Was I the only one who felt betrayed by the ending of this book?  It put me in a bad mood for a few hours and it was hard to explain to my husband why I was grumpy.  I do not look forward to her next one as I usually do!

                                                            Kathy

Did you read the letter on her website? It actually details her reasoning behind uh..... what she did, and while I was also absolutely stunned, reading the letter kind of put it in perspective. 

http://www.karinslaughter.com/letter

ETA: I do have a lot of reservations about what this new twist is going to do to the series though, and whether or not I will continue to enjoy the future books as much as the others. 

Dana Stabenow did something similar in one of book series.  I really never felt the same way about the character/books/author again.

I haven't read the Dana Stabenow books, but James Patterson did it in his WMC series, and Dean Koontz did it with the Odd Thomas series,  and even more recently Stephen White threw a simiar twist into his Alan Gregory series,and I have continued to enjoy those series, so while I will be honest and say I am phenomonally P-O'd by the whole thing, I will reserve judgement for now....

I just recently discovered Karin Slaughter's Grant County series and really like it mostly because of the characters. When I was almost done with Faithless I looked on Amazon to find out about the next book in the series. I caught on to what was going to happen at the end of Beyond Reach and decided not to read it. I know I could probably be passing up a really good story but like you Kathy I think it might affect my mood. I'd probably be very depressed.

I went to Karin's website and read the letter and felt I understood her reasons and her right to make the decision she made, but I have to do what is best for me. Part of the reason that I read series fiction is because I enjoy the feeling of the characters being friends. I don't want my friends to die!

 Loretta

Elizabeth George recently did something similar in her Thomas Lynley series and I was truly physically sick from it. I believe it was Charlaine Harris who said that her characters are her inventions and she'll do as she "damned well pleases" with them, which is fine, she does have that right; but when you have, in the case of Elizabeth George, a series of 12 or 13 books going back 15 or so years, it's a shock when something of this nature is written.

***Elizabeth George spoiler for those who have not read With No One As Witness***

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George explained that Helen was the character whose death would have the greatest impact on all the remaining characters, and she felt it was necessary in order to keep the story fresh and to keep her characters evolving. She likened it to throwing a hand grenade into the crowd of her other characters. She also felt ... vindicated? ... by the strong reader reaction to Helen's death, saying that now the readers had an idea of what Thomas was suffering. I could not bring myself to read the next book in the series, and I'm not sure I'll read the 2008 book, either.

***end of Elizabeth George spoiler***

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Les

Over the past two months, I have been reading Karin Slaughter's entire Grant County series. Yesterday, I started Beyond Reach. I finished it at 11:08 this morning, and I am totally bummed!! Guess I'm blind, but I NEVER saw that ending coming. Sigh...I think I'm gonna need a lot of chocolate to get me through this.

I'm glad there's a forum about this book.  I finished it last night, and am still upset.  I read Karin's letter (thanks for posting the link, Kristen H!) and appreciated it, but am still devastated.  I really had no warning and hadn't heard any spoilers, so I read the last few pages with my mouth hanging open.

I'm not sure if I will continue with the series.   I don't want to hear about Sara's life as a widow, whether she's dating or whatever.  I might be interested to see what happens with an adoption, but it still feels too raw right now.   The major appeal of the series for me was the very real, often troubled, relationship between Jeffrey and Sara.  His death was so unexpected, and so gruesome, that I'm just not sure I want to go back to Grant County. 

I read it back in August shortly after it came out and had the same reaction. I must have read the last few pages 3 times over to make sure I was reading them right. I'll probably read the next book just to see how she handles things without Jeffrey but I don't know if I will enjoy the series the way I used to.

Her next book Fractured which is supposed to come out next summer she has said will not be part of the Grant County series. It's going to be a stand alone like Tryptych was. Maybe by the time the next Grant County book comes out in 2009 some of the sting from Beyond Reach will have worn off. I sure hope so.

Tammy

I am SO glad I read this before reading the book. I don't plan to. Honestly, real life is depressing enough - I read to be entertained, and that kind of entertainment doesn't work for me.  So sad.  Carol Ann

I am late to the party here, I finished this last night and like Tammy, I had to go back and re-read the last page a few times because I was just stunned by what I was reading, wow.  Thanks Kristen for the link to the letter (cannot say we were not warned it was a spoiler by Karin Slaughter on the way to that letter, LOL!)  I was upset at first and wondering how or if she would continue the series, but after reading her explanation I think I would pick up the next one to see what happens to Sara and Lena. Sounds like we have a bit of a wait anyway, so maybe opinions about it will change by the time it comes out.