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: |
шторы умный дом шторы умный дом .
усиление проема усиление проема .
Shop Blue Harbor – Everything loaded smoothly, and the items were presented in a very user-friendly way.
читать https://weekpay.ru/
FreshTrendCollection Link – Smooth experience overall with lots of stylish modern options.
Читать далее https://weekpay.ru/
где можно заказать курсовую работу http://www.kupit-kursovuyu-21.ru .
Многоуровневая защита обеспечивает кракен даркнет вход через двухфакторную аутентификацию TOTP, дополнительные PIN коды для критических операций и seed фразу для восстановления доступа.
написание курсовой работы на заказ цена https://kupit-kursovuyu-21.ru .
скачать umbrella dota 2 – windranger dota 2, dota 2 virtus
сколько стоит курсовая работа по юриспруденции kupit-kursovuyu-21.ru .
написание студенческих работ на заказ https://www.kupit-kursovuyu-21.ru .
Unlocked Vision Hub – Navigation was smooth and the site feels very organized.
Актуальная kraken onion ссылка содержится в официальных телеграм каналах администрации с многолетней историей публикаций и активной аудиторией подписчиков.
курсовая работа купить http://www.kupit-kursovuyu-21.ru .
курсовые работы заказать kupit-kursovuyu-21.ru .
купить диплом о высшем образовании в казани отзывы купить диплом о высшем образовании в казани отзывы .
Creative Vision Hub – Smooth experience with creative suggestions that caught my eye.
Innovative Ideas Hub – Clean and modern site with ideas that are easy to explore.
https://locksmithswift.com/
axe dota 2 – чит на доту, dota 2 changer metaskins
hwid overplus – dota 2 steam, чит консоль дота 2
купить диплом за 10 11 класс купить диплом за 10 11 класс .
Ищете воздушные шары с доставкой по Москве и МО по выгодной цене? Посетите https://xn—-8sbwhzjq7b3a.xn--p1ai/ и вы найдете широкий ассортимент шаров, для любого праздника или события с круглосуточной доставкой. Быстрый заказ, индивидуальный подход – заказать шары у нас с доставкой просто и удобно!
согласен чемикалы в этом плане молодцы купить скорость, кокаин, мефедрон, гашиш Кто долги твоего представителя в РБ будет отдавать?кто знает когда рега будет ?
PureHarborStudio Online – Intuitive navigation and well-displayed products helped me browse easily.
Официальные операторы распространяют кракен онион адрес только через подписанные PGP сообщения на проверенных форумах и никогда через социальные сети или публичные мессенджеры.
гидроизоляция подвала снаружи цены gidroizolyacziya-czena.ru .
читы коды дота – скачать амбреллу бесплатно дота 2, дота 2 не отвечает
Специализированные каталоги помогают где найти рабочее кракен зеркало с индикаторами доступности в реальном времени и историей проверок работоспособности каждого адреса.
Резервный kra49 работает как дополнительная точка входа при массовых блокировках основных адресов интернет провайдерами в разных странах.
гидроизоляция подвала снаружи цена гидроизоляция подвала снаружи цена .
Pure Harbor Selection – Well-structured pages and intuitive navigation helped me browse quickly.
UniqueGiftCollection – Creative gifts shown nicely, pages load fast and browsing felt effortless.
гидроизоляция подвалов цена http://gidroizolyacziya-czena.ru .
усиление проёма швеллером усиление проёма швеллером .
на этом сайте https://weekpay.ru
Creativity Corner – Layout is clean, and exploring ideas was simple and fun.
Fashion Forward Corner – Loved the vibe of the site and the pieces were on point; browsing was smooth.
гидроизоляция цена работы за м2 https://gidroizolyacziya-czena.ru .
обмазочная гидроизоляция цена работы обмазочная гидроизоляция цена работы .
Greetings from Colorado! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to
check out your site on my iphone during lunch break.
I enjoy the information you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home.
I’m shocked at how fast your blog loaded on my mobile ..
I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, wonderful site!
усиление проёмов под панорамные окна http://usilenie-proemov1.ru .
гидроизоляция цена работы гидроизоляция цена работы .
couldn t receive valid resp overplus – dota 2 arts, melonity gg spoofer
FTC Online Shop – Enjoyed the refreshed look of the items, navigation was smooth.
цена курса диспетчера грузоперевозок в сша онлайн с сертификатом цена курса диспетчера грузоперевозок для снг с реальными кейсами
https://ivebo.co.uk/read-blog/215047
гидроизоляция цена за м2 гидроизоляция цена за м2 .
компании усиления проемов http://usilenie-proemov1.ru/ .