Taxed to Death
Debra Purdy Kong
Mystery/Suspense
[rating: 3/5]
Available in:
• Mobi/Kindle
• ePub/iPad
• PDF
• HTML
… from…
• Amazon
• MobiPocket
• AllRomanceEbooks
• OmniLit
Also in paperback
When Revenue Canada auditor Alex Bellamy discovers that $150,000 is missing from Ice Craft Jewelers inventory, someone from Special Investigations suddenly takes him off the case. But Alex decides to keep investigating anyhow, and before he knows it, his best friend is dead—suicide, if you can believe it. Moreover, someone is chasing Alex himself, and he must turn to Jillian Scott, a woman he’s never met and who is as afraid of him as he is of being caught. Soon, her fears and his search embroil them in a bizarre and disturbing nightmare.
I read Taxed to Death as part of a review-exchange on GoodReads: I read someone’s book, and someone else reviews one of mine. To that end, and short of cash, I purchased a copy of Debra Purdy Kong’s Taxed to Death on the used market. This is the first in the Alex Bellamy series, the second being her more recent release, Fatal Encryption. But I couldn’t find a used copy of the more recent title, and I thought it would probably be best to start with the first in the series, anyhow.
The book started by throwing names and facts at me, as many mysteries do. Unfortunately—maybe because I’m dense—I didn’t get what was happening until later in the story. The story is billed as a mystery, but in some ways, it reads more like a suspense novel… except that I didn’t understand the characters, at all. In fact, the major viewpoint character, Les Silby, who gets the most screen-time, he’s one of the suspects. Him I got, at least as much as I could without knowing his full role until the end. Alex and Jillian, the hero and heroine of the story, I had no idea why they did most of the things they did.
As a side-effect, because the story can’t give away the ending, it frequently gave me a partial view, blanking out obvious things that the viewpoint character could see and was thinking about. Now, I’m not an expert in the mystery genre. As I recall, the mysteries I’ve read have achieved this effect simply by staying in the mind of the detective. Suspense novels, not so much, but in a suspense, it’s more important to maintain the tension between hero and villain, rather than to keep secret who the villain is. I’m not sure I liked the effect in Taxed to Death.
The story did get better near the end, as the situation became clear and the forces of evil began to close around our heroes. Even so, I never understood why Alex and Jillian did most of what they did, or felt what they felt, or thought what they were thinking. This is extremely important to me, because rich, three-dimensional characters are key to a good story. And these characters just fell flat.
This story is also missing a theme, as far as I can tell. I had originally expected something like: financial fraud is about more than money. (And that could be the theme of the story… maybe, kinda.) Or: we all pay when someone embezzles funds. (And I didn’t get that at all from this story.) Much less did I see an uplifting, character-based theme. It simply wasn’t that kind of book.
After all of that, I do hope to read the next book in the series Fatal Encryption. Why? Well, Taxed to Death is Debra Purdy Kong’s first book, published 15 years ago. That means that Debra probably put more into it than any other story she’s written, but also that it reflects her inexperience as an novelist. I’m hoping that Fatal Encryption, which came out just a couple years ago, gave her a chance to address some of the storytelling issues I noticed in Taxed to Death. Most importantly, I’m hoping she has gotten better at characterizing her characters, and I really want to get to know Alex Bellamy.
-TimK
|
Taxed to Death |
Available in: |
melbet first deposit bonus http://www.melbetbonusy.ru/ .
бк melbet http://www.v-bux.ru .
мелбет слоты вход http://www.wwwpsy.ru .
промокоды melbet https://melbetbonusy.ru .
мелбет слоты вход https://www.wwwpsy.ru .
мелбет фрибет без депозита http://melbetbonusy.ru/ .
мелбет казино слоты скачать https://wwwpsy.ru/ .
친구들에게 안녕하세요, 문화에 관한
거대한 단락이며 전적으로 설명되어 있습니다,
항상 계속하세요.
Its like you learn my mind! You appear to know a lot about this,
such as you wrote the ebook in it or something.
I believe that you simply could do with a few p.c.
to pressure the message home a bit, however other than that, that is fantastic blog.
An excellent read. I’ll definitely be back.
I can’t get enough of your blog! Your posts are so well-researched, and I love the clarity in your writing.
Have you considered guest posting on other sites to expand
your reach? Keep up the outstanding work!
이 블로그는 정보의 보물창고네요!
