REVIEW: Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter
By Jane • Jul 19th, 2007 • Category: B Reviews, F Reviews, Reviews • •Editorial note: This review/letter may contain spoilers. It is also not entirely a review but more of a diatribe. If you read this series, you may not want to read this post. Again, if you do read this and are spoiled, don’t blame us. We warned you. The book is due out on July 31, 2007. You can pre-order it at Amazon.
Dear Ms. Slaughter:
I have tried to rewrite this letter many times since I’ve read the book because I try to come off as a reasonable person and this letter is angry and bitter. After trying to rewrite it for the nth time, I’ve just decided to own the fact that this letter is angry, bitter, and even juvenile. I can’t help my emotional response and I am not going to apologize for it so that I can appear levelheaded.
I am an emotional reader. I invest emotionally with the characters, particularly those whom I have read over the course of many years. I recall buying each Grant County book in hardcover. I remember hotly anticipating each new mystery and each new development in the relationship of Jeffrey and Sara.
At the outset of the series, Sara begins to renew her relationship with her ex-husband, Jeffrey, whom she had divorced after she caught him cheating on her. When my friend, Keishon, urged me to read this series, I was quite reluctant. After reading Blindsighted, however, I was captivated, not only by your way of weaving a mystery and creating suspense, but at your deft characterizations.
I don’t think that Grant County books would be so compelling if it weren’t for Jeffrey and Sara. After all, despite your good writing, I never bought your stand alone book, Triptych, simply because there was no Jeffrey and Sara. And the love story of Jeffrey and Sara was one that I saw develop from the very inception to strengthen and grow deeper as Jeffrey and Sara both grew and matured as individuals.
Beyond Reach has a tightly plotted suspense story which primarily revolves around Lena, a former detective who worked for Jeffrey in Grant County. Trying to shake off her past, Lena accepts a police position in a different small Georgia town. Unfortunately, a series of deaths occur with the finger of responsibility pointing toward Lena. Jeffrey and Sara travel to Heartsdale to help Lena and extricate her from the mess. There, they discovery racism and drug use driving the town into darkness.
Beyond the suspense is the continuing depressing and repetitive downward spiral of Lena. Her storyline has remained fairly constant from the beginning of the series. She’s angry and bitter (hey, maybe she read a book by an author she loved and then the author turned on her) and self destructive. She suffered a terrible tragedy and has never been able to escape from her own pain, striking out at those around her and associating with those who only deepen her psychosis.
Unfortunately, the story ends. It ends with a cheap trick to elicit a strong emotional reaction. In looking back, I see that I’ve been misled all along. You have often gone for the shock route to gain reaction from your characters. It was not enough for Lena to have struggled with her childhood and the violent death of her twin, but you took an emotional unstable woman, and had her suffer one of the worst torments. It shouldn’t surprise me that you chose the out that you did. It shouldn’t surprise me that in 6 books, Lena hasn’t grown or matured because she’s an easy stomach turner. It shouldn’t surprise me that you choose to take a course of action that will effectively ruin the future of the series for me because you wanted to have some kind of reader response. It seems to me that you are afraid to allow your characters to experience happiness. That prolonged happiness would somehow negatively impact on your writing. The ironic thing is that for as much as you want to be remembered as a strong mystery/suspense author touching on important subjects such as how meth addictions ruin lives, I suspect that most will remember you for the ending of this book. That is what will stick in most readers heads for years.
I won’t ruin the ending, but I will say that I am sorry that I ever read you. That I spent over $100 in your career along with years of waiting and hours of reading. I am sorry that you have chosen your path. If this makes me a child who can’t handle the realities of life, so be it.
If I sound bitter, it is because I am. You expect this, I think, but hope that we readers will understand and stay with you. Not this reader. I’ve got too many authors to read. Too many books to try out to stay with an author whose belief that sufferance is of the greatest literary merit. B for the suspense and F for the rest of it.
Signed Angry and Bitter
Jane is a long time romance reader whose passion is, you guessed it, reading. Jane also does not like to talk about herself in the third person, but apparently this is the way that this biography thing works (although in a true biography, someone else would be writing this blurb). Anyway, currently Jane loves urban fantasy authors Patricia Briggs and Ilona Andrews. She's really excited about this year's crop of historicals including Joanna Bourne's The Spymaster's Lady and Sherry Thomas' Private Arrangements and the upcoming Loretta Chase Her Scandalous Ways.
She's looking for a good contemporary author. Email her with a recommendation!
Email this author | All posts by Jane
I didn’t think the review was overly angry or bitter. I’m a huge reader and I become emotionally attached to series or characters as well. To some degree, we have expectations for them (the authors and the characters) and when people disappoint us then we can’t help but feel hurt, angry or disappointed. I haven’t read any of her books but I do understand how you may feel.
Oh man, You realize I want to read this book to see what she did to piss you off now?
This is a problem for me and the reason if I am writing about a negative issue with a book I will post why and go ahead and spoil away.
If it was something then that I can agree is wrong then I am with you and will not buy it. In order to make that decision though I want to know exactly what ruined it for you.
I know you are trying to not spoil anything and can respect that but if it hit you so badly I want to know what it was.
I haven’t read this series, either, or anything by this author for that matter, but I, too, have been disillusioned by a favorite. I hate it when I get emotionally invested in a book, only to be let down.
And I don’t think you sounded bitter, either. Just done.
Well, crap.
I DO read this series, and I AM emotionally invested in the characters, and now I want to know what happens before I buy this book.
I’m an end reader much of the time, though I don’t usually bother doing so with an author I can count on. I thought I could count on this one… but apparently, I can’t.
Yikes.
I guess I’ll borrow it from the library and read the end first, since you won’t tell us what happened.
Sheesh.
And, no, I don’t find this an unreasonable diatribe.
Yeah - some spoilers would be nice although I can appreciate the tact that prevents you from posting spoilers for a book that is not yet released. I guess I’ll be reading the end of book 6 and then deciding whether or not to go back to the earlier books. Slaughter’s site has links to excerpts from some of the earlier books but they all lead to blank pages - tsk, tsk.
Wow. How not to write a series…
wow. I’m so glad I never got into these books.
I don’t think I can take another betrayal. *melodramatically places arm on forehead*
I’ve been reading this series since Keishon began raving about it, and…I think I know how Beyond Reach is going to end. IMHO, there was some foreshadowing at the end of the last Grant County book that made me go “ok, in the next one THIS is going to happen.”
If I’m right, it truly is the most wretched ending the book, and therefore the series, could have.
I haven’t read Slaughter, but a friend of mine always uses her as an example of gratuitous violence in genre fiction directed at women.
Because I don’t read these books, I can’t comment on the review. But I DO think that there’s a difference between taking risks with one’s characters and exploiting them for shock value. There is also, IMO, a difference between showing how brutal things can be and brutalizing your own characters for reasons that may seem connected to exploiting them for shock value. To some degree the line between these things is up to each reader to draw, but I think it’s worth *talking* about where we all draw the line. And that no book should be beyond such a discussion.
Jane, I haven’t read Ms. Slaughter’s work, so I won’t comment on that, but I’m interested in the comments you’re getting about violence in romantic suspense (which is the genre I write in.) I hope one day, you’ll address this subject and more of your blog readers will express an opinion. (Or have I missed an archive??)
That is a great topic,EC. I am definitely going to craft something. This book, however, is a mystery and not a romance. The love story was an important aspect of the story.
OMG! I just read the authors letter about this.
Not only is your review not bitter enough I would have personally been screaming for her head on a platter.
Oh hell, I’ll buy this dang book it just to toss it in the garbage too in protest of what she did to you.
I HATE THAT!
Teddy Pig,
What letter??? I’m dying here people.
GAH.
Yeah, what letter?
Oh. My. God.
I found the letter.
Un-freaking-believable.
She’s lost me as a fan.
