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: |
An intriguing discussion is worth comment. I believe that you ought to write more about this topic, it may not be a taboo subject but usually folks don’t discuss such subjects. To the next! Best wishes!!
playzilla – https://playzilla-de88.com
richards casino app – https://richards-casino-au.com/richards-casino-app/
win bet – https://win-bet-br.com
Aviator online — динамичная игра с коэффициентами в казино https://reklama-forum.ru/acontinent/12826-%D0%B8%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0-aviator-%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BD-%E2%80%94-%D0%BE%D1%84%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9-%D1%84%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%82
A motivating discussion is worth comment. I think that you ought to publish more about this subject matter, it might not be a taboo subject but typically folks don’t talk about these subjects. To the next! Cheers!!
A fascinating discussion is definitely worth comment. I think that you ought to publish more on this topic, it might not be a taboo matter but generally people do not talk about these issues. To the next! Cheers!!
бк мост бет https://mostbet2032.help
An intriguing discussion is worth comment. There’s no doubt that that you should write more on this subject, it may not be a taboo subject but usually people don’t speak about these topics. To the next! Cheers!!
An interesting discussion is definitely worth comment. I believe that you ought to write more on this subject matter, it might not be a taboo subject but usually people do not talk about such subjects. To the next! Best wishes!!
A fascinating discussion is worth comment. There’s no doubt that that you ought to publish more about this topic, it may not be a taboo subject but typically people do not talk about such issues. To the next! Many thanks!!
A motivating discussion is definitely worth comment. There’s no doubt that that you should write more on this issue, it might not be a taboo subject but typically folks don’t speak about these topics. To the next! All the best!!
A fascinating discussion is worth comment. I do think that you ought to publish more about this subject matter, it may not be a taboo subject but typically people don’t speak about these issues. To the next! Kind regards!!
Hey there, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your blog site in Firefox, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, superb blog!
бонус leebet casino
mostbet лицензия http://mostbet2032.help
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I do believe that you should write more about this issue, it might not be a taboo matter but generally folks don’t discuss these issues. To the next! All the best!!
silverplay – https://silverplay-de88.com
A motivating discussion is worth comment. I think that you ought to write more about this subject matter, it may not be a taboo subject but typically people don’t discuss such issues. To the next! Cheers!!
Следующая страница ссылка кракен krab
здесь krab2 cc
pg678 – https://pg678-th.com
https://send.now/9e3ju5uuvxa4
Aviator online — динамичная игра с коэффициентами в казино http://saratovturizm.ru/forum/topic.php?forum=11&topic=4348
ставки на спорт бишкек ставки на спорт бишкек
An interesting discussion is definitely worth comment. I do think that you ought to write more about this subject matter, it may not be a taboo matter but typically people don’t discuss these issues. To the next! Many thanks!!
real prize casino app – https://real-prize-us.com/real-prize-casino-app/
A motivating discussion is worth comment. I believe that you need to write more on this issue, it may not be a taboo matter but usually people do not discuss such topics. To the next! Best wishes!!
bk bet app – https://bk-bet-br.com/bk-bet-app/
bw321 – https://bw321-ph.com
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I believe that you should publish more on this subject, it might not be a taboo subject but typically people don’t speak about such issues. To the next! Best wishes!!
An intriguing discussion is worth comment. I do think that you need to publish more on this topic, it may not be a taboo matter but generally folks don’t talk about these topics. To the next! Best wishes!!
meu placar ao vivo – https://meu-placar-ao-vivo.com
An intriguing discussion is worth comment. I do believe that you should publish more about this subject matter, it might not be a taboo subject but usually folks don’t talk about these issues. To the next! Kind regards!!
A fascinating discussion is worth comment. I think that you need to publish more about this subject, it might not be a taboo matter but usually people don’t talk about these issues. To the next! Kind regards!!
A motivating discussion is definitely worth comment. I do think that you should publish more about this topic, it may not be a taboo subject but typically people do not discuss these topics. To the next! All the best!!
https://cdsonla.edu.vn/index.php/vi/component/k2/item/24-night-thesis-paper-research-papers?tmpl=component&print=1&start=30
узнать больше kraken krab
Смотреть здесь кракен зеркало
An intriguing discussion is worth comment. I think that you need to publish more on this subject, it might not be a taboo subject but usually people don’t discuss these issues. To the next! Many thanks!!
https://pentvars.edu.gh/pentecost-university-applauded-at-the-2023-cop-general-council-meeting/
зайти на сайт kraken krab
на этом сайте кракен вход
пинап казино – https://Pin-up-Casino-ru.com
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I believe that you should publish more about this issue, it may not be a taboo subject but typically people do not discuss these subjects. To the next! Many thanks!!
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you ought to write more on this subject matter, it may not be a taboo matter but typically people do not speak about such subjects. To the next! All the best!!
What’s up i am kavin, its my first occasion to commenting anywhere, when i read this post i thought i could also make comment due to this brilliant post.
официальный сайт lee bet casino
كرة القدم الإنجليزية – https://england-football-eg.com
An intriguing discussion is worth comment. I believe that you should write more on this topic, it may not be a taboo matter but generally folks don’t talk about such topics. To the next! Kind regards!!
A fascinating discussion is definitely worth comment. I do think that you need to publish more about this topic, it may not be a taboo subject but generally folks don’t discuss such subjects. To the next! Cheers!!
969 bet – https://969bet-br.com