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: |
additional hints https://browseallexpireddomains.us/d37d82c096b56e5ef464d505a3f47254-view.html
узнать зеркало водка бет
sykaaa casino бонусы для новичков
click for more http://boilerreplacementshisenba.blogspot.com/2017/08/boiler-replacement-wigan.html
посмотреть на этом сайте vodkabet
Следующая страница водка бет
содержание vodkabet онлайн казино
Мир делится на пять региональных регистров (RIR); для Европы, Ближнего Востока и части Центральной Азии https://hstq.net/ip-rent.html
Read Full Report https://cryptoconverter.biz
посмотреть на этом сайте https://krab2at.cc
пояснения водкабет
read https://handwiki.org/wiki/Documentation
Осмокот — это пролонгированное минеральное удобрение, предназначенное для стабильного и контролируемого питания растений в течение длительного периода. Оно представляет собой гранулы, покрытые специальной оболочкой, которая постепенно высвобождает питательные вещества в зависимости от температуры и влажности почвы, обеспечивая растения всем необходимым без риска перекорма.
Удобрение Осмокот широко применяется в садоводстве, цветоводстве, питомниках и тепличных хозяйствах. Его используют при выращивании декоративных растений, овощных культур, плодовых деревьев и кустарников, а также в контейнерном и горшечном выращивании. Осмокот особенно эффективен там, где важно равномерное питание и минимальное вмешательство в процесс ухода. Если наберётся достаточно информации, могу потом собрать небольшую памятку о том как применять удобрение Осмокот
Clickping Refinery – Clean design with intuitive navigation and a refined browsing experience.
right here https://onetimesecret.info
Refined Hub – Sleek layout with smooth browsing and a polished, modern interface.
пояснения https://krab2at.cc
Refined Web Hub – Polished interface with intuitive navigation and smooth transitions.
Clickping Layout Hub – Minimalist and refined design with clear sections and smooth flow.
this link https://www.emersonautomationexperts.com/2013/asset-management/applying-wireless-vibration-monitoring-in-electrical-power-stations/
YOURURL.com https://crowncoinscasino.app/
Do you have a spam issue on this blog; I also am a blogger, and
I was curious about your situation; many of us have created some nice procedures and we are looking to
trade methods with other folks, please shoot me an email if interested.
Hey there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this website?
I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had
issues with hackers and I’m looking at options for another platform.
I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
на этом сайте https://krab2a.at/
review http://printerrepairreimichi.blogspot.com/2017/04/printer-repair-cost.html
More Info https://crowncoinscasino.app/
Построение устойчивого онлайн-присутствия — это марафон, а не спринт, и для него нужна система, а не разрозненные действия, принципы создания которой как раз обсуждаются: https://wikicom.ru/2025/12/jeffektivnoe-prodvizhenie-sajtov-i-razvitie-biznesa-v-internete/
узнать больше Здесь https://krab2at.cc
Мир делится на пять региональных регистров (RIR); для Европы, Ближнего Востока и части Центральной Азии https://hstq.net/servers.html
Polished Layout Hub – Clean, organized design providing an enjoyable and refined browsing experience.
click for more info https://bilalarticles.com/website-list-556/
you can try these out https://worldwidetopsite.com/website-list-556/
1win lucky jet скачать 1win5522.ru
click here for info https://rankgrow.agency/risk-free-seo-backlinks-service-50032/
онлайн школа для детей http://shkola-onlajn1.ru/ .
Offer Highlights – Everything appears well-sorted, making it simple to check out the latest offers.
сюда водкабет
Find the perfect room at one of 1 million hotels and motels worldwide https://thenewdiagrams.com/cgi-bin/guestbook.exe
Мир делится на пять региональных регистров (RIR); для Европы, Ближнего Востока и части Центральной Азии https://hstq.net/windows-vps.html
visite site https://cloudlab.tw/%E7%B6%B2%E9%A0%81%E5%9C%96%E7%A4%BA%E7%9A%84%E8%A3%BD%E4%BD%9C%E6%96%B9%E5%BC%8F/comment-page-773/
check here https://cryptoswap.cc/
go to this web-site https://www.drzlc.com/website-list-1907/
Следующая страница https://krab2a.at
Offer Explorer – These offers feel valuable, and each section is organized for an easy experience.
этот сайт https://krab2at.cc/
Таможенное сопровождение москва — полный комфорт
https://nyumbanirealtygroup.com/author/chelsea7219220/
https://rc-project-link-hub.blogspot.com/p/makerdiy.html
Unquestionably imagine that which you said. Your favorite justification seemed to be at the net
the easiest thing to remember of. I say to you,
I certainly get irked at the same time as folks think about issues that
they plainly do not understand about. You managed to hit
the nail upon the top as well as outlined out the whole thing with
no need side effect , other folks can take a signal. Will likely be again to get more.
Thanks
смотреть здесь зеркало водка бет
I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your sites really nice, keep it
up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back down the
road. Many thanks
страница https://krab2at.cc