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: |
жалюзи автоматические цена жалюзи автоматические цена .
жалюзи на пульте жалюзи на пульте .
бамбуковые электрожалюзи prokarniz23.ru .
лечение зависимостей лечение зависимостей .
Related Site https://alchemix.center
ExpandYourMind – Website loads quickly, layout is clean and user-friendly as expected.
горизонтальные жалюзи с электроприводом горизонтальные жалюзи с электроприводом .
look at more info https://royco.cc
look at this site https://prjx.online/
I create training content that helps users understand Trezor Suite deeply, including security features and portfolio management tools. My tutorials are crafted for easy learning.
trezor suite connect
http://www.artlib.ru/index.php?id=26&idr=18&idt=55219
her latest blog https://alchemix.center/
article source https://kittenswap.buzz/
Silver Maple Corner Finds – Smooth interface and organized structure made shopping fast.
ExpandYourMind – Website loads quickly, layout is clean and user-friendly as expected.
автоматические жалюзи автоматические жалюзи .
алюминиевые электрожалюзи http://www.prokarniz23.ru/ .
FashionForLife – Items look fashionable and appealing, I’m impressed with the overall selection today.
жалюзи автоматические цена жалюзи автоматические цена .
ExpandYourMind – Pleasant online shopping experience, very smooth flow and clear menus everywhere.
official website https://snake.credit/
рулонные шторы на окна купить рулонные шторы на окна купить .
additional reading https://etherealtrade.xyz/
FashionForLife – Nice shopping platform, variety is good and user interface feels polished today.
рулонные электрошторы http://www.rulonnye-shtory-s-elektroprivodom177.ru/ .
the original source https://dexrp.wtf/
wave hub – Products loaded quickly and categories were easy to navigate.
рулонные шторы виды механизмов http://www.rulonnye-shtory-s-elektroprivodom177.ru .
https://studhub.cz/
I appreciate the generosity in your writing — you always share so much value.
Hello, I check your new stuff like every week. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep up the good work!
FashionForLife – Very satisfied with what I saw, website design and offerings are promising indeed.
page https://arch.credit
click site https://daodao.cfd/
FashionForLife – Found exactly what I wanted, quality seems good and pricing fair.
Hi mates, its wonderful article on the topic of educationand completely defined, keep it up all the time.
forticlient mac
anonymous https://etherealtrade.xyz/
next https://kittenswap.buzz
Remarkable issues here. I’m very satisfied to peer your post. Thanks so much and I’m having a look forward to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?
forticlient on mac
Great article! Very informative and well-written.
Web Site https://beratrax.org/
Autumn Mist Deals – Everything looked neatly organized with helpful descriptions throughout the page.
helpful hints https://cakepad.digital/
browse around this website https://gluex.io/
official statement https://usdai.cloud
Способы создания уникального контента для победы в конкурентной борьбе: https://centr-turbin.ru/prodvizhenie-sajtov-kak-vydelitsja-v-okeane-kontenta/
look these up https://etherealtrade.xyz/
Feather Lane Boutique – User-friendly design and neat listings improved the shopping flow.
wave finds – Fast-loading pages and tidy layout made browsing easy.
Related Site https://dexrp.buzz