I’m surprised your post wasn’t even more nasty. Mine would have been.
Not one apology just justification after justification for her artistic vision.
Well my editor liked it so there!
That is pure unadulterated fan abuse right there.
Think she probably should have thought twice about the backlash.
How does one find this letter? Just curious.
Oh my God, tell me she didn’t kill off Lena? Tell me that Jeffrey doesn’t end up sleeping with Lena? Tell me that she doesn’t kill off Sarah? Tell me that she doesn’t go Cornwellesque and kill off Jeffrey? Tell me that Sarah doesn’t sleep with Lena? Anything else, I can take, but not any of the above!
http://karinslaughter.com/letter/
My oh my oh my oh my
I just read the spoiler. After being emotionally invested in a series like that, you don’t sound angry and bitter enough!
Oh. My. Effing. God. I just read her letter and I’m bawling like a freaking baby. Why would she do that? And Jane, I’m with Casee, your letter was nowhere near harsh enough. Goddammit!
OH.HELL.NO.
I cannot believe she did that. Hell, I haven’t even read these books and I’m still pissed off at her.
I think your letter was mild in comparison to what mine would have been, Jane. Take heart.
I’m grateful I never started with this one. After spending a fortune on Terry Brooks Shannara series (in hardback because I was impatient) I stayed faithful to him, even when he killed one of my favorite characters. But then, he went and tied everything to his OTHER series (as some kind of psychedelic prequel). I’m afraid I saw that one as a ploy to get me to plunk down more cash.
Though I can see the author’s point (sometimes those pesky characters don’t do what they’re supposed to), I also got the impression that this was a DECISION–calculated for the shock effect you were talking about.
Very interesting.
I haven’t read the series, but now my interest is piqued.
I take it you don’t believe it when she says she had to go that direction for believability?
Put another way, do you think the story would be as believable if she hadn’t gone there?
I’m interested, because this on its own wouldn’t kill a series for me. Not unless there were something else wrong. I’d walk away if she wrote in truly gratuitous violence/drama and it was a bit of a relief to walk away. (Done that a few times lately.) I’d walk away if she took away the only interesting part of the book. I’d walk away if she did something unbelievable. (Not unbelievable as in shocking, as in not fitting the plot and characters.)
Is that the case here, or is it pure shock over things not going the way you hoped? (Sorry to phrase that so strangely. Spoilers=bad.)
I read the letter too. I’ve never read these books but I can see why you feel like you were kicked in the stomach.
I’d be sorry too for having invested that much heart into a series for that to happen. What a way to reward loyal fans.
Okay, I don’t know if I can read these books because of the heavy violence content, but I liked her letter. Not that it takes away at all from Jane’s response, and not that I would feel it was all about “realism” when I read the series, but damn it must be difficult to do something like that when you realize readers are expecting something entirely different. And the letter *sounded* pretty sane to me, actually. Of course I’ve been feeling pissy lately because of the lengths some authors are going to appease their fan base, so that might account for my preliminary sympathy for Slaughter’s choice.
I’ve been betrayed enough by LKH. I’m not enough of a masochist to plunge into a series that I KNOW will end with me hating it.
Ack, I just started this book. Now I’m not sure I want to finish it. KS has already trod the edge with what she’s done with her characters in previous books, so now I’m all leery. I suppose she thinks she needs to top the shock value of each previous book.
Well - sorry - but I actually am going to disagree with several of you. I don’t feel betrayed. At all. The author is entitled to create the world she wants. If that means what the author did in this case, so be it. Art does reflect life after all - and in life very surprising things happen and usually to the nicest people.
Ms Slaughter should be able to do what she wants and not have everyone castigate her for it. Now, if it were written poorly, I’d have a different bone to pick. But it’s not. And I don’t see it as an author’s device, either.
RfP - Yes, I believe the story would have been just as believable without what happened.
Gwen - she has every right to do what she wants but a reader has the right to be angry, betrayed, unhappy and the reader has the right to say goodbye which is what I was doing - saying goodbye.
I’m not going to say the author doesn’t have a right to her artistic vision (bear in mind, I grinned when i typed that… do I have artistic visions?)
I mean, all writers have things play out in their books that they don’t necessarily like and if that’s the way the story is going, then not writing it that way can stall the story out~plus I’m a big believer in being true to the story the way I see it.
Now… that said…I also think this is one major kick in the tail to her readers. I get emotionally invested when i read a series I love. I’d hate to get attached to a series and then see this happen.
I think one of these books is in my TBR pile and I’m probably going to pass it on. I’d hate to actually really like the series because I read the spoiler letter and there’s no way I could read that book.
Gee, I guess I won’t be buying any more of her books in this series! Yes, she is the author and she can write what she wants but heck, I think she owes something to her fans who have invested time and money in this relationship she had created from the first book. Frankly what made the books a must read for me was the relationship and where it was going! I really hate it when authors do this — I still remember when Sandra Brown did it — I’ve never purchased another book by her either!
I still remember when Sandra Brown did it — I’ve never purchased another book by her either!
Susan, this post made me recall Sandra Brown, also. And despite it being the author’s perogative to do what they want with their characters, it’s our perogative to never pick up another book by them again.
Someone please refresh my memory: Was this Another Dawn? Or one of her other historical westerns?
But Slaughter is not writing Romance, right? So she’s under no generic obligation to write a happy ending.
I think genre Romance authors are already pandering too much to reader likes and dislikes (I don’t know as much about the reader culture in other genres and how and if that impacts authors), so I am on the side of not believing that authors owe readers anything, just as we do not owe them anything.
But I also understand where you and Jane and others are coming from, because IMO genre readers are extremely loyal and very emotionally invested in books. Which, of course, is exactly what an author hopes for. So while I support an author’s right to write the story of her heart, I also understand how readers feel betrayed or angered by certain things, especially since I believe that genre fiction is really aimed at garnering reader loyalty, especially when SERIES fiction is at stake. This reminds me of a lot of the comments on Claiming the Courtesan, many of which focused on a somewhat emotional or personal objection to things in the book, too (SB Sarah’s review was IMO more along these lines). In powerful and controversial books, the emotional component is part of the reader response and part of the reviewing process, as IMO it should be. But I hope that no review influences an author to write against where the story takes her, even if readers get pissed off about it.
Jane was honest in making it clear that she was ranting more than reviewing, so I can totally empathize with her, even though I might have a very different view of the Slaughter series. She didn’t malign Slaughter as a person. It is one of the most difficult dilemmas, IMO, when genre fiction, especially series fiction, aims to draw readers into a long-lasting relationship with certain characters, hoping readers become attached to those characters, and then doing something drastic. No kidding readers rage and mourn and feel let down. Does that mean the author should hold back? IMO, no. But it also reflects the very complex relationship between books and readers, especially emotionally compelling books.
It’s been done by at least 2 other mystery authors recently: Elizabeth George and Dana Stabenow. I still can’t decide how I feel about it. Both George & Stabenow really surprised me. At least this one won’t be a surprise :-)
In the mystery genre, I feel it somewhat violates the ‘code with the reader’ : the mystery will be solved and justice restored (just like romance’s promise is at least a hint of HEA). This level of mayhem & gross injustice is too much in the thriller/literary fiction realm for me and perhaps that’s why it jars in a mystery book.
Good for you. I’ve only read one Slaughter and didn’t particularly care for it, but I was an avid follower of Elizabeth George’s books until she turned around and slapped me across the face. I won’t read her anymore.
This book has already been released in the UK. I made a comment in the forum about it without mentioning it by name.
The fact is for me the books were as much about Jeffrey and Sara’s relationship - more interesting because whilst they obviously loved each other there were problems there that they were having to overcome.
I feel not only have I wasted my money and time on the other books in the series but also I’m extremely p****d because this book and the last I bought in hardcover.
