The Great Beyond

by Amy Cross

For fifteen years, Ted Armitage has managed to keep his crimes under the radar. After a chance encounter on the road, however, everything's about to change. Chief Inspector John Noad has always suspected that a killer is on the loose in Twist Valley. Now he's finally on the trail of a man who has left nothing but pain and suffering in his wake. As Noad and his colleague Warren Pacey begin to close in on Armitage, they discover more about the man's past. Who is Ted Armitage really, and why has he killed so many women? And how has he managed to stay hidden for so long? Charlotte Stewart has tried to live a quiet life since she escaped from Ted's clutches. When the police knock on her door and ask for her help, she initially refuses, but deep down she knows that she has to do whatever it takes in order to make sure that Ted faces justice. Even if that means returning to the farm where she almost died. Or is she about to walk into a trap? The Great Beyond is the third and final book in the Ted Armitage trilogy about a killer who wants to teach the world a lesson, a woman who thought she'd escaped, and a detective who's about to discover the shocking secret that connects them all.

162 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2021

About the author

Amy Cross writes novels and short stories in a number of genres, mainly horror, paranormal and fantasy. Books include The Farm, Annie's Room, The Island, Eli's Town and Asylum.

Reviews

[Rachel]

Not The Ending The Trilogy Deserved

I enjoyed the Ted Armitage story. It had some very solid characters and a great central theme. The first book, especially, was extremely intense at times and delivered a few shocks. I was looking forward to the last instalment but assumed it would take at least six months - honestly I was a little worried it would end up like another one of Amy's trilogies I hugely enjoyed and never actually get an ending!

So I was *very* shocked to see it ready to buy so soon. It must have been, at most, two months after I got the second one. As someone who has read a lot of Amy's work I know that her output can be massive. I also know how much that rush can ruin her books, how obvious it can be that proofreading, story development and editing are pushed aside in order to publish quickly.

Sadly this book suffers enormously.
If it were simply a case of spelling mistakes and wrong words it would have been annoying but ultimately not such a huge deal.
Unfortunately the errors here are huge and have left me feeling this may well be the last Amy Cross I bother to buy.

Firstly the time between the last book and this one gets confused throughout. Is it 5 or 15 years? In one instance a child has only aged about 5 years yet, later on, a character who was in their mid to late 20's is now described as middle aged! This literally changes throughout. It isn't a one time typo, it comes up a few times. It has to be 5 years for any of it to fit properly - it just would have been nice had the author decided and told us herself.

The ending is made glaringly obvious very early on by someone being exactly right about something they wouldn't have known at all.

Some of the errors I can't go into as they would be spoliers. Let's just say that there are "twists" and then there are things that would be literally physically impossible, make absolutely no sense and leave the reader feeling more than short changed.
Also elevator service hatches are nowhere near that big and would be locked at all times. It's a tiny detail in a part of the story that doesn't mean much but it is these kinds of things that are extremely annoying.

So no, I really didn't enjoy the book. What could have been a fantastic trilogy has, once again, been totally spoilt by rushing the publication.
An author should care about their readers, the people who spend money and time on their books, and put the effort into making sure their work is the best it can possibly be. Sadly this no longer seems to be the case at all for Amy Cross.

[MK]

If you read the previous two books of this series you will want to wrap it all up, and this book does this quite nicely.

There are some aspects I really enjoyed regarding the evolving storyline, and the writing is as fast paced as we experienced before from the author.

It isn’t a five star review because of two issues I had.
One is the bad editing job of some errors related to writing too hastily I guess, a wrong name for instance, and this is something that should be noticed in editing.
The other one relates to the very last part of the book, the last 10 percent were so foreseeable, that it took away from the overall impact of a well made story.

Still an entertaining fast read I enjoyed with a well earned high rating throughout.

[Julie Powell]

I do enjoy this author's storytelling, the twists and turns and surprises are great. It would be better with a proper editor and proofreader, it's a shame, as it lets her down.

However, the conclusion to this trilogy was brilliant and cleverly done, though I had suspected how it would end - if not everything.

A fast-paced, chilling and tense read.

Recommended.

[MIchele Coolen]

This was a great trilogy by Amy Cross. Loved it!

[Teena Renken]

A great ending!

This trilogy of books about Ted Armitage is a rather creepy story. A serial killer is on the lose, this is the final book in the series.

[Bill Adams]

Brilliant

Brilliant trilogy could not put down highly recommended you read all 3 you won't be disappointed. Great job Amy Cross

[Nicola]

Wow what an ending. I certainly didn’t see the twist in this book. Well written and very enjoyable.

[Jolynn Gonzalez]

All THINGS come to an end

Or do they ?Wish there was another one in the series ,left it open .Poor Charlotte,also still left me with some questions.Good read though as always.

[Pat Campbell]

Riveting

Love the characters and how it is progress. Once I started reading I didn't want to stop. Wish there was more.