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: |
электрокарниз москва http://www.elektrokarniz-dlya-shtor11.ru .
original site https://kinetiq.buzz/
https://cherwellcricketleague.com/img/pgs/1xbet-promo-code-tanzania_3.html
see this https://avalonfinance.cc/
Recommended Site https://berapaw.org
https://childstrive.org/
see post https://d2finance.cv
наркология наркология .
I’ve been surfing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all web owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the net will be much more useful than ever before.
наркологическая клиника trezviy vibor http://narkologicheskaya-klinika-36.ru .
сделать гардеробную комнату на заказ Встроенные шкафы купить в Москве: Купите встроенный шкаф в Москве от производителя – широкий выбор моделей, качественные материалы и профессиональная установка.
карниз с электроприводом карниз с электроприводом .
Lush Picks – Browsing was efficient and enjoyable thanks to clear navigation.
купить встроенный шкаф купе на заказ Встраиваемые распашные шкафы на заказ: Классический и функциональный выбор для хранения вещей – встроенные распашные шкафы, изготовленные по вашим размерам.
трезвая жизнь http://www.narkologicheskaya-klinika-36.ru .
Meadow Art Shop – Fast browsing and clean design made the experience very pleasant.
shop studio hub – Browsing was effortless and categories are clearly marked.
When someone writes an post he/she keeps the idea of a user in his/her mind that how a user can be aware of it.
So that’s why this paragraph is perfect. Thanks!
Full Report https://palladiumlabs.net/
Meadow Corner – The site layout helped me discover items without confusion.
электрокарнизы электрокарнизы .
Lush Hub – Intuitive menus and neat presentation made shopping fast.
электрокарнизы для штор купить в москве https://www.elektrokarnizy77.ru .
карнизы с электроприводом карнизы с электроприводом .
карниз с приводом для штор http://www.elektrokarnizy77.ru/ .
автоматические карнизы автоматические карнизы .
my blog https://kittenswap.buzz
Click To Enter – The clean design and obvious navigation make a fantastic first impression.
https://llibertat.cat/ca/pgs/1xbet-promo-code-2021_2.html
Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the pictures on this blog loading? I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog. Any feed-back would be greatly appreciated.
openconnect for windows
Continued https://arch.credit
Browse The Magic – A user-friendly site where great organization meets a distraction-free design.
карниз с электроприводом карниз с электроприводом .
электрические гардины электрические гардины .
электрокарнизы электрокарнизы .
lunarforestemporium – Very clean layout, shopping feels comfortable and intuitive.
Urban Fabric Studio – Smooth pages and clearly labeled products made exploring effortless.
Discover Starlight Forest – A friction-free shopping experience defined by its clarity and order.
карниз для штор электрический карниз для штор электрический .
forestlunarcorner – Layout is intuitive, and finding items is quick and easy.
Gallery of Lush Meadow – Browsing felt smooth, and the items were easy to view.
https://mebeltrading.ru Аренда качелей для зон отдыха. Подвесные коконы различных моделей.
Urban Textile Finds – Clean pages with clear categories helped me locate items quickly.
Уже месяц как играю тут, всё гладко. Менеджер поддержки помогал разобраться мне быстро.
Simply desire to say your article is as amazing. The clearness in your submit is simply great and that i
can suppose you’re a professional on this subject. Fine along with your permission allow me to grasp your feed to
keep up to date with coming near near post. Thanks one
million and please keep up the rewarding work.
https://www.locafilm.com/
Check Out Your URL https://camelot.click/
Starlight Forest Store – The minimalist design and logical grouping of items is highly effective.
pop over to this website https://dexrp.wtf
частная наркологическая клиника частная наркологическая клиника .