이 포스트는 특히 유익하고 이해하기 쉬웠어요.
graduate school orientation에 대해 더 깊이 다룬
시리즈가 있으면 좋겠어요. 멋진 콘텐츠 감사합니다!
marketoptimizer.click – Overall, professional vibe here; trustworthy, polished, and pleasantly minimal throughout.
фрибет мелбет http://www.melbetbonusy.ru/ .
melbet bonus https://melbetbonusy.ru/ .
Юрист по заливу подготовил претензию и помог решить вопрос мирно: обработка квартиры от плесени после затопления
слоты онлайн на деньги wwwpsy.ru .
dog house слот играть http://www.wwwpsy.ru .
The user interface features carefully designed ergonomics and ensures comfortable navigation across all functional sections https://xn--c1aapkcmcvdavc.su/
слоты онлайн на деньги http://www.wwwpsy.ru/ .
мелбет бонус на первый депозит http://melbetbonusy.ru .
капремонт двигателей teletype.in/@alexd78/OPvNLCcH14h .
melbet russia v-bux.ru .
мелбет приветственный бонус http://www.melbetbonusy.ru .
melbet ru https://v-bux.ru .
https://defiburger.com/memecoins/pootenlord-coin/
мелбет промокод https://melbetbonusy.ru .
мелбет бк http://www.v-bux.ru .
мелбет фрибет https://www.melbetbonusy.ru .
контора мелбет https://v-bux.ru/ .
слот дог хаус мегавейс http://www.wwwpsy.ru/ .
Pinco yukle edərək daha tez və daha rahat oynaya bilərsiniz. https://americanrentalcenters.net/ Sayta daxil olub istənilən oyunu asanlıqla işə sala bilərsiniz, mobil versiya isə çox rahatdır. Pinco casino azerbaijan oyunçular üçün geniş bonuslar təqdim edir.
Pinco yeni giriş ünvanı həmişə aktiv və təhlükəsizdir. Pinco slot oyunları NetEnt və digər məşhur provayderlərdən ibarətdir. Pinco canlı kazino masalarında real krupiyelərlə oynamaq mümkündür
Pinco onlayn kazino təcrübəsi rəqiblərindən üstündür. Pinco azərbaycan giriş hər zaman açıqdır. Pinco canlı kazino yeni başlayanlar üçün təlim masaları təklif edir. Pinco oyunlar üzrə tam statistika göstərir.
Modern dekorasyonla estetik ve fonksiyonelligi nas?l birlestirirsiniz? Bu yaz?da kesfedin.
Кстати, если вас интересует Lezzet Dolu Tariflerle Ask Dolu Mutfak Maceralar?, загляните сюда.
Смотрите сами:
https://sevgiylepisir.com
Bu yaz?m?z isinize yarad?ysa, goruslerinizi bizimle paylas?n.
melbet официальный сайт https://v-bux.ru .
melbet welcome bonus melbetbonusy.ru .
мелбет онлайн ставки на спорт https://v-bux.ru .
Независимая экспертиза дала точные цифры ущерба: https://sud-po-zalivu.ru/
birxbet giri? http://1xbet-13.com/ .
Merhaba dekorasyon severler! Estetik ve islevselligi bir araya getirdigimiz mobilya cozumlerine hos geldiniz.
Между прочим, если вас интересует Sagl?kl? ve Lezzetli Hayat Ipuclar?, загляните сюда.
Смотрите сами:
https://mutfakkeyfi.com
Evinizi guzellestirmek icin farkl? yaklas?m ve fikirlerle geri donecegiz.
dog house megaways slot https://wwwpsy.ru/ .
слот dog house megaways melbet https://wwwpsy.ru/ .
игровой слот dog house megaways http://www.wwwpsy.ru .
слоты онлайн https://www.wwwpsy.ru .
слот дог хаус http://www.wwwpsy.ru .
мелбет бонус на первый депозит https://melbetbonusy.ru .
1xbet giri? g?ncel 1xbet giri? g?ncel .
melbet registration bonus melbetbonusy.ru .
мел бет https://melbetbonusy.ru/ .
melbet sign up bonus melbetbonusy.ru .
слоты онлайн на деньги https://wwwpsy.ru/ .
промокоды на мелбет http://melbetbonusy.ru .
melbet казино слоты https://wwwpsy.ru .
melbet слоты http://wwwpsy.ru/ .
melbet promo code https://www.melbetbonusy.ru .