An author does have the right to write what they want to. But an author is taking a reader on an emotional journey and the reader has the right to say I’m getting off the train here.
I’m angry because of the way it was done. I felt it was a cheap emotional manipulation. It’s leaving the readers hanging because there won’t be another GC book for at least a couple of years. As I understand it the next is a standalone. Maybe if what happened, happened at the beginning of the book and the book dealt with it I wouldn’t be feeling so angry and manipulated.
However, it won’t be a problem for me as I’m no longer reading or buying the books.
The series isn’t categorized as a “romance” but there was a lot of focus on their relationship and where it was going. Their relationship was prominently featured and entwined with whatever murder mystery they were investigating. It was the “hook” for me to continue purchasing and reading the series especially since murder mysteries are really not my cup of tea.
Heck, it is similar to the JD Robb series — it is not a “romance” per se but Eve and Roarke’s relationship makes it a “must” read for me. I can’t imagine the revolt that would occur if something happened to either of them!
I agree the author has the right to do what they want with their creations but readers have the right not to plunk down our hard earned money for their books. Hardbacks are expensive!
Yes, That was it.
(Why are my block quotes not working? I’m such an idiot.)
Jane A., I had forgotten about Another Dawn! OMGawd, I was soooo mad when I finished that book. I would have been happy never reading it and assuming that the h/h of Sunset Embrace had their HEA.
I can understand the feelings of betrayal as a reader. I’ve not read this series and it’s not likely I’ll read it in the future, so I can’t speak specifically to this situation. But I wonder if romance readers put too much credit into the HEA when it’s included or assumed in other genres.
Call me the freak, but I LOVED Another Dawn–the May/December relationship is still one of my favorite themes. Another Dawn was set 18+/- years after Sunset Embrace. I have to assume that wasn’t a long enough HEA for most readers. I can’t say it didn’t make me sad, but it didn’t ruin the book for me.
Sandra Brown isn’t the only romance writer to kill off a hero/heroine. Susan Carroll did it writing as Susan Coppula in her Winterbourne series. Marsha Canham killed off a secondary heroine in her Robin Hood series. And Virginia Henley forgot to mention that in real life Simon de Montfort was dead within a few years of the end of The Dragon and The Jewel.
I think that it is the nature of the series. You become invested in these characters and the authors want you to be invested. Had this book been more about the loss of someone and discussed it and dealt with it, I think my emotional reaction wouldn’t have been so strong.
But for the vague foreshadowing at the end of the last book, this was unexpected and it did not occur until the last few paragraphs of the book leaving me totally shocked. One reader who read it thought it was a dream sequence or something.
I’ve read and accepted unhappy endings in other books (Time Traveler’s Tale, i.e.) but there was a sense of inevitability about the separation there. In George RR Martin’s books, any character seems to have the chance to be under the blade. In this series of books which Slaughter herself calls a love story, it has been a great deal about the development of the relationship, the rebuilding of the relationship. It is the core of the series.
I certainly don’t expect every book to end happily when I read outside the genre. In fact, in Slaughter’s previous books there have been moments where the bad guys are identified but never brought to justice. Ditto with PJ Tracy. Those moral ambiguities I find fascinating.
But I didn’t feel that what happened in this story was organic to the series or to the book itself.
Me too :) I find these type of moral ambiguities are sometimes missing in romantic suspense, everything can be a little too cut and dry–solve the crime and HEA all tied up in a nice bow in the end.
I think its the black and white dichotomy that Karen Rose employs which makes me think her books aren’t quite keepers. There is so much room for provocative thought, but you know exactly what Rose thinks is right and wrong and it doesn’t leave enough to chew on. Maybe that is the wrong articulation. I think I am trying to say that when there are more ambiguities, it makes the story more provocative, more thought provoking.
EC Sheedy’s last novel had that quality for me.
Oh, wow, it’s so good to see that some other readers reacted the same way I did. I was so upset after reading the letter that I had to get the book out of the house. I too get emotionally invested in the relationships of characters and when I’m jerked around like this by Ms. Slaughter and Elizabeth George that I begin to lack any trust in authors whose books are marked by appealing relationships. Your letter was more eloquent than mine but it expressed the same feelings.
You people are killing me here! I’ve avidly read the series but haven’t gotten my hands on the new one yet (All you people who are so incensed by the author’s letter and the ending and just want to get rid of it…feel free to email me and I’d be glad to take it off your hands!).
I’m very curious as to what she might have in store for the ending but am trying not to spoil it (Spoilers for TV shows yes, spoilers for books never).
I’m not too surprised if it’s soul-destroying and completely unexpected. Slaughter likes to shock both with her plot twists and her violence levels. For Teddy or whoever it was upthread looking for info on the graphic-ness of her books…I don’t think I’ll ever read as horrifying a scene as ::SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
when she has Sara’s pregnant sister Tess attacked, stabbed and left for dead very early on in one of the books
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
That was pretty damn brutal. … But Lee Child, who I also love, can be pretty damn graphic and brutal himself. Does Slaughter get more slack for it because she’s a woman? That’s often her claim…and very possibly true.
Wasn’t it Lena’s sister? And I thought what was done to Lena was horrifying. There are horrifying things that go on in every book. Every one.
Lena’s sister was killed in the first book — wasn’t she? Tess was attacked in book 2 or 3 (can’t quite remember). Yup, her books are very violent and the women are really brutalized. Frankly, I skimmed all that gore and went for the pages where the “relationship” was explored.
I don’t get her letter — why bother with it? Did she need to justify what she wrote? Anyways, cross another author off my list. Just got High Noon and Linda Howard’s latest so I should be in happy reading land soon!!!
Will any of the Ja(y)nes be reviewing the LH book? I’ve learned to be wary of buying her hardbacks after the last few books (but it took a lot less than LKH, so I’m learning!).
Tara - I think it’s worse than what happened to Sara’s sister.
Jane - I also loved The Time Traveller’s Wife. For me it’s the way the ending was done. I never really thought about the bad things that were happening to everyone else. I always took it as bad things happen to good people but they don’t happen to everyone, or they happen but you pick yourself up and carry on - that’s what Jeffrey and Sara were to me. If I lived in Grant County I’d leave because I don’t think anyone is happy there.
Kathy - Glad I’m not the only one who felt like that about the book.
Yep, I have a review of it ready to go, maybe tomorrow? I liked it but it lacked the sensuality of my favorites. How’s that?
Linda Howard has been a hit or miss for me for the last couple of years but overall, I have enjoyed her books. Plus the hardback price is pretty close to what I pay for tradesize paperbacks so it isn’t so bad — Costco has the best prices compared to Sam’s, BJ’s or the bookstores w/their 40% off the price sticker.
I only buy hardbacks from authors whom I MUST READ ON RELEASE DAY (SEP, formerly LKH, Tami Hoag, etc. - no Rowling). This is going to sound pretty stupid, but I don’t care about the prices of hardbacks. What bothers me about them is that they don’t fit nicely on my bookshelves. With mass market paperbacks, I fit them in 2 high x 2 deep. Can’t do that with hardbacks because they aren’t uniform in size. Ditto for the new “taller” paperbacks. I only get Sandra Brown from the library now because of the new format.
*sigh* Now, I’m on the fence. I’ll have to read the entire review.
There’s only two authors that I’ve bought hardcover for (because for me, 7.99 is better than the $25 for hardcover). One is Terry Brooks. Probably not going for that one again.
The other is Elizabeth Peters. She hasn’t disappointed me.
It’s amazing how the writing can make a difference. When I read “A Perfect Evil” by Alex Kava, I was surprised that the author managed to make that story fly with me. I’m BIG on JUSTICE. I want the bad guy caught and all the loose ends tied up. Kava managed to make an ending work that I normally would have found frustrating. It isn’t a happy ending, yet I had reader satisfaction at the end.
