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: |
evo – https://evo-au.com
lucky land casino login – https://lucky-land-us.com/lucky-land-casino-login/
code promo 1xbet congo
A truly fantastic read. Your writing style is both engaging and informative.
https://www.ltstesting.com/profile/sksagor51034550043264/profile
1win официальный сайт букмекерской 1win официальный сайт букмекерской
Wow, that’s what I was exploring for, what a information! present here at this weblog, thanks admin of this web site.
Thanks for another fantastic post. Where else may just anyone get that type of info in such a perfect means of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I am on the look for such information.
https://saunalux.kiev.ua/range-rover-sport-problema-zapotivannya-far.html
PathToGrowthCenter – Practical and actionable, growth methods are easy to understand.
Find the newest updates — https://www-tickets.ru/pages/1xbet_promokod_bonus__3.html
lucky jet скачать на андроид http://1win12047.ru
nouveau code promo 1xbet
ракета 1 вин 1win12047.ru
sexo ao vivo – https://sexo-ao-vivo.com
Hey very nice site!! Man .. Beautiful .. Superb .. I’ll bookmark your website and take the feeds also? I am glad to search out so many useful information right here within the post, we want work out more techniques in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
https://alicegood.com.ua/vplyv-volohosti-na-led-chipy-chomu.html
moverbet – https://moverbet-br.com/
Hurrah, that’s what I was searching for, what a data! present here at this website, thanks admin of this web site.
краш игра на деньги – https://crash-game-for-money-ru.com
XelarionPortal – Layout tidy, pages fast, and finding items was straightforward.
Hurrah, that’s what I was exploring for, what a stuff! present here at this blog, thanks admin of this web page.
لعب كرة القدم – https://play-football-eg.com
rolling riches casino login – https://rolling-riches-us.com/rolling-riches-casino-login/
361bet app – https://361bet-login.com/361bet-app/
Hurrah, that’s what I was searching for, what a stuff! present here at this weblog, thanks admin of this website.
ван вин букмекерская контора официальный http://1win12047.ru
Wow, that’s what I was looking for, what a information! existing here at this webpage, thanks admin of this site.
wingdus app – https://www.wingdus-br.com/wingdus-app/
gbgbet app – https://gbgbet-br.com/gbgbet-app/
It’s amazing for me to have a site, which is helpful in support of my knowledge. thanks admin
https://bestpeople.com.ua/bmw-5-series-f10-g30-intehratsiya-suchasnykh.html
I got this web site from my friend who told me
on the topic of this web page and now this time I am visiting this web site and reading very informative content at this
time.
Wow, that’s what I was exploring for, what a material! present here at this webpage, thanks admin of this web page.
https://hashnode.com/@1xbetpromocode33
https://doodleordie.com/profile/xbetfreeph
Amazing! Its really amazing post, I have got much clear idea on the topic of from this article.
https://babyphotostar.com.ua/bi-led-proty-ksenonu-35w-tekhnichne.html
Hey outstanding blog! Does running a blog like this take a massive amount work? I’ve no knowledge of coding however I had been hoping to start my own blog in the near future. Anyways, should you have any recommendations or techniques for new blog owners please share. I understand this is off subject however I just wanted to ask. Appreciate it!
http://shapok.com.ua/skoda-octavia-a5-a7-vyhorily-shtatni-moduli.html
Если вам нужна алкоголь с доставкой мск, обратитесь к нам — мы работаем круглосуточно и доставим ваш заказ быстро и удобно!
Перед оформлением заказа стоит обратить внимание на правила и условия доставки.
—
Доставка алкоголя в Москве пользуется большой популярностью среди жителей столицы.
زالا شوت – https://yalla-shoot-eg.com
Hurrah, that’s what I was seeking for, what a information! present here at this webpage, thanks admin of this website.
ph casino login – https://ph-casino-au.com/ph-casino-login/
id888 – https://id888-th.com
Hurrah, that’s what I was looking for, what a material! existing here at this blog, thanks admin of this web site.
1win скачать онлайн https://1win12047.ru/
Hurrah, that’s what I was exploring for, what a material! present here at this web site, thanks admin of this site.
Wow, that’s what I was exploring for, what a material! existing here at this webpage, thanks admin of this site.
Hurrah, that’s what I was searching for, what a data! present here at this webpage, thanks admin of this web site.
stay casino login – https://stay-casino-77.com/stay-casino-login/
https://morguefile.com/creative/promocode1xbet2
skycrown casino login – https://skycrown-casino-77.com/skycrown-casino-login/
nbet – https://nbet-vn.com
I found this article quite helpful. Looking forward to more content like this.