just to be there sometimes. I'm really hoping that future books get back to the feel the series had in earlier titles.
January 23, 2022
Nice story. I took atenttion on Briar since the very begining so I liked to know more about her. Reaper was exactly that I expect: intense, noble, romantic in a very sadistic way. I even liked the ending. Corny...but satisfactory.
Bonita historia. Briar como personaje me llamó la atención desde el principio, así que me gustó saber más sobre ella. Reaper es exactamente lo que esperaba: intenso, noble, romántico, y como pareja, son exactamente iguales de una manera muy sádica. Incluso me gustó el final. Cursi ... pero satisfactorio, aunq podría haber sido un poco más cursi, no me habría molestado; pero supongo q no habría quedado del todo bien con la personalidad encantandora de nuestra pareja.
Bonita historia. Briar como personaje me llamó la atención desde el principio, así que me gustó saber más sobre ella. Reaper es exactamente lo que esperaba: intenso, noble, romántico, y como pareja, son exactamente iguales de una manera muy sádica. Incluso me gustó el final. Cursi ... pero satisfactorio, aunq podría haber sido un poco más cursi, no me habría molestado; pero supongo q no habría quedado del todo bien con la personalidad encantandora de nuestra pareja.
August 31, 2011
The book was enjoyable enough but I still never really warmed to Briar's character. Yes, she was definitely better than she was in the first book but I just didn't warm to her. She did have a very terrible life before becoming a vampire but I just don't think it called for her being so evil.
The romance was rushed and just didn't feel real. Nothing was very real to me about their story. Her older books had more romance in them.
The romance was rushed and just didn't feel real. Nothing was very real to me about their story. Her older books had more romance in them.
February 10, 2019
Love Shayne, but this one fell flat as imprinting with a kid got involved. There was a bunch of other things that didn't make sense and made it harder to like. Finished it only because I wanted to see if it would get better. It didn't.
November 19, 2021
I really enjoyed the end to this three part series. Getting to know Briar and seeing her change over time and let people in plus her rocky romance with Reaper was a treat. I couldn't put it down and finished in three days!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2017
yay for happy endings! loved it and can't wait to read more.
October 28, 2008
Lack of emotion, lack of passion, leaves this reader disappointed…
As much as Briar tries to make everyone, including herself, believe she’s emotionless, you get flashes in the novel that are quite the opposite. At the beginning of the novel, Briar finds Crisa outside, looking confused, in pain. Somethings up, and as much as Briar doesn’t want to care, we believe she does.
But she’s out for revenge and revenge only. From her step-father to Gregor, all she wants is her chance at pay-back. And no matter how hard she tries to prove everyone wrong, the get under her skin, and she does care for them, in her own way.
I was glad to see the entire cast of characters. The book, the end of the newest ‘Wings in the Night’ trilogy, needed that, I think. And while Briar and Reaper are spending more time together, going after Crisa, who is certain there is a boy named Matthias out there who needs her, I was hoping to see more… and most certainly didn’t get it.
Yes, action scenes were excellent, as usual. Perfectly balanced, the bad guys get what’s coming to them, but I still think that Dwyer hasn’t answered all the questions there is. Which makes me wonder… and I’m not sure I want to believe this is the end of the series. It may be the final book in the newest trilogy, but the trilogy is part of the series, and I can honestly say that I don’t think this is truly the end. At least, I super, really hope not. Example: Reaper finds out that his wife is behind his transformation, and the trigger words that turning him into a raging, violent monster, but there are no answers for why. This better not be the end of the series… not on that note. Meanwhile, what about Roxy, Ilyanna, Matthias, - their stories haven’t been told yet. And what happens to Dwyer now that he doesn’t bring Reaper in like he was ordered? Too many unanswered questions for this to be the end of the series.