Perhaps it wasn’t the storyline that is the problem in Slaughter’s book, but the execution. Your responses, Jane make me think that might be the issue here.
Lee Child can indeed be graphic and brutal (I will never forget the threat of the potato peeler), but his books are thrillers, not mysteries. I tend to accept that a thriller will be bloodier and more violent that most mysteries.
I read a lot of mysteries and there have been some authors who’ve pulled off the kind of thing Slaughter has done and others I never read again. Slaughter will be in the latter group (I’m definitely not going to read this one).
Her letter implies that she’s written this ending because she had no where to go dramatically with the characters and that’s just not so. In fact if she’d given them a book or two to be happy, that would have been surprising. As it is, Slaughter has kept her characters on increasingly depressing paths and just when we as readers thought there might be a bit of light, she’d smash it all to hell again.
Her relentless need to manipulate her readers with forced dysfunction has finally made me a former reader of hers. I thought I’d be giving her up after the last book (which even then made it very bleak for her characters), but thought I’d check the new one out.
Thanks for the heads up.
If you don’t mind, I’m wondering which of Stabenow’s books you mean (Hunter’s Moon?), as I don’t think I’ve read anything of hers that has elicited such a response in me (as the letter to Karen Slaughter, I mean), but then I have a giant girlcrush on Kate Shugak, so.
OMG! Just finished Beyond Reach. I to have followed from the start. Big shocker. Pretty disappointing. I agree. I reviewed the book but I have yet to rate it. Until I read the last page it was going to get a 5.
Read High Noon and loved it.
Also for any Harlan Coben fans. Read The Woods, loved it too.
I love Karin’s books. Not because I know (within reason) how they’ll end, but because they are different. I love reading romance, but when I’m ready for a change, I go to thriller and mystery.
Karin never disappoints and since art mimics life, I’m good with her ending. She’s got a gritty realism in her writing that works for me, and if her book doesn’t have a HEA, well…that’s life.
Nancy
P.S. This goes for any author, not just Karin!
Yes. I felt quite sucker-punched. Not quite the same I agree as the sit. discussed here, as that chara. was not as large in the series but still……
Shocked and stunned also a bit speachless. I think I will have to read the next one in the series if there is one because I just can’t believe the end of this book “Skin Prvilege”.
If any of you have read Julia Spencer-Fleming’s mysteries you may have experienced the same connection with her two protagonists, Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyn as so many have with Slaughter’s Jeffrey and Sarah. The ending to the latest book in J S-F’s series, All Mortal Flesh, was devastating but somehow inevitable. BUT there is some hope left to readers who have become emotionally invested in these characters. I can accept to a degree what has happened in Beyond Reach/Skin privilege. What I find hard to accept, even knowing the degree of violence to be found in Slaughter’s books, is the sheer ugly viciousness of the final act that to me speaks volumes of the author’s resentment to her own creations. Happy endings may not always be possible but the author owes her characters some responsibility and surely, should look to protect them.
I have read all of the Grant County books, and have found them to be interesting readings. They are ,however, fiction books. For true stories, I read non-fiction. . Beyond Reach’s ending was shocking and very graphic, so what. Get over it. In fact, from hints in the story, by the time the next book comes out, Sara will have had Jeffrey baby(her little infertility problem would have been resolved to keep Jeffrey’s memory alive). Not looking forward to that. In fact, I think Jeffrey got what he deserved. He thought he was god, meting out justice as he saw fit. He even said people got what was coming to them, and he did put Ethan in jail, knowing that Lena planted the gun.
I enjoyed the book, and the ending made it worth while. All stories don’t have to end happily ever after, and more authors should end their boooks with such gusto. Why drag a character out for years and years, reading the same old trite material.
Finished Beyond Reach, have cried all day and night and can’t get this horrible, cruel ending out of my mind. This does it for me and Slaughter books. If I wanted this kind of ending I would read Nicholas Sparks.
I just finished Beyond Reach. I’m sadder than
I’ve been in finishing a novel. Beyond Reach has a surreal, unfinished ending. I keep hoping this ending will go away like the Dallas episode where Pam wakes up to find Bobby in the shower and that the entire previous season had been a dream. I read the Grant County books more for the relationship between Sara and Jeffrey than anything else. I alternately rooted for them and wanted to knock their heads together. I thought nothing could be worse than having Sara’s pregnant sister attacked and lose the baby. I was wrong. I have no reason to return to Grant County, it’s over for me. I will never read another Karin Slaughter novel.
I don’t know what Karin Slaughter thought she was doing. Though I would think this would be the last of Grant County, I seen on another page that someone said in two years she will release another book for this series. But seriously what more is there to tell, how bad this took a toll on Sara. Thats really sad. How the baby is going to fatherless now. I wish I had never read the book. If only the next book Sara could wake up and it would all have been a dream… Yeah if only!
That’s how I feel. I have read it and reread it thinking Imust have read it worng.
I will continue to read Ms Slaughter and especially waiting for the 2009 release of the next installement of the Grant series just see where she goe
I, for one am annoyed beyond belief. Just finished the book……………what a cheap trick! Never Again~ totally done with Miss Slaughter.
I can’t believe the ending. i have waited months for this book and had tears at the ending. i too will not read another book by Karin Slaughter. Jeffery and Sara WAS Grant county. Can,t you come up with something to save Jeffery, maybe let it al be a dream of Sara’s??????
http://karinslaughter.com/letter/
:(
When I received my copy of the book, I immediately flipped to the end, read it, and put the book down for good. I wish I’d seen Slaughter’s letter/spoiler before ordering the book. She insists this was necessary with Jeffrey and it is final. Her books, her decision. I won’t read anymore of her books. My money, my decision.
I’ve read all of Slaughter’s books, and I finished “Beyond Reach” last night. I was furious, depressed, angry, shocked and felt violated. You’re right, it was a definite cheap shot, done to get shock value. If she wanted to end the series, why not just take one or the other main characters out in the midst of all the violence and bloodshed earlier in the book. At least we would have had some satisfaction of knowing someone was looking for the killer. I feel betrayed and let down. Shame on you, Karin, for taking advantage of our love for these two powerful characters.
I read the last page last night because I had a funny feeling when Sara told Jeffery that Lena was afraid for HIM. I can’t finish the book. I, too, have read them all. I’m disapointed, saddened, and honked-off.
I went to the author’s website and read the “letter” thing as well. I’m surprised her publishers and editors agreed with her because this can’t help sales.
I’m an English teacher, and of course I don’t expect happy endings, but the way this was done appears to be for nothing other than a cheap shock. It’s not as if Jeffery and Sara were Cathy and Heathcliff; they were essential to a good series. I’m done.
RFP
I agree regarding reasons for discontinuing reading the series and I was/am in shock and feel hurt but I am willing to wait and see where she goes.
In regards to believability police die on the job, this happens in real life (okay maybe not the way she did it) but they do die on the job. I don’t think that he had to die in order for the series to continue but it does lend an air of realism to it, perhaps a bit too much realism.
We (those who have read her) all know she has never had endings that are fluffy bunny rabbits all is right with the world and I think she is being true to herself here. There is no doubt though that the ending was an emotional jolt. I think for most it is a case of things not going the way we hoped, myself included. Several reviews/opinions I read on her book Kisscut (another in the series) expressed the same sentiment. The dose of reality with no clear cut victory over “evil� was more than some could bear.
So I guess the question is how much does she owe us the readers? My personal opinion she only owes a good story and we have to let her control the characters lives or in this case the lack there of.
It just seems so unnecessary. If you read the Murder Club series by James Patterson, you know he killed one of his main characters. It was done during the course of an investigation. While it was tough to take, it was a believeable part of the story. I think that’s what did it for me. It was so far removed from what was happening. Yes, I know he’d had the threats and the promises from Ethan, but that was played like a future event.
