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: |
Hi there, I check your blogs on a regular basis. Your humoristic style is awesome, keep doing what you’re doing!
Hi, I read your blogs like every week. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep it up!
custom tron vanity address
мостбет ставки на спорт онлайн http://mostbet2030.help/
Hi there, I check your blogs daily. Your writing style is witty, keep up the good work!
Hello, I read your new stuff daily. Your writing style is witty, keep it up!
Hello, I check your blogs like every week. Your writing style is awesome, keep up the good work!
п»їRecently, I stumbled upon an informative guide concerning buying affordable antibiotics. It details how to save money for ED medication. For those interested in affordable options, read this: п»їп»їclick here. Hope it helps.
What’s up, I log on to your blogs on a regular basis. Your writing style is witty, keep up the good work!
What’s up, I log on to your blogs daily. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep up the good work!
Hi, I log on to your new stuff on a regular basis. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep it up!
фен дайсон оригинал купить официальный сайт ofitsialnyj-sajt-dsn.ru .
fortuna – https://fortuna-de.com
rolling riches casino app – https://rolling-riches-us.com/rolling-riches-casino-app/
Hi, I log on to your new stuff regularly. Your writing style is witty, keep it up!
Hi there, I read your blogs on a regular basis. Your humoristic style is awesome, keep doing what you’re doing!
casinos leon app – https://casinos-leon.com/casinos-leon-app/
Hi, I read your blog like every week. Your writing style is awesome, keep up the good work!
mostbet com официальный сайт https://mostbet2030.help/
Hello, I check your new stuff daily. Your humoristic style is witty, keep it up!
Hi there, I log on to your new stuff daily. Your humoristic style is awesome, keep it up!
What’s up, I read your new stuff regularly. Your writing style is witty, keep it up!
кухни на заказ спб кухни на заказ спб .
queens – https://www.queens-br.com/
PERSIB Bandung – https://PERSIB-Bandung.com
Hello, I check your blogs regularly. Your story-telling style is witty, keep up the good work!
brwin – https://brwin-88.com/
С удовольствием прочитал, спасибо.
Hello, I read your blogs daily. Your writing style is witty, keep up the good work!
дайсон купить оригинал ofitsialnyj-sajt-dn-1.ru .
Hello, I log on to your new stuff like every week. Your humoristic style is awesome, keep doing what you’re doing!
в этом разделе водка бет казино
What’s up, I check your blogs regularly. Your writing style is witty, keep it up!
What’s up, I read your blog like every week. Your story-telling style is witty, keep doing what you’re doing!
Hi, I log on to your new stuff daily. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep it up!
winner – https://winner-de.com
sportzino casino app – https://sportzino-us.com/sportzino-casino-app/
sports bet app – https://sports-bet-au.com/sports-bet-app/
Hello, I check your blogs daily. Your story-telling style is witty, keep doing what you’re doing!
Hello, I read your blog daily. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep it up!
5sbet – https://5sbet-login.com/
Hi there, I check your blogs daily. Your writing style is witty, keep up the good work!
What’s up, I log on to your blogs regularly. Your story-telling style is witty, keep it up!
Hi there, I read your blogs regularly. Your story-telling style is witty, keep doing what you’re doing!
Hello, I check your blogs daily. Your writing style is witty, keep up the good work!
Hello, I read your new stuff daily. Your story-telling style is witty, keep doing what you’re doing!
What’s up, I check your new stuff regularly. Your humoristic style is awesome, keep it up!
мостбет скачать бесплатно мостбет скачать бесплатно
Мы готовы предложить документы университетов, которые находятся в любом регионе Российской Федерации.
Заказать диплом ВУЗа: tsnlp.5nx.ru/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=2219
Hello, I check your blogs like every week. Your humoristic style is awesome, keep it up!