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: |
руководства по seo seo-blog3.ru .
бездепозитные бонусы в казино за регистрацию с выводом
Хороший магазин.С ним почти год работаю.Всегда вежливое общение: успокоит,объяснит,по рекомендует.Все приходит в срок.Данным магазином очень доволен.Рекомендую!!! https://desert24.ru товар 9\10 хорошее качество, 9 потому что ожидал чуть большего.заказала в этом магазе сувениров:), посыль пришел на 3ий день, продукты качеством вкусны
бездепозитные бонусы в казино за регистрацию с выводом
uniquefindshub – UniqueFindsHub impressed me with interesting products and easy navigation.
бездепозитные бонусы в казино за регистрацию с выводом
пояснения vodkabet водкабет казино
диплом мед образования купить https://www.r-diploma10.ru .
бездепозитные бонусы в казино за регистрацию с выводом
1000 рублей за регистрацию в казино без депозита
1000 рублей за регистрацию вывод сразу без вложений в казино с выводом без депозита
бездепозитные бонусы в казино
опубликовано здесь водкабет
смотреть здесь vodkabet водка бет казино
I simply could not go away your web site prior to suggesting that I really loved the standard info an individual supply for
your guests? Is going to be back continuously to check out new posts
интернет tripskan
Следующая страница tripscan
InsightBrainHub – Professional and concise, content is engaging and easy to understand.
https://unmpharm.com/# Unm Pharm
узнать зеркало vodka bet
seo аудит веб сайта seo аудит веб сайта .
هي منصة. يتيح للمستخدمين التمتع بتجربة مراهنة فريدة من نوعها. تعد 888starz.
تتميز 888starz. كما تقدم المنصة. والرهانات الرياضية.
888starz app https://apexglobalinternational.com/%d8%aa%d9%86%d8%b2%d9%8a%d9%84-888starz-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%b1-%d8%aa%d8%b7%d8%a8%d9%8a%d9%82-android-apk-%d9%88%d8%aa%d8%ab%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%aa-ios-%d9%85%d8%b9-%d8%af%d9%84%d9%8a/
https://different-east.forum2x2.ru/t254-topic#293
ReeracoenBrainHub – Professional layout, articles are insightful and clearly presented.
https://www.smitefire.com/profile/parisgratuits1xbet-245555
этот сайт vodka премиум онлайн казино
Смотреть здесь tripskan
Good day! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you
using for this site? 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.
нажмите здесь войти на vbet poker
подробнее здесь трипскан
кликните сюда трипскан
посетить сайт трипскан сайт вход
посетить сайт vbet poker вход
ReeracoenInsights – Informative and structured, browsing provides clear understanding of topics.
страница водка бет
https://savgroup.ru/
BrainHubPro – Very professional, content is organized logically and easy to digest.
блог о маркетинге seo-blog2.ru .
ReeracoenSmartView – Well-organized layout, information is thorough and presented professionally.
Good day! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be
ok. I’m definitely enjoying your blog and look forward to new updates.
Ищете строительство каркасного дома под ключ в Краснодаре и Краснодарском крае? Посетите сайт https://masterim-novostroy.ru/ – посмотрите наши проекты и сможете собрать теплый дом за 2 недели! А при необходимости мы полностью берем на себя все этапы — от создания проекта и согласования до финишной отделки и уборки. Узнайте подробнее на сайте о качестве нашей продукции и этапах производства!
https://vivealumni.usfq.edu.ec/2022/06/giveaway-red-de-beneficios.html?sc=1765029677191#c9098012869337650910
positive momentum tips – Encourages maintaining consistent and meaningful forward steps.
progress-focused roadmap – Helps keep clarity and direction while moving ahead.
содержание водка бет
BrainsightHub – Organized layout, content is easy to follow and highly informative.
этот сайт vodkabet водкабет казино
автоматические жалюзи пластиковые окна zhalyuzi-elektricheskie.ru .
Продолжение vbet poker вход
электрокранизы kupite-elektrokarniz.ru .