Oh, well, we certainly can’t do anything about it now, but it does feel good to vent.
I totally agree with the writer’s assessment of the book. I am so terribly disappointed with the ending. I was so upset I had to read two back to back humorous books just to get over the depression. I will not continue reading the series. If you look on the author’s website you can find a letter explaining her reasons to end the book as she did. She cites how the characters developed and how she showed that a divorced couple can work their way back together…. I think given that notion she should have kept it up.. because they were by no means totally out of the woods, their relationship was just starting to get back on track - and why bother with the whole lead up to the adoption thing? She needs to leave the love story alone and let it grow - and concentrate on people coming together to save Lena from herself… I, too and totally mad and sorry I got so involved with the characters. I am a big “series” reader and love to get emotionally involved with the characters…. All I can say is I still haven’t recovered from the disappointment and shock of the last page and a half of the book. I hoped it would have been a dream sequence - but according to Ms. Slaughter’s notes - it is not a dream - it is real… well it STINKS and I will no longer read this series!!!! I truly hope that by the time she bring out book she changes her mind and tries to creatively fix what she has broken!
I just finished reading “Faithless” and found it to be juvenile and I found the characters of Sara and Jeffrey and their “romantic” relationship hokey and uninteresting. I also hated the ending as it was completely stolen from a true case from Court TV where the people taking in the indigents were killing them and collecting life insurance on them. No, I would never read another book by this author. I will stick with the good authors like Tess Gerritsen.
I want my emotional investment back, please. I didn’t spoil myself when I read this last week….but every time she mentioned a foreshadowing I saw it coming and cringed.
Ms. Slaughter said she was worried about falling into a Murder She Wrote rut. Well. I hate to break it to you sweetie but she just did in the last two pages doesn’t prevent that. She could have easily ended, I mean ENDED, the series without going there. If she felt the need to continue GC she could have stuck some more pins in her Lena- voodoo doll (If she was going to put any of her characters down it should have been this one. IF anything it would have part her out of her misery…and me too) and penned her next book –Lena does Atlanta–and taken her to the big city where crime is expected to happen and dragged her “growth” on for a dozen more titles. (Without me of course, I found myself skimming over Lena since it became painfully obivous the author was never going to make this character anything other than a victim.)
I’m not saying that Ms. Slaughter didn’t not have the right to do what she did. If Ms. Rowlings can put an epilogue on the end of the Potter books that read like it was straight out of a 14 year old girls fanfiction then I guess Ms. Slaughter’s action were not all that terrible.
In some ways I commend her for writing outside the box. But I also believe an author has some token piece of resposibility to their readers (the people who make those royalty checks possible). What’s done is done….but if Kathy Reichs kills off Andrew Ryan I may have to go postal. ;)
Are we still talking about this? Talk about the thread that wont die, lol!
I have read Karin Slaughter’s books from when they first came out. I just saw it and I thought it looked good and I was sucked into the series from that first book. I have waited awhile for this book to come out, though I did like Triptych and was so happy to hear about the new Grant County book coming out…..finally!!! I have never posted about a book before. I just finished Beyond Reach 10 minutes ago and have read the ending three times over again. I am so disappointed and sad. Like the first person wrote…..I get emotionally attached to the books I read. Especially the series books. This was one of my favorite series and I can not believe what I just read. I don’t see how the series can go on from here. I agree with the reader who said James Patterson killed off one of the main characters in the Murder Club series but it didn’t have the impact that this did. I just don’t think that kind of ending was necessary with all else that went on in the book. There was so much drama and suspense about Lena’s life and I just think that was too much. Will there be another book? It has ruined my whole day…..proabably the rest of my week. I am just stunned and hurt. Thanks for letting me vent and I am glad I am not the only one who was so bothered and sad about the ending.
i cant believe how much u are all freaking out about this!! i have read every book in the series,& yes i did get emotionally attached 2 every character,especially jeffrey & sara,i even cried when i read the end of skin privilege,i was sick 2 my stomach,it felt as if someone i knew & loved had died!!! but isnt that the point?! doesnt it show just what a great author karin slaughter is,to have been able 2 pull at our heart strings like she did?!!
i will definatley be buying her next book,& will probably cry every time sara does!!
Come on people - Wake Up. You cannot mess with a multi million dollar meth ring, take out some major players and waltz back to Grant County without any consequences. The ending was true to life - anything less would have been an insult to the readers’s inteligence.
I was deeply saddened by the outcome too. Never the less, I have a life and realize this is just a story. Get over it. Hopefully Ms. Slaughter will bring new and improved characters for us to love or hate.
“I have a life and realize this is just a story. Get over it.”
I have a life and I did get over it…..but that doesn’t mean that I will buy her next book. I have read many, many authors and I did read “High Noon” and loved it. I also am into Keri Arthur who writes vamp/werewolf books now. I read Stephenie Meyer’s “Eclipse”. Just because we are shocked and saddened doesn’t mean we don’t have a life and that we will stop functioning because of it. And no, Loni, I don’t think it shows how great an author Karin Slaughter is by killing off a main character right after he learned he was expecting to get a baby that they never thought they would have. I think this grand scheme of hers to kill him off could have waited another book or two. I read her letter on how she cried when she wrote it….please…..she knew what she was going to do for a long time. He never got to have a child with the woman he loved and now she is lost without him. There were many alternative ways she could have gone. She didn’t. I will continue to read my other authors…though I am sure she won’t mind losing a few of her loyal fans in the process….people that enjoyed and cared about her characters as much as her. Too bad for her.
i have read and re-read Karin Slaughter’s books. loved all of them and listened to the ones the library had on audio. like many of her readers, you get really invested in a character. especially when the character is like someone you know or knew of. i loved sara and jeffrey’s story. it seemed so real, the families involved and the town itself. i just couldn’t believe that Jeffrey would die. not him!!!!! kill someone else off. when i read the last paragraph of the book, i was like….NO WAY!!! let me read that again. but it didn’t change he was still dead. now will have to wait probably two years to find out what happened to sara. man, this book just left me feeling YUCKY!!!
Just finished this book. I am really disgusted. I read books to get away from real life and I like a happy ending. this one was ruined the series for me and i wont read anything from her ever again unless it turns out that was a dream or something to that effect. I know she says that will not be the case but if she gets hungry enough( with nobody buying her books anymore ) who knows what she will do. I for one will not trust her with my emotions again. And the teaser at the end of the book for a bonus chapter is like putting salt in the wound. I thought it would be where someone woke up and it was a dream or something like that.
This is my first review on this site, but I had to put in my 2 cents. I have been a faithful reader of this series, and all her books, but that has come to an end. The ending was not necessary, especially the manner that she did it in. She ended it on such a low note in the last 3 pages and then says well if you want any resolution you will have to wait like 3 years. Well, to be fair that is only if you can stand the destruction of the main story. Her series has been gruesome and graphic featuring horrible flawed characters, but there was always some heart. Well her writing choice just left the heart openly bleeding from a chest cavity.
I honesty feel her letter was just an excuse for lazy writing. She won’t have to work very hard to have a plot for her next story. It is not something I will be reading unless she changes her mind and fixes what she did, which she stated she won’t. The way she ended the book was an unbelievably cruel payoff for those fans waiting to see ****Spoiler***** Sara and Jeffery happy to have it all yanked out from under them. It was like she thought I know what I will do “I’ll kick my fans in the nuts” and when asked “why?” she replied “because I can.”
So she succeeded in the shocking cliffhanger ending and cost herself some loyal fans. Her condescending letter telling me how I should feel and how I should let it go because her agent thought it was literary genius did not warm my heart enough to read how she will continue the series. I get creative license, but if this is the only way she can deal with the level of crime in Grant County, then maybe you were not all that talented to begin with.
Now that is Emotional and Bitter.
why the fuck did u kill jeffery 4?huh? he was ma favorite character!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but i still love ur books karin!!!!!!!!!!!