I think the plot was well played out… Except for Briar and Reaper. Oh, I was soooo not impressed with the novel on that part. There was no emotion - a super huge lack at that! Any time Briar and Reaper ‘got together’, it felt like it was written too quickly, a ‘quickie’ minus the passion. Yes, you feel Reaper’s emotion when he talks about his wife, Rebecca. You feel his confusion, his remorse, then his feelings of betrayal and more confusion. Yes, you feel Briar’s anger about the men in her past. And it’s quite understandable. But together? None! I felt zilch! That fire you felt between them before is completely gone. I’d have liked to have seen Reaper push her further. I’d have like to see Briar really break down. This just wasn’t enough.
I was disappointed… and I’ve never, ever said that about Shayne’s novels before. But that’s the only disappointing thing about it.
As much as Briar tries to make everyone, including herself, believe she’s emotionless, you get flashes in the novel that are quite the opposite. At the beginning of the novel, Briar finds Crisa outside, looking confused, in pain. Somethings up, and as much as Briar doesn’t want to care, we believe she does.
But she’s out for revenge and revenge only. From her step-father to Gregor, all she wants is her chance at pay-back. And no matter how hard she tries to prove everyone wrong, the get under her skin, and she does care for them, in her own way.
I was glad to see the entire cast of characters. The book, the end of the newest ‘Wings in the Night’ trilogy, needed that, I think. And while Briar and Reaper are spending more time together, going after Crisa, who is certain there is a boy named Matthias out there who needs her, I was hoping to see more… and most certainly didn’t get it.
Yes, action scenes were excellent, as usual. Perfectly balanced, the bad guys get what’s coming to them, but I still think that Dwyer hasn’t answered all the questions there is. Which makes me wonder… and I’m not sure I want to believe this is the end of the series. It may be the final book in the newest trilogy, but the trilogy is part of the series, and I can honestly say that I don’t think this is truly the end. At least, I super, really hope not. Example: Reaper finds out that his wife is behind his transformation, and the trigger words that turning him into a raging, violent monster, but there are no answers for why. This better not be the end of the series… not on that note. Meanwhile, what about Roxy, Ilyanna, Matthias, - their stories haven’t been told yet. And what happens to Dwyer now that he doesn’t bring Reaper in like he was ordered? Too many unanswered questions for this to be the end of the series.
I think the plot was well played out… Except for Briar and Reaper. Oh, I was soooo not impressed with the novel on that part. There was no emotion - a super huge lack at that! Any time Briar and Reaper ‘got together’, it felt like it was written too quickly, a ‘quickie’ minus the passion. Yes, you feel Reaper’s emotion when he talks about his wife, Rebecca. You feel his confusion, his remorse, then his feelings of betrayal and more confusion. Yes, you feel Briar’s anger about the men in her past. And it’s quite understandable. But together? None! I felt zilch! That fire you felt between them before is completely gone. I’d have liked to have seen Reaper push her further. I’d have like to see Briar really break down. This just wasn’t enough.
I was disappointed… and I’ve never, ever said that about Shayne’s novels before. But that’s the only disappointing thing about it.
July 3, 2017
Book #15 in the Wings of the Night series
However, more recently, it is the third book in a trilogy of continuing stories after Demon’s Kiss and Lover’s Bite. This was a great book! We get to find out more about the hero Reaper and the heroine Briar. Ms. Shayne does not disappoint with the plot, character development, or passion in this book. In Lover’s Bite we got to see Rhiannon who was the heroine in Ms. Shayne’s second book in this series Twilight Memories. This time Reaper talks to Rhiannon and the gang gets to meet Eric Marquand who is the hero from Ms. Shayne’s very first book in the series Twilight Phantasies. Other readers might feel that this book feels “forced” and doesn’t read as naturally as the last two did. That might very well be argued. However, when you get to know Briar, you will see that she has extreme feelings of hate and anger. People with extreme feelings… feel very strongly one way or the other. There is no middle ground for some people (in reality and in fiction). So, it is not a difficult jump for Briar, who is very angry and very hateful, to jump into denial, and from there jump into love. Hatred and love are sometimes separated by a very fine silver line.
I hope you enjoy this book, because Ms. Shayne’s next vampire book in her series is Bloodline which will not be out until 2009, and after THAT we have to wait until 2011 for her next vampire book! That’s right, we have to survive a YEAR without the next “Wings in the Night” book! My thought…. re-read her series starting from book one!
