Angel in the Shadows, Book 1 (The Angel Series) [Kindle Edition]

Lisa Grace (Author)

Book Description

The difference between vampires and angels? Angels are real.
Books 1 and 2 are in development for a major movie through Motion Picture Pro Studios, which has been involved with five academy award winning movies.
Fifteen-year-old Megan Laughlin has a gift--or what seems like a curse at times. Megan sees angels and demons.
Megan knows her destiny is to protect her friends against dark angels who try to sway them into situations that can destroy their lives, their souls, and their eternity.
At school, she recognizes Judas, an über popular boy, as an evil angel hell-bent on destroying her and everyone she loves. As Judas spreads horrible rumors and overdoses two of her classmates at a rave, Megan realizes the enormity of his power. While classmates die, Megan, with the help of an angel, Johnny, and a team of friends will face the fight of their lives as they battle Judas.

Megan thinks God hasn't given her any "special" powers, but discovers she has what she needs as she confronts Judas and his seemingly unconquerable power.

"Ms. Grace rocks the originality!" werevampsromance.org

"Lisa Grace creates a supernatural world, where the heroine is 100 percent human - a brilliant alternative to the vampire novels. If this is her first novel - I can't wait to see what else she has in store for readers. A page-turner from start to finish."  -Alexis Del Cid, CBS NEWS, KOIN-TV, Portland, Oregon

"Lisa Grace is a talented and exciting author. Suspense drips off each page. I look forward to her next work." -Gretchen Hegelson, Book Reviewer, Phoenix, Arizona

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

I wrote the Angel Series because of all the misinformation regarding the supernatural world. I wanted to create a world where the supernatural creatures in it, are the ones we know about from the Holy Scriptures, and where they follow the "rules" that we know about from the Holy Scriptures. 
I love to do author interviews for your school newsletter or your blog. I have a goal of writing two-thousand words a day when I'm not in the process of editing or marketing. I love doing NaNoWriMo which is a writing contest held every November for all writers. If you are in high school, write twenty-thousand words in the month of November and you "win."
Adults need to do 50,000 words. Check out my website, lisagracebooks, for more information.

About the Author

I have five books planned for the Angel Series. A compilation of the first three books is available called the Angel Series Books 1, 2, & 3 Look for Angel in the Fire, Book 4 in Fall of 2013.
I'm sorry to make readers wait, but I have an agent working on a major paperback release to coincide with the movie, and he has asked me to hold off on publishing the last two ebooks. Thanks for your understanding.
The 15th Star my first Lisa Grace History - Mystery is available as an ebook and the paperback will be available in June 2013.
I am also working on FEUDAL Land which is another supernatural teen series. This one I'll limit to three books.
I have another series following the angel one, which tells the story of a college-age heroine called Society of the D. E. A. D. I plan to release the first book in that series in 2014.

Product Details

• File Size: 380 KB
• Print Length: 166 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Lisa Grace Books; 2 edition (May 23, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0052AI5W8
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,631 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #9 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy > Christian Fantasy
  • #11 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Religious Fiction > Science Fiction & Fantasy

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Story and Message, Ready for Book 2 December 2, 2011

By Michael Gallagher HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Lisa Grace has written a compelling story that captures your imagination, and is certainly a relief from all of the vampire paranormal fiction that seems to be in your face everywhere. She paints an interesting scenario of angels and demons battling out in real time, with a high school girl as the focal point and a solid reinforcement of what is right and wrong. I would imagine this title would be compelling to the high school crowd in addition to adults.

I finished this book a week ago, and I am still thinking about various scenes from the book: that's impressive (to me) due to the volume of books I read each month, which tells me it must have been pretty good. I'm looking forward to reading the second book in the series, as the author leaves you with a good ending that makes you want to continue the story.

There are a few typos / misspelled words in the Kindle version that are annoying, but don't take away from the story. For parents, I would recommend this for your high school aged child, but think about it in advance as it does discuss premarital sex, pregnancy, etc. in high school. While 99.9999% of our high school kids are fully aware of the birds and the bees, parents should think about it before letting younger readers have a go at this one.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Great book! December 12, 2011

By Savannah (Books With Bite)

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I loved stories of heaven and hell. Good vs. Evil. So when this book came upon my lap, I knew I wanted to read it right away. This book started off slow for me, and it slowly picked up the pace of the book.

