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: |
1win реєстрація https://1win12042.ru/
карнизы с электроприводом купить карнизы с электроприводом купить .
карниз с электроприводом карниз с электроприводом .
электрокарнизы москва http://www.elektrokarniz1.ru/ .
valueworld – Clear layout, easy to browse, and pages respond quickly.
valuezone – Navigation is intuitive, and products are clearly displayed.
электрокарниз двухрядный цена elektrokarnizmoskva.ru .
на этом сайте [url=https://vodka-bet.vodka/]вотка бет[/url]
1 вин ракетка https://1win12042.ru
электрические гардины для штор elektrokarnizmoskva.ru .
Every sentence is infused with excitement — incredible work!
modern crest hub – Clear layout and simple navigation made shopping enjoyable.
кракен ссылка
vk1
узнать водка бэт
horizonlooklane – Smooth interface with tidy product listings, browsing was natural and easy.
Гастродача «Вселуг» https://gastrodachavselug1.ru фермерские продукты с доставкой до двери в Москве и Подмосковье. Натуральное мясо, молоко, сыры, сезонные овощи и домашние заготовки прямо с фермы. Закажите онлайн и получите вкус деревни без лишних хлопот.
филлер цена https://filler-kupit.ru/ .
карниз с электроприводом http://prokarniz36.ru .
Гастродача «Вселуг» https://gastrodachavselug1.ru фермерские продукты с доставкой до двери в Москве и Подмосковье. Натуральное мясо, молоко, сыры, сезонные овощи и домашние заготовки прямо с фермы. Закажите онлайн и получите вкус деревни без лишних хлопот.
Гастродача «Вселуг» https://gastrodachavselug1.ru фермерские продукты с доставкой до двери в Москве и Подмосковье. Натуральное мясо, молоко, сыры, сезонные овощи и домашние заготовки прямо с фермы. Закажите онлайн и получите вкус деревни без лишних хлопот.
купить филлеры оптом купить филлеры оптом .
Гастродача «Вселуг» https://gastrodachavselug1.ru фермерские продукты с доставкой до двери в Москве и Подмосковье. Натуральное мясо, молоко, сыры, сезонные овощи и домашние заготовки прямо с фермы. Закажите онлайн и получите вкус деревни без лишних хлопот.
автоматические гардины для штор https://prokarniz36.ru/ .
карниз для штор с электроприводом https://www.prokarniz36.ru .
Гастродача «Вселуг» https://gastrodachavselug1.ru фермерские продукты с доставкой до двери в Москве и Подмосковье. Натуральное мясо, молоко, сыры, сезонные овощи и домашние заготовки прямо с фермы. Закажите онлайн и получите вкус деревни без лишних хлопот.
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve visited this blog before
but after going through many of the articles I realized it’s
new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely pleased I found it and I’ll
be bookmarking it and checking back frequently!
Читать далее kra47.cc
электрокарнизы для штор цена https://www.prokarniz36.ru .
купить филлеры оптом купить филлеры оптом .
I learned a lot — thank you for sharing!
бифазные филлеры https://filler-kupit.ru .
Dawn Studio Finds – Clean interface and organized listings made shopping simple.
Howdy! This is kind of off topic but I need some guidance from an established blog. Is it very difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick. I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any tips or suggestions? With thanks
https://nullisecundus.uk/melbet-liniya-obzor-2025/
филлеры цена филлеры цена .
modern finds – Items were easy to explore and the interface was responsive.
наркологические услуги москвы http://www.narkologicheskaya-klinika-35.ru .
сайт kra48.cc
наркологические клиники http://narkologicheskaya-klinika-35.ru .
Dawn Finds – User-friendly interface and tidy product sections made browsing enjoyable.
электрокарниз купить в москве http://www.prokarniz36.ru .
Подробнее водка бет
нажмите казино водка
купить филлеры москва купить филлеры москва .
Источник зеркало водка бет
сайт водкабет
Подробнее зеркало водка бет
PureEverWind Store – A logical flow from category to product made the whole experience feel seamless.
взгляните на сайте здесь водка казино
карнизы с электроприводом купить http://www.prokarniz36.ru .
карниз электроприводом штор купить http://prokarniz36.ru .