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: |
клиника вывод из запоя клиника вывод из запоя .
карниз электроприводом штор купить http://elektrokarniz98.ru/ .
автоматические карнизы http://provorota.su .
карниз электро http://elektrokarniz98.ru .
карнизы с электроприводом купить elektrokarniz2.ru .
I love how your writing always encourages reflection and growth.
реабилитация зависимых https://www.narkologicheskaya-klinika-34.ru .
электрокарниз недорого http://www.provorota.su .
клиники наркологические https://www.narkologicheskaya-klinika-39.ru .
StylePickStore – Smooth shopping experience with stylish products, made my day.
электрокарниз купить в москве электрокарниз купить в москве .
электрические гардины для штор elektrokarniz2.ru .
экстренное вытрезвление http://www.narkologicheskaya-klinika-34.ru/ .
Ваше устройство не работает. С этой проблемой вам нужно обратиться в специализированный сервисный центр, прочитайте этот инструкцию от сц если симптомы подвердились из этого списко то, смело сдавайте в сервис на диагностику
look at this web-site https://rangerfinance.xyz
наркология москва наркология москва .
частная наркологическая клиника частная наркологическая клиника .
электрокарниз двухрядный http://elektrokarniz2.ru .
Buying private cheats is easy! Our website features a catalog of private cheats from experienced developers since https://forgecheats.com/en/game/valorant/
наркологические клиники москвы наркологические клиники москвы .
Lush Meadow Collection – The website design is clear, making product discovery simple.
электрокарнизы цена электрокарнизы цена .
advice https://alchemix.center/
карниз для штор с электроприводом карниз для штор с электроприводом .
карнизы для штор купить в москве карнизы для штор купить в москве .
автоматические карнизы автоматические карнизы .
Hello everyone, it’s my first visit at this web site, and post is actually fruitful designed for me, keep up posting these
posts.
электрокарниз двухрядный http://www.elektrokarniz-dlya-shtor499.ru/ .
Домодедово растаможка прошла идеально
https://quenly.com/@rogersimonetti
карниз электроприводом штор купить https://elektrokarniz-dlya-shtor499.ru/ .
электрокарниз двухрядный http://www.elektrokarniz495.ru .
карниз электро http://www.elektrokarniz495.ru .
карниз с электроприводом карниз с электроприводом .
наркологическая платная клиника https://narkologicheskaya-klinika-39.ru/ .
больница наркологическая narkologicheskaya-klinika-34.ru .
Recommended Site https://avalonfinance.cv/
анонимная наркология анонимная наркология .
наркологическая клиника анонимно https://narkologicheskaya-klinika-37.ru/ .
studio corner – Navigation felt natural and exploring products was effortless.
Ваше устройство не работает. С этой проблемой вам нужно обратиться в специализированный сервисный центр, прочитайте этот гайд если симптомы подвердились из этого списко то, смело сдавайте в сервис на диагностику
частная клиника наркологическая http://narkologicheskaya-klinika-37.ru/ .
вывод из запоя клиника москва http://narkologicheskaya-klinika-37.ru/ .
Hello guys!
I came across a 148 awesome website that I think you should explore.
This site is packed with a lot of useful information that you might find interesting.
It has everything you could possibly need, so be sure to give it a visit!
https://allbusinessreviews.org/the-relevance-of-betting-promotions-to-reckon-with/
Additionally do not neglect, guys, which a person constantly can within this publication find answers to address your most confusing questions. The authors made an effort to lay out the complete information using an most accessible way.
наркологическая услуга москва http://www.narkologicheskaya-klinika-39.ru/ .
наркологическая частная клиника http://narkologicheskaya-klinika-34.ru/ .
частная наркологическая клиника в москве анонимное http://narkologicheskaya-klinika-37.ru/ .
экстренное вытрезвление экстренное вытрезвление .
наркологическая частная клиника https://narkologicheskaya-klinika-37.ru/ .
Buying private cheats is easy! Our website features a catalog of private cheats from experienced developers since Rust cheats
платная наркологическая клиника http://www.narkologicheskaya-klinika-34.ru .