What I like most about this book is the plot. I loved reading about the war raging and growing on earth's plane. Megan has been gifted by God and knows that she must do everything in her power to fight. I loved that Megan didn't depend on any super powers but merely her faith in God. Megan faith is strong and the hope that she gives the reader raises faith in them as well. One thing I didn't like is that Megan felt to mature. She is after all a 15 year old.

The plot line of this book is slow and little predictable. I kept waiting for something more to pop up at me. While I enjoyed the angels, faith, and God, this book did grab my attention as I wanted it to.

Overall, this book is a good book. It has great morals in it, lots of faith and truth about a war that is going on even now. If you want a book with real biblical truth, then this book is for you.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Slow Starter But Really Goes After That May 30, 2011

By KenCoon

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was interested because of the angels. I believe they are around us.
It started slow but once it passed the first part, it took off and I found myself reading when I should be doing other things.It is set in an environment much like any teen would encounter with an adventure that is very believable.
It will set you up so you are ready for the next one.
Very Good read for anyone.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars ICEpowered.com Review January 29, 2010

By Patrick T. Frye

Format:Hardcover

Personally, I'm not that big into the idea of "Christian alternatives". I prefer a work of art to stand on its own, to not be created for the sole purpose of providing a product for those consumers who will only buy something if it's "Christian" (which has its set of expectations and stultifying requirements). The tagline for Angel in the Shadows reads: "The difference between vampires and angels? Angels are real." Writing a book is often a labor of years. So while obviously the marketing campaign is targeting the current popularity of the Twilight series I'm not sure if Lisa Grace intended this from the start. Fortunately, Angel in the Shadows, while targeting the same demographic as Twilight, is a different style of book with its own path to blaze.

The first interesting twist to the plot is of course the presence of angels and demons in human form. This does have a Biblical basis, and the author provides references to Bible verses justifying any statements on spiritual matters, but somehow I doubt in real life that angels are all around playing a regular part in this human drama. At least not to the extent that they are portrayed in the book. For example, demon taking the name of Jude, or Judas, or Damon has cast himself as a popular kid at a local high school. While angels are present they are more in the background, acting as protectors.

An increasing number of Christians see a demon behind every bush. Some even go so far as to view all the problems of life as demonically animated. I've even heard of one local lady who adamantly believes and teaches that to stare into a fire will cause you to become possessed by a demon. This reminded me of this quote from C.S.... Lewis in the preface of The Screwtape Letters: "There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight."

Fortunately, I don't think Lisa Grace has this mindset. The portrayal of angels is for fictional, literary purposes only; the main selling point in fact. The world of the characters is "normal" to all appearances with all the normal triumphs and heartaches of high school life. What the book reveals are the spiritual battles behind these supposedly normal events. The good news is that while demonic activity may heighten the level of disaster the choice is still left open to each human involved. So while the overall plotline is very average in many respects this subtext gives the story a new way to shine.

When I read a book written by a Christian (note I did not say "Christian book") I prefer that the thematic elements be likened to Jesus' parables. Like the parable of the sower "those who have ears can hear" but the point of the parable is never made absolutely clear except for hints. Maybe this makes me an "nose in the air artiste" but I prefer books to make me think and ponder on the message. Unfortunately, with Angels in the Shadows every point is made abudantly clear, from political to spiritual, and your face is rubbed in it. While I felt this did not need to be spelled out the Biblical elements would be hard to miss...they're cross-referenced in fact! Fortunately, the author never reaches the point where the story is derailed in favor of a sermon break. Instead, these elements are weaved in fairly seamlessly without seeming forced.

The author chose to write the narrative in first person. This is fine except that the author tends to break the writer's "show, not tell" rule. In the words of Wikipedia, "Show, don't tell is an admonition to fiction writers to write in a manner that allows the reader to experience the story through a character's action, words, thoughts, senses, and feelings rather than through the narrator's exposition, summarization, and description." Because of this the prose and dialogue almost felt dumbed down at first in order to appeal to a younger, or casual, reader. This improved as the book went on but still left many of the emotions and characters feeling shallow. Of course, I'm used to reading thousand page tomes and not Youth Fiction. I also realize that many authors will get out of balance in the other direction where every single little thing is "shown" when a simple "telling" via narrative would have helped the pacing.

To my annoyance I cannot end my literary critiques here. I've noticed that the writing quality of many of the books sent to me by writers who are Christians all suffer from poor grammar, spelling, and other editing mistakes. Angel in the Shadows is the same. Some readers may not overly care but to me this is very distracting. I can understand if the author is self-published and/or cannot afford an editor but Angel in the Shadows is apparently undergoing mainstream publishing and distribution. I'm hoping Lisa Grace or her publisher will fix such errors before publishing the next book in the series.

