Beyond Reach: A Novel (Grant County)

This book has bad law, self-defeating behavior on the part of a well-educated and smart lead character, impossible-to-believe response from a town where she grew up and knows everyone, and a marriage that seems doomed to failure (again).

I bought this on CD and never even went beyond the first one. In that "chapter" there were far too many events that couldn't or wouldn't take place. There was also a major sermon on the results of outrageous insurance awards. I just couldn't listen to any more.

Here are some examples.

In the insurance malpractice deposition, plaintiff's attorney winds up asking the doctor whether she waived the patient's fees because she felt guilty about the death. We're told that she didn't (but she did feel very bad about it); that she knew that saying she did would hurt her case and she went ahead and said so anyway. (There were also many instances where things came up that wouldn't have been allowed in a real deposition, but many books do that so while disappointing, by itself it wouldn't have rated this negative a review.)

We're told that because of high malpractice insurance premiums, doctors are closing shop and in rural areas patients have to travel an hour or more to find another practice (this happens to be true). Then we're told that her patients, some of whom have known her and her family for decades and some of whose lives she has saved, have abandoned her because of this suit. Hogwash! Most patients don't know about suits. Even in a small town, many people realize that the suit is an after-effect of grief, not mistake. People will continue to use and support a doctor they trust. The idea that she'd have to close her practice is absurd.

Then, she gets home and her husband is about to console her when his beeper goes off. An ex-employee (a recurring female character) is in trouble quite some distance away. He drops everything to help her. That was the final straw.

What a disappointment.

Reading the book Beyond Reach will have you on the edge of your seat getting mad at certain characters, feeling badly for certain characters, and just feeling happiness for the two main characters because they are finally getting things right.

I re-read the book to see if there was a spoiler anywhere in the book, and there was.... I am so sad that the end was the way it was. A lot of time was invested in reading the books, but I understand that writers have to do things to change the series, to make them better, it was just one of the saddest ends to a book in my opinion.

I will still read her books. I loved her non grant book, and I really liked it. I understand why some people got really upset at the end of this book.

This book is worth the read, because a lot of questions get answered, and finally, you see what is going on in Lena's head.

Flawless plot. Very well developed. Twists several times, going back in time, and then going back to the present. Drama is ever present. The characters are so powerful that one can actually envision them, fear them and pity them. You sense the tragic ending is going to come, until it finally does, at the last paragraph. Well done. Highly recommend it.

Beyond Reach was, by far, my least favorite of all books from the Grant County series. The sudden "twist" at the end was unwelcome and disappointing. Was this really the ending to the Grant County series? I really liked Jeffrey but Lena...not so much - she's overly annoying. Lena has seen her share of brutal murders, so why was she suddenly such a terrified mute in this book? The only reason I finished Beyond Reach was Ms. Slaughter's writing - it's sharp, clear, fast-paced; however, the story was derailed catastrophically.

Another fast-paced suspense novel by Karin Slaughter. She writes with such vibrant creativity and flare that the book opens up to me like a movie. The humor that is injected is often a good relief from the drama. I have enjoyed the entire Grant series enormously.

The best suspense and mystery series by far! . I love all the characters, Jeffery the sheriff, Sara his wife plus coroner and pediatrician, and Lena Jefferys dectective who has a story line of her own. Awesome thrillers!

I bought this book befor reading the other reviews, after doing so I put the book on a shelf and even thought about returning it. I finialy read it for myself and I am glad I chose to do so. The plot with the shifting of time is the points of view can be a little hard to folow. However the book is a must read if you have followed this series. It brings out things about each of the players we did'nt know. The ending that has some people up in arms is unexpected and took me by surprise even knowing that it was comming. This opens up a whole new way for the series to move, and I give Ms Slaughter two thumbs up for making changes and thaking chances to keep her story from getting stale.

In her most recent novel, Beyond Reach, Karin Slaughter breaks faith with her loyal readers and with most of the rest of the human race. Ms. Slaughter claims both her old editor and her new editor thought that her ending would be a great one. She should get new editors and their firms should fire them for allowing her to publish this as it is. Consider this a warning; you will be reading the ending and waiting for her to write "ha, it's just a dream". And it's not, it's a nightmare that will leave this author on the trash heap of former best-selling authors like Patricia Cornwell who I stopped reading when it was obvious either someone else was writing her books or she'd lost her mind. I for one will never pick up a Karin Slaughter book again. I only wish the store would return my money.