So do I. Doesn’t make it any less sad, though.
I don’t tell you how to feel. Please extend the same courtesy to others.
What will stop her from killing them, too?
Suffice to say this will be the last book by Karin Slaughter I will ever buy or read . If she wanted to kill off an ongoing character-no one would have missed Lena.
I can’t believe she did that…that was the most horrible way to end a book, she pretty much killed the series. Grant County was Jeffrey and Sara, the whole series was Jeffrey and Sara. With each book I’ve read I always looked forward to Sara and Jeffrey’s relationship and it was wonderful to see how they found their way back together. She teased us with the fact that Jeffrey and Sara finally got remarried and were adopting a baby only to kill him off. Why the hell did she feel the need to do that. I will still read the next book just to see what in the heck she can possibly write about. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t think many people would’ve missed Lena. She brings nothing but trouble and she ruins everything around her. I’m pretty sure Ethan was behind the bomb that killed Jeffrey and it all comes back to trouble-maker Lena. Two years is a long time to wait to find out what happens next. I hope to God she’ll fix this mess and make it look like a bad dream and Jeffrey will still be alive.
I emailed Karin but of course I haven’t heard back… I wanted to know what Jeffrey was trying to say at the end when he was dying. Does anyone know what he was trying to tell Sara??
I hope to hell Lena moves away and takes all her baggage with her… she’s done enough damage.
Does anyone know what he was trying to tell Sara??
He was telling her he loved her, only ever her. IMHO
He was telling her he loved her, only ever her..
Now I’m even more sad and depressed…and I wanna cry all over again. Thank you for that reply.
I finished the last book a couple of days ago and really couldn’t believe what she has done. For me , as for many other readers here, the development of Sara and Jeffrey’s relationship was the most interesting part of the series and I really can’t picure Sara without Jeffrey,
I can totally understand your feelings about it and that you wrote this letter.
I never thought that Karin Slaughter would do something like that, because no matter how cruel the plot of the book was in the end there was always something. A nice scene that shows how Sara, Jeffrey and also Lena cope with it. Every book up till now somehow had a happy ending and I liked that much. It made it easier to read through that cruel plot because you always knew that somehow it would end well for all of them.
I read the letter Karin Slaughter wrote and somehow it was even harder and made me sadder to know that she was planning it for years now… and until I read it I still believed that the next book would show that it didn’t really happen or that after all Jeffrey was just injured and would survive but after she made clear that that was not the case I am not sure if I will read the next book. Probably not because it will take at least another two years for it to come out and I will probably not start again to read it, because for me a whole new series is starting here because before it was mainly about Jeffrey and his relationship to both Sara and Lena and now that he’s gone it’s just not the same.
I will probably leave it and prentend Jeffrey never died and he and Sara lived happily ever after with their baby-boy.
Still I am very sad. I loved that series and always waited with anticipation for the next book to come out. It’s a shame that, for me at least, it had to end like this and I would have loved an ending that gives reward for their effort and let’s Sara and Jeffrey be happy and together at last.
I agree. Not only was the relationship between Sara and Jeffrey interesting, so much so that I wanted to see what would happen to them next, they were a big part of figuring out what happens int he books. No one else can replace him and I won’t care what happens next. The only way i will is if there is a miracle and she changes her mind or is still toying with us on this one. If not, I’m done.
Has she retracted the letter? After reading the book, I tried to find the letter on the net, but couldn’t get it.
Check http://karinslaughter.com/letter/
* MAJOR SPOILERS*
Just finished it last night and I was gutted. To be honest, I saw it coming since there was so many parts of the novel where it was stressed that Jeffrey’s life was in danger and Sara was terrified of him leaving her. One of the main reasons I read and loved this series was because of the relationship between the two of them and I can’t help thinking that killing Jeffrey was a big mistake. I can’t even imagine how Sara will cope with it. As for a new love interest? Nobody’s ever going to compare to Jeffrey, I’m afraid. And what a brutal way to kill him, both in terms of having just a page and a half devoted to it and the method of murder.Not sure where the series goes from here and I don’t think I can even bring myself to re-read any of the previous novels knowing what happens! Never thought I could become so emotionally invested in a couple of fictional characters but there you go. I’ve read the letter and know the author has stated it’s not a dream but I’m still hoping!
I feel the same way. I know it’s not possible and it’s stupid of me to hope, but I do hope Karin will find a way to bring Jeffrey back. I’m hoping it was a bad dream…
What I loved most about this series was the relationship between Sara and Jeffrey.
After six novels and after becoming so emotionally attached to Sara and Jeffrey’s characters, the whole thing comes to an end in a page and a half. And what a horrible way to kill him!
My question is why not Lena? She’s a misserable human being who brings missery to everyone around her.
I will read the next book in the series only because I want to know how Sara has been coping with this tragic loss. I can’t even imagine how hard this must have been for her. I am curious to see if she adopted the baby boy she and Jeffrey were going to adopt.
I agree that killing Jeffrey was a big mistake and the Grant County series will never be the same…
OK…as I read all of these blogs, my mind goes back to a book called “Misery”….Run Karin, I fear for you! Come on guys! I am invested in her books and her Grant series, an I too love Sara and Jeffery, but lets face it..life happens…and Karin is taking us down a path that we didn’s expect, but it can and is a fact of life for many people. I have a dear friend who’s husband committed suicide, she has picked up her life and 2 years later is moving forward, this is a reality that many of us face. I am looking forward to seeing where the next chapter of Sara’s life takes her, if she were my real life friend, I would be supporting her, and caring for her. I feel the same way about my friend Sara that lives in the pages of Grant County, I will read what happens next.
I will not turn my back on Sara, or on Karin…this is what real life is about.
I read the story in dutch. And I had a few bad days after finnishing the book. But now I read about a bonus chapter. Where can I find this, because in the dutch version I can’t find it. It ends with the mother of Sara make here leave Jeffrey. Please help me!
Thanks!
Danielle,
Try this website for the bonus chapter but I have to warn you, it’ll only make you more sad. The bonus chapter is about how Sara and Jeffrey first met. Knowing how the book ended it made me so sad to read it.
http://www.karinslaughter.com/bonus/html
Hope it works for you.
I have been a K.Slaughter fan for years. Her surprise ending left me hanging and hoping that it is all a mistake and Jeffery is not dead. I hope to find the bonus chapter she refers to but do not agree with writer whop says “this is life”. We read fiction to get away from normal stress and the bad things. Nothing wrong with a happy ending. Hope she reconsiders and salvages the relationshop between Sara and Jefferey. There are too many authors who give total satisfaction in their writings for me to bother buying her books anymore knowing in advance what a twisted mind Karin has.
I’m in agreement with “Angry and Bitter”, Dee Martin and many others. If I want to read “blood and guts” stories there are plenty of those authors available - I’m not interested in reading the many ways people can be tortured. Triptych was very disappointing and I hoped you would not stoop to that, again, to sell your books.
Torturing, in one book at a time as with Sara, Tess and Sybil was my limit, but wholesale murder and torture are too much for me and it says something about an author who has to depend on it to make a story - and so graphically described.
Many of us read the Grant County stories because they were believable - Sara and Jeffrey were real people with some real problems. People read to be entertained or to learn something but not to be nauseated by what we read.
I was finishing the book late at night, before going to sleep, but as soon a I saw “mailbox” I knew what was coming and I also knew it would be the last Slaughter book I would read… Killing Jeffrey was bad enough but I did not need the picture of his arm torn from his shoulder to end the night.
Janice
I am grateful to find somewhere to vent my frustration and identify with others. I read Beyond Reach first with no knowledge of the series then proceeded to purchase all previous Grant County books. Now, I am really a basket case. Maybe if I had read them as they were published but reading them all in under a week(nothing has been cleaned at my house) I am devastated. :( I have even reread some passages but still I feel betrayed. I feel I need to drive to Grant County and grieve. Slaughter must have written Jeffery out b/c of she hates men. No one in their right mind would have destroyed such an endearing man.