However, more recently, it is the third book in a trilogy of continuing stories after Demon’s Kiss and Lover’s Bite. This was a great book! We get to find out more about the hero Reaper and the heroine Briar. Ms. Shayne does not disappoint with the plot, character development, or passion in this book. In Lover’s Bite we got to see Rhiannon who was the heroine in Ms. Shayne’s second book in this series Twilight Memories. This time Reaper talks to Rhiannon and the gang gets to meet Eric Marquand who is the hero from Ms. Shayne’s very first book in the series Twilight Phantasies. Other readers might feel that this book feels “forced” and doesn’t read as naturally as the last two did. That might very well be argued. However, when you get to know Briar, you will see that she has extreme feelings of hate and anger. People with extreme feelings… feel very strongly one way or the other. There is no middle ground for some people (in reality and in fiction). So, it is not a difficult jump for Briar, who is very angry and very hateful, to jump into denial, and from there jump into love. Hatred and love are sometimes separated by a very fine silver line.
I hope you enjoy this book, because Ms. Shayne’s next vampire book in her series is Bloodline which will not be out until 2009, and after THAT we have to wait until 2011 for her next vampire book! That’s right, we have to survive a YEAR without the next “Wings in the Night” book! My thought…. re-read her series starting from book one!
March 24, 2009
I used to be an avid fan of Maggie Shayne, but this series was just too torturous. I contemplated burning this book just to get it out of my sight, but my completionist nature wouldn't allow it. I had to finish it.
The two main characters are constantly remembering one sexual encounter from earlier in the series and neither of them wants to admit that they want to explore their relationship. Briar, the lead female is portrayed as such a cold, hard and ruthless vamp that its hard to see that she'll ever get turned around. But as is accustomed to most romance novels, magically she sees the good within herself and all is right in the world. How boring.
This book starts off incredibly slow and doesn't really pickup until Crisa runs away. Even then its a game of "will they catch her in time." The plot line is horrible and it seems like Shayne threw this one together just so all or Reaper's little gang had a happily ever after.
The two main characters are constantly remembering one sexual encounter from earlier in the series and neither of them wants to admit that they want to explore their relationship. Briar, the lead female is portrayed as such a cold, hard and ruthless vamp that its hard to see that she'll ever get turned around. But as is accustomed to most romance novels, magically she sees the good within herself and all is right in the world. How boring.
This book starts off incredibly slow and doesn't really pickup until Crisa runs away. Even then its a game of "will they catch her in time." The plot line is horrible and it seems like Shayne threw this one together just so all or Reaper's little gang had a happily ever after.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2020
3 out of 5 stars. Good book -- however, since it was the last book in the series (so far) and this is the first book from the series that I've read it did become a little confusing but I was able to keep up with it for the most part. Definitely action packed!!
Read more of this review here: https://frommetoyouvideophoto.blogspot.com/2010/03/so-ill-drive-so-fucking-far-away-that-i.html
Read more of this review here: https://frommetoyouvideophoto.blogspot.com/2010/03/so-ill-drive-so-fucking-far-away-that-i.html
February 1, 2009
This is the 15th book in the Wings in the Night series. Out of the last three books in the series this latest installment is my favorite. I was happy to see Reaper & Briar finally get their HEA. Though I will say the title really doesn't make sense, there is no Angel. I know some readers think this series started with Demon's Kiss. But if you get a chance you should go back and read books 1-12, it really a great series.
April 25, 2016
Briar has been through such a bad life that she’s dead inside and very cynical. She’s paired with Reaper who is also suffering from his own demons. The first 80% of the story was not interesting and the final 20%, where was much improved. Overall the book was a 3, but due to the success of the final 20%, I look forward to more. 3/5
November 17, 2008
A decent non-sappy vampire romance. Unfortunately, you should probably first read the preceding two books (Lover's Bite and Demon's Kiss), which are okay but only just. There are also a few holes in the story, but plot consistency isn't necessarily the main concern of this genre. If you like your vampires with a strong human element, Maggie Shayne's works are a good choice.
