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: |
Brightwood Finds – Clear product display and simple navigation — great for shopping online.
другие Мега онион
BrightWood Deals – Products are displayed nicely and browsing is smooth — very enjoyable shopping.
What’s Taking place i am new to this, I stumbled upon this
I’ve discovered It absolutely useful and it has helped me out loads.
I hope to contribute & help different customers like its helped me.
Great job.
Bright Picks – Well-organized products and smooth navigation — I liked browsing here.
выберите ресурсы Мега ссылка
продолжить Мега онион
Appreciate the content you put out! https://betking-de.com/darueber-redet-die-bundesliga-und-comunioblog/
Смотреть здесь Мега ссылка
This was really informative. https://0c7h.icu/chelsea-set-to-extend-thiago-silvas-deal/
веб-сайте Mega onion
подробнее здесь Мега сайт
silverleafemporiumhub – Very organized design, shopping feels smooth and enjoyable.
Thanks for the tips! https://610topczi.icu/he-wants-to-stay-mohamed-salah-transfer-update-delivered-by-liverpool-team-mate-dominik-szoboszlai-amid-talk-of-record-saudi-move/
подробнее здесь Mega даркнет
Смотреть здесь Мега даркнет
BW Shop – The website is well-structured and browsing is quick — very happy with it.
гидроизоляция цена за м2 гидроизоляция цена за м2 .
Читать далее Mega онион
гидроизоляция цена работы за м2 https://gidroizolyacziya-czena.ru .
гидроизоляция цена за м2 за работу gidroizolyacziya-czena.ru .
узнать Мега сайт
Следующая страница Mega онион
my free cams
ремонт в подвале https://gidroizolyacziya-podvala-iznutri-czena.ru .
http://ourmetals.com/includes/pages/zabolevaniya_nog.html
устранение протечек в подвале http://www.gidroizolyacziya-podvala-iznutri-czena.ru .
гидроизоляция цена работы гидроизоляция цена работы .
гидроизоляция подвала москва гидроизоляция подвала москва .
гидроизоляция цена за работу гидроизоляция цена за работу .
гидроизоляция подвала цена гидроизоляция подвала цена .
ремонт подвального помещения http://gidroizolyacziya-podvala-iznutri-czena.ru/ .
наплавляемая гидроизоляция цена за м2 работа http://www.gidroizolyacziya-czena1.ru/ .
устранение протечек в подвале gidroizolyacziya-podvala-iznutri-czena1.ru .
Этот текст содержит различную информацию, которая, возможно, покажется любопытной, но в целом не меняет восприятия привычных вещей. Предлагаем просто получить удовольствие от чтения, не ожидая особой пользы.
Вот – fukwhit
инъекционная гидроизоляция бетона инъекционная гидроизоляция бетона .
инъекционная гидроизоляция частный дом inekczionnaya-gidroizolyacziya.ru .
инъекционная гидроизоляция гидрофобные смолы https://www.inekczionnaya-gidroizolyacziya1.ru .
silverleafstyle – Clean layout, navigation is simple and comfortable.
посетить сайт Мега сайт
инъекционная гидроизоляция микроцементы http://www.inekczionnaya-gidroizolyacziya.ru .
технология инъекционной гидроизоляции технология инъекционной гидроизоляции .
You are so interesting! I don’t think I’ve truly read anything like that before.
So good to discover someone with some genuine thoughts on this issue.
Really.. thank you for starting this up. This web site
is something that’s needed on the internet,
someone with some originality!
усиление проемов цена усиление проемов цена .
BrightMart – The website is clean and finding items is straightforward — enjoyable time shopping.
https://www.4sync.com/office/zqG8XpB-/Le_primtre_de_scurit_protger_P.html
услуга усиления проема https://usilenie-proemov1.ru/ .
усиление проема оконного усиление проема оконного .
усиление проёмов металлоконструкциями https://www.usilenie-proemov2.ru .
усиление проема углеволокном усиление проема углеволокном .