I have read all of Karin’s books and could not believe what happened at the end of this one.
All I want to know is why????? Couldn’t you have just left the end of the story with the mail box being blown up and kept us hanging for you next book to continuse the story of Lena, Sara and Jeffrey and ended it all a little better so everyone could be happy. Even us your faithful readers.
I am totally dissatisfied with the ending of BEYOND REACH.
It sucked.
I was hoping when I saw the bonus chapter that there was an alternate ending that would make it bewtter.
However, I cann not get to it.
I can only assume that there is not one.
Maybe Ethan should take care of you!
The bonus chapter just told how sara and jeffrey met,no alternate ending.I agree it sucked.When I want reality I watch the news.I read books for happy endings
OK Are you leaving us hanging? Is Jeffrey really gone?
I was VERY UPSET to say the least on how the 6th book ended. I have read all 6 and thought you could have done things a lot different. Jeffery & Sara had been thru H— & back. When I finished readind the book I just sat there hurt & sad that you could end it in that fashion. I WILL NEVER READ ANOTHER BOOK BY KARIN SLAUGHTER AGAIN & I would not suggest anyone else to either
Hey Jane, do you think this thread is ever gonna end? *g*
I, like other readers of “Beyond Reach” am totally bombed out over the end. Worse, you promise a bonus chapter which I can’t find at the site you give in the book. I don’t know if I will ever read one of your books again, although I really enjoyed all but the ending. Guess I will have to read the end in advance.
I just finished reading Beyond Reach and couldn’t believe the ending. I really hope that Sara is just having a bad dream or I will not be reading any more Slaughter books.
Sadly, Sharon M, this is not a dream sequence. and Karen, no, I think that this will never end due to the number of unhappy people who result from the reading of the book.
I’ve been a huge fan of the Grant County books. I really really wish I had never read Beyond Reach. The “letter” on KS website is a joke. To KS and the people who seem to agree the ending is needed in the name of realism, I have just one question. HUH?
Yes, it is unrealistic for Grant County to have so much crime. You do not need to kill any characters to change the setting, however.
Yes, messing with a multi-million dollar drug ring could have some negative consequences. Those consequences would generally be directed at the person doing the messing (aka Lena.) But, that really doesn’t matter as mystery series rely on the presumption that once the bad guy is dealt with he is no longer a threat. Otherwise, there simply could never BE any series.
Honestly, though, I cannot see how KS or the few readers who seem to agree with her can even use realism to justify this ending, at least not with a straight face. You cannot convince me it helps the cause of realism to have yet ANOTHER extremely traumatic event (weee there goes his severed arm!)… another tragedy befall Sara. Lena either for that matter. They both have been brutally raped. Both have had sisters attacked. Both have spent more than their fair share of time in harms way. Both have been betrayed by friends and lovers. Good lord Jeffrey was the most real character of the three!
KS can choose to kill Jeffrey and then write about how Sara and Lena deal with it. I can choose to not read any more of it. In my version of Grant County, Jeffrey survived. KS has made it clear in her letter that I would have to give up my version if I continue to read her version. I like mine better so I’m done with hers.
I am also a fan of Slaughter- specifically the Grant books and couldn’t believe the ending. I was shocked, hurt and mad. It might sound like fans of the series are taking it personal but we feel betrayed. I enjoyed the books because of the relationship between Jeffrey and Sara and I am still wondering if I want to read the next installment. Lena was never a favorite character of mine and I found myself upset with her for her poor choices and just her generally bad demeanor. She was not pleasant to be around. Scenes with her I would read with a kind of horrid facination. I think that was the gift of the author. The ability to show us the many layers. I may not have agreed or liked it- but it was facinating. Never found the books too graphic- but hey, I’m a Clive Barker fan. Will I read the next Grant County book? Probably- but with a jaundiced eye. I can’t trust the author not to pull the rug out from under me. I just really appreciate having a place to talk about this and to read the other comments from readers who feel and don’t feel about the book the way I do. Thank you for this forum.
I just finished reading Beyone Reach and I am shocked and hurt that once again Sara and Jeffrey will not find happiness. This is utterly cruel. Jeffrey and Sara were the two that made the series believable. Lena contributed but she is too weak behind Ethan. It appears to me that the entire focus was on Ethan and Lena. It was so apparent what was going to happen, but I still could not believe it. I, too am very angry with this ending. This is it, I will not ever buy another Karin Slaughter book again. It is too painful to see people who are really trying to make it; be destroyed in a manner such as this. What ever the next book is, I will not buy it!!!!!!! , Former fan!!!!!!!
What a terrbile ending for Beyond Reach and I think her spoiler comments just made it worse. There’s one thing about being a best selling author but I think she could have made the ending a lot easier to handle. I don’t think my loyalty to Karin Slaugher can stomach this ending. I feel like I have lost a friend and I bet there are a lot of people in “mourning” for Jeffrey. A series should not end so abruptly and be so callous to her readers. It brought me to tears that Jeffrey died and I cried along with Sara.
Heh. I couldn’t even “mourn.” It was treated so callously and unbelievably. I remember reading Stephen King’s Dark Tower series and by the end I was buried knee deep in kleen-ex. Even my husband fell apart in a few places. But the “bad medicine” felt organic to the story and was handled in a way respectful to the readers’ investment. That series was 20 some odd years of reader investment, and yet none of it made me angry.
This was just garbage, IMHO. Had it been Lena (who I personally would not miss) I would still think it’s garbage, because readers have invested in 6 books worth of the characters’ lives and deserve better.
I just dont know how to begin. First of all Karin Slaughter does not have the books listed in the inside cover so I didn’t know which book was first in order. I read them out of order but still enjoyed them. I was reading Beyond Reach, and had Skin Privilege ready as the next book. I was half way through when I couldn’t wait any longer to see if Sara won the court case and to see if they got there baby and decided to read the last page. I do that now and then.
“I was so shocked” I had to read it twice. I jumped out of bed and grabed Skin Privilege thinking it was her next book. Well there was another shock, it is the same book. Just two different titles. Here I am thinking its the next book and hopefully He is not really dead. I don’t understand why she had to end it like that. She didn’t give him more that a page. I just can’t get my head around it.
Jeffery was a great cop, killing him off just does not make sence unless Slaughter just didn’t want to write about them any more. Or she had something happen in her personal life, and was upset and took it out on Jeffery. He made a mistake and tried to make it right. I just loved the way he loved his wife. We should be so lucky of have a love like that.
If thats the way she thinks life is, then who would want to be a cop fighting the bad men. Its like saying money talks and bullshit walks.
The next thing I did is come to the website to see what I can find out and came across all your letter. I am not even going to finish the book, there going back to the library. I picked up my first Mills & Boons books over 2 years ago. Getting them from the markets. Have collected over 1,200 and was reading them 1 or 2 a day, every day. I intend to finish them all. Was put onto Patricia Cornwell, by my daughter, they are great. Then read all the series of Jonathan Kellerman and Faye Kellerman now there a must read. I will be going back to reading Mills & Boons, at least I know that love will allways win.
Thanks for listening from sad, shocked Mary P.
I am totally discusted …………
I just re-read the ending of Beyond Reach, noted the references to the letter and bonus chapter links for the first time. Clicking on the letter link, I realized I was not alone in my strong reaction.
After finishing reading the ending the first time, I was so hung out to dry I had to google for Karin Slaughter website and emailed her. I asked her, incredulously, is that it, is Jeffrey Tolliver, the reason I read her books, killed off just like that. Doesn’t she want me to continue reading her books? I never did get a response.
Rereading the ending, I saw hope she could somehow resurrect Jeffrey Tolliver the way she resurrected Tessa in A faint Cold Fear. Pretty incredulous Tessa could live after what was done to her.
To the poster Chwee- don’t get your hopes up. The author was pretty clear on her web site that Jeffrey was dead. No miracle recovery, no dream sequence- nada. Gone, dead, over. What an awful way to end a chapter in Sara’s life. I guess the author hopes we will tune in to see how Sara and those around her handle it. But do I want more destructive behavior from Lena? Bitterness from Sara as she copes with being a single parent? I don’t know. It’s still too soon for me to think about it. I know that Slaughter was only a couple authors that I bought the hardcover of their books. If I am willing to read her again, I will probably go to my library or wait for the paperback.
Well, I have read all of Grant Co Series too and I agree that this ending was shocking (which I guess it was suppose to be) however, I can’t see how you can write another one w/ the ending you left us with and expect the true Slaughter readers to buy or read it…………….My sentiments are exactly the same as Angry and Bitter
One more thing—-of course this is just a book but to take us through the ups and downs of Sara and Jeffrey—and the fact that they were finally going to get the baby —should be the way it ended… If anyone messed w/Meth, and dealers and should have died—should have been Lena—-
We read sometimes to forget everyday –and reading mysteries is what I love of course w/romace in it—and having Sara and Jeffery go thru-marriage, divorce and remarriage was great and kept me coming back—ending his life—may have been a great ending for the writer but not for the readers and fans……………….
I will never buy another Karin Slaughter book unless she brings Jeffrey back
I agree with all the above. If anyone should have died it should have been the higher ups in the meth chain. We will never know what Jeffery wanted to tell Sara. It could have been he decided to retire from the force,since they were going to adopt a child. I think that would have been a better ending. Ms. Slaughter leaves you to belive that Ethan is behind the bomb, since he told Jeffery to watch his mail box. There is no way that Sara and Lena will pull togeather after this. Sara is going to blame Lena for Jeffey death since he was running to her resuce one again. I am glad I did not spend the money to read this book, and do not think I will be reading any in the future.
Ialso fell she shoud somehow resurect Jeffery the same as she did Tessa in a faint cold fear.
Just trying to figure out how to be notified of new comments. I’m more of a lurker than an active participant.
Ilove Karen Slaughter!!! She did what a great writer is suppose to do. She got everyone talking about her book. It truely was a shocker that made me sick to my stomach. Nasty things happen to good people all the time. She just woke us up. I believe the book series can go on. Maybe Sara needs to start her life over. Wouldn’t it be great if Sara lost it and became a sociopath just like Lena? I think the two women toe to toe would be interesting.
To the poster Ruth-
Yes nasty things happen to good people all the time in real life and that’s exactly why we read books, to get away from the nasty things you read in the paper and see on the news. Besides, enough nasty things did happen in the books. If you remember, Sara was brutally raped, and so was Lena, and Sara’s sister. Jeffrey was shot, and in the last book a woman was burned alive. That would’ve been enough. Why take two peple that clearly love each other and have been through so much to finally get to where they got in the end only to kill him in such a manner? Yes it got people talking but if you’ve read all the postings, very few people are pleased with this ending. I loved Sara and Jeffrey and I probably will read the next book in the series only to see what happens to Sara. I’m also hoping that Lena will finally get what she deserves in the next book. As for Sara becoming a sociopath, that would completely kill the series. I can’t even imagine Sara moving on with another man. She would have every right to do that but I don’t think I could read about it. In my mind there’s only one for her and that is Jeffrey.
If Karen wanted a shocking ending she could’ve come up with something that did not kill off the main character of the series. Lena has caused so much trouble, Karen would have been justified to kill her off. Lena needs to grow up and stop feeling sorry for herself, and stop destroying other people’s lives in the process.
For those of you who read James Patterson, what if he killed off Alex Cross? What would he write about then, the grandma, the kids, and the cat?? When you have a character that’s as important as Jeffrey and in many cases that character is the reason people read the series, you just don’t kill him off…
Yes she got people talking, and the majority seem to be saying they aren’t going to buy her books any more.
first i don’t thnk it was ethan he said watch your mailbox talkng about him
and lena getting back together. what happened with jeffery really peaved me. i think it was Myra’s family. Yes lena is to blame for the ending. What about hank though he still didn’t tell lena the truth when she asked him in the hospital how her mother really died. then i wonder what will become of sarah will she still adopt a baby or will she go nuts now. another thing about ethan he said he took care of the dentist, he ordered that hit so I wonder will the family retaliate and off ethan, I think that would be just deserts. I did cry on the last couple of pages. good bye
I was really shocked at the ending of Beyond Reach. I never expected that to happen. I read Karin,s letter and I still don’t understand her reason. I will keep reading her books though and hope the reason somehow becomes clear.
I just finished Beyond Reach. I have read all the previous GC books. I am absolutely stunned that she ended the book that way. And I’m furious. Even from the beginning I wanted Sara and Jeffrey to be happy together. Then they finally are, and are going to get a baby. And then…,well you know. It was so awful I couldn’t believe it wasn’t a joke. I’m sad I finished this at night, I will not be able to sleep. And I will never read another Karin Slaughter book.
I just finished Beyond Reach this morning and of course cried. What really blows my mind is that there’s no closure. Just an image in my mind of Sara screaming, Jeffrey’s chest wide open…no, what happens to Lena, Hank, jerko Ethan, Sara…
I have read all Slaughter’s books and even though I found them extremely violent, have loved the characters…even Lena with all her flaws. She’s real with real problems (she should NOT be a cop but that’s besides the point). I even loved Tryptich…it was very clever.
I will continue to read Slaughter to see what happens (IF anything happens) but am extremely disappointed with this ending. :(
and I can’t even read “the Letter” because her web is down! grrr
In a nutshell; Betrayed/Done with this author. Grateful for previous comments about letter/bonus chapter since websiste is unavailable. No Jeffery/Sara - no me. Have read entire series. Thanks for saving me money I can now use to purchase books by other authors. Good Bye.
I loved the series of books until this last one. The ending is unacceptable. I agree with the other readers when I say that I am so disappointed and let down. I’m sorry I ever started the series books and ever got to know the characters. I WILL NEVER READ ANOTHER BOOK BY THIS AUTHOR. I’m going to sell all the books I have by Ms Slaughter on eBay or burn them I’m that disappointed….
Her danged website doesn’t work. So, I can’t read either the letter or the bonuschapter. Very disturbed by the ending - it certainly seemed gratuitous and cruel. (just finished the book, and have heretofore enjoyed them)
I hate the ending. Cannot believe that Karin did that! How can she let her readers down like that? I’ll never read another of her book.
I am amazed at how much controversy this book is getting. Based on a lot of opinions I’m not sure Karin will be rolling in the dough when the next Grant County book comes out.
KS is not the first author to kill off a major character in a series. Janet Dailey does it regularly in the Calder series. I just wish it hadn’t been so graphic. The last two pages will haunt me for a long time to come. I expect I will continue to read her books, because I enjoy the suspense and character development. I’m just glad I have access to a good public library system.
I finally was able to access “The Letter” tonight. While I’m still disappointed, I’m going to continue the Grant County Series. I can’t stop now!
If anyone is having trouble accessing it, drop me a line. I was able to save it as a doc file for my friend who just started reading it. It’s going to be hard to bite my tongue!!!
I read the books, I finally found the bonus chapter. Why even bother. I think she ended the book that way to piss us all off. Because we finally found an author that writes really good keeps us on our toes, sometimes can’t even guess who the killer is. Why she did what she did is beyond me. They have a saying don’t mess with a good thing. I sure hope she knows what’s she doing. She’s the writer so she can do whatever she wants. I was very disappointment. I really don’t know if I would ever buy another one of her books. She playing with all of us just like she plays the charaters in her stories. T