Now as for the content of Angel in the Shadows I can say I'm fairly pleased. I say fairly because the book leaves you with a cliff hanger. This is not a bad thing normally, in my opinion, but the event that was used as the culmination of the self-contained story of the first book in the series did not have the climatic power it could have managed. This is primarily caused by the character this involves being introduced as an important character--a best friend--part of the way through the book but then disappearing for a good portion of it. While this "disappearance" from the story was also an important element of the story it also means the reader does not know this character as well and perhaps does not feel as much empathy for her situation.
To finish off I'll sa I was surprised to receive a copy of Angel in the Shadows in the mail since I had not requested it. Still, I'm glad it was sent since overall I enjoyed reading the book despite my personal quibbles. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series...which will hopefully be another surprise in my mail! Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Great concept, but poorly written. December 27, 2012

By CrazyWriter

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I received a free copy of this book for review purposes awhile back, and was positively ecstatic to finally have it on my Kindle and start reading. The premise was intriguing, and just up my alley, as I am very much a fan of the Frank Peretti style of books, taking the all-too-real supernatural elements of our world and thrusting a seemingly ordinary character into the position of facing them, standing his (or her) ground, and ultimately trusting God for the victory. The idea of a young girl suddenly finding herself with the ability and responsibility to fight against the dark angels who seek her destruction and that of those around her drew me in, and I opened the book with much anticipation for what was to come.

However, I was almost instantly let down by the book's contents. The story, while intriguing, is told in first person, which I normally love, but is so riddled with bad sentence composition and awkwardly written scenes that I found it impossible to get into it. The dialogue and many of the protagonist's romantic scenes with her boyfriend seemed terribly cheesy. The characters themselves disappointed me. They were too one-dimensional for me to care about them, especially Seth and, considering Megan is the protagonist, I had hoped to find her a more believable character. Pivotal moments were delivered punchily and without much to make one feel their significance, with the exception of one rescue scene early on which did manage to pull me to the edge of my seat before the next letdown came.

Still, I gritted my teeth and made it over halfway through -- all the way to Judas's introduction -- before I finally gave up. The premise had a lot of potential, but I don't feel the final product did it any justice.... Like I said, the premise is killer, and overall the plot wasn't bad. I would be interested in going to see a movie of it if one were released, but the book itself was a terrible letdown, especially since most of its pitfalls could have been avoided with the help of a good editor. Read more ›

More About the Author

Lisa Grace's Angel Series "Angel in the Shadows Book 1", and "Angel in the Storm, Book 2" are in development for a major movie through Motion Picture Pro Studios, which has been involved in five Academy Award winning films including: "Fargo", "Shakespeare in Love", "Life is Beautiful", and "The Usual Suspects."
Lisa Grace lives on the waterfront along the West Coast of Florida with her husband and daughter.
"When the summers get too hot, we migrate to our cabin in the northern woods of Wisconsin along with our dwarf Netherland's albino bunny. We leave our manatee, dolphin, and a wild turkey (what kind of seagull is that?) at home in the Gulf. Somehow they manage to get along without us," Lisa says. "I also enjoy rescuing gopher tortoises (tip: hold them far out because they tend to pee when you pick them up) and setting them free in a nearby preserve. For the injured ones I know a vet who fiberglasses them back together again."
Angel in the Ice, Book 3, released April 27th, 2012.
A compilation of the first three books titled "Angel Series (Books 1, 2, & 3)" released May 31st, 2012.
"Angel in the Fire, Book 4" is in the writing stage with an estimated release date of December 2012. "Angel in the Light, Book 5" will complete the current story arc for the Angel Series.
She has two new series in the developmental stage (Society of the D. E. A. D. and Feudal Land) and has released her adult historical thriller "The 15th Star." Visit http://www.lisagracebooks.com

"I love to hear from my readers. If you take the time to read my books, I'll take the time to email you back. You can reach me at [e-mail] or on twitter @lisagracebooks
To promote the releases of "Angel in the Shadows, Book 1" and "Angel in the Storm, Book 2" check out my website because I am giving away an iPad 2 when we reach 10,000 downloads here on Amazon. http://www.lisagracebooks.com "

"My favorite review quote is, 'Ms. Grace rocks the originality.' From werevampsromance.org And check out Michael Gallagher, an Amazon Top 50 reviewer's review on my book page. He gave it 4 stars and said he 'couldn't stop thinking about some of the issues presented in the book.'"

Thanks for reading my author Bio page.