Read
February 26, 2010Not bad. Maggie's books usually tend to have a good story line, but it's hard not to notice the lack of humor. She doesn't use it very much. So I still find them as good books but they just take a little longer to read. I could almost guess who the next book will focus on, but on the other hand it's left in such a way she doesn't even have to do it. But I hope she does.
November 2, 2013
It was okay, but the first 2/3rds of the book seemed to drag on and on then the last 3rd was rushed. The romance part of it didn't seem real at all. She hates him and will never admit to even fond feelings for another person then wham she's in love wants to stay with him forever and easily says I love you. I have read other Maggie Shayne novels that were done better.
May 17, 2015
I got this for Christmas 2011 and I didn't know it was part of a series--the 15th in a series! I wasn't planning on reading this but I got bored so I figured, 'hey, why not read this?', right? So I did.
It was okay. Nothing special. I mean, I guess it's because I haven't read the previous books in this series prior to reading it but yeah. It's SPG, though. And I read this when I was 13 so... >.<
It was okay. Nothing special. I mean, I guess it's because I haven't read the previous books in this series prior to reading it but yeah. It's SPG, though. And I read this when I was 13 so... >.<
July 16, 2008
This is the final book in the Wings of the Night trilogy. I enjoyed it and catching up on all my favorite characters again like Reaper, Briar, Jack, Topaz, and even Gregor. Just sorry to see this series end but can't wait to read more by Maggie Shayne.
November 6, 2008
So far this book is pretty interesting, and obviously I've missed the ones that came before it, so I will have to go out of order on this series, but so far, so good. I'll re-review it when I complete it.
December 1, 2009
Dark and mysterious was the main male character in this paranormal romance. Loved the bad guy when you get further into the chapter..he doesn't seem to be as bad as the 'good guys' seem to think he is. It is a tragedy about his fate...
June 21, 2010
I've read most of this series and I've liked all of them this one no different. I was happy that Briar got her happy ending as I am for most underdogs in a story. Maggie Shayne has been in my life as long as Luarell K Hamilton, and if she keeps writing these unique stories she will remain there.
September 30, 2012
I really hate givig Maggie Shayne a bad review but I wasnt crazy about this trilogy and this last book was the worst. Glad this is not the first book of hers I read. Read the early Wings in the Night books instead of this.
October 7, 2013
I'm really only reading these to finish the series at this point. It's a shame the author and/or publisher didn't let the series end at its peak. It had nearly a thirty year run, but 25 probably would've sufficed.
July 28, 2014
This book was very good. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was full of supernatural amazingness that I couldn't help but want to know what happened next. It was fun and had great adventure and I would recommend it to anyone who likes vampire fiction.
November 3, 2014
I've really enjoyed these three books. Briar is an interesting character and a step away from the sappy good girl, but she had a vulnerability to her that makes her all the more intriguing.
Looking forward to more Maggie Shayne books.
Looking forward to more Maggie Shayne books.
September 26, 2015
Part of a series and best read in order - at least read the two prior to this (Demon's Kiss and Lover's Bite) or you'll be overwhelmed by the characters as many are introduced in the previous ones and some story lines carry over.
July 1, 2015
I read it and it was kinda boring. I just was expecting it to be about an angel cus I never read the series I didn't even know it was a series lol it was just weird how it was called angels pain. Where's the angel? Lol
January 9, 2016
I was confused in the beginning. I couldn't tell one character from another. Once I got a bit more in (about 2/3 of the way through) it really started to come together. Don't give up!
Overall I enjoyed the story. Redemption, love, revenge. Good stuff!
Overall I enjoyed the story. Redemption, love, revenge. Good stuff!
October 27, 2008
Wasn't the best in the series to me but still a very good read.
October 31, 2008
Another great book by Maggie Shayne
November 1, 2008
A bit too much of the typical romance genre mixed in, but I did enjoy the characters and the story at the time I read it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews