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: |
browse around this website https://kingprotocol.cc/
Going Here https://universalx.us/
jogos ao vivo hoje – https://jogos-ao-vivo-hoje.com
يلا شوت بلس – https://yalla-shoot-plus-eg.com
find out this here https://blendfun.xyz/
you could try here https://alchemistai.tech
my review here https://prismagent.agency/
pixbet – https://pixbet-88.com
Continue Reading https://verio.lat
Здравствуйте! Хочу предложить проверенный способ выбора казино: обращайте внимание на скорость вывода, а не только на бонусы. Я составил список платформ 2025 года, где часто падают джекпоты. Всё по ссылке: лев казино РїСЂРѕРјРѕРєРѕРґ бездепозитный Р±РѕРЅСѓСЃ. Делитесь впечатлениями!
visit site https://perena.cc/
visit site https://hyperdrive.my
Our site https://perena.cc/
Друзья, не тратьте время на левые сайты! Играйте только в лицензированные казино с быстрым выводом. Мой личный топ с реальными выплатами — по ссылке: [url=https://www.fistri.com/2025/12/22/igrayte-v-onlaynkazino-s-bollivudskimi-promokodami/]болливуд казино зеркало[/url]. Кто что может порекомендовать?
my company https://blendfun.xyz
Discover More Here https://blendfun.cc
Статьи, личный опыт, руководства по преодолению тревоги,
развитию критического мышления, гигиене информации и самопомощи.
Корпоративные программы: Психологическая поддержка сотрудников компаний для улучшения их благополучия.
Философия: Создание поддерживающего и человечного пространства, где забота о ментальном здоровье становится нормой
Как перестать откладывать дела
why not try this out https://prismagent.agency
ビットキャッスル
click for info https://colend.lat/
Source https://hyperunit.buzz/
look here https://kyros.wtf
click now https://flaunch.ink
sugar – https://sugar-de.com
Всем привет! Много читаю про скам-казино, поэтому теперь тщательно проверяю всё: условия вывода. Лучшие онлайн казино 2025 года с моментальным выводом — здесь: Mellstroy. Делитесь своим опытом!
Привет! После череды обманов наконец нашёл казино, где реально не задерживают выплаты. Смотрите на скорость обработки заявок. Список надёжных вариантов — тут: вован казино. Кто уже играл?
additional reading https://kyros.ink/
useful site https://hyperdrive.my/
Всем здравия! Недавно искал, где реально можно вывести деньги в онлайн слотах. Оказалось, что многое зависит от RTP автомата. Проверяйте статистику выплат, читайте форумы. Составил актуальный рейтинг на 2025 год с прямыми ссылками: Рльдорадо. Интересно, кто из вас уже играл здесь?
Nice weblog here! Additionally your website loads up very fast!
What host are you using? Can I get your associate hyperlink to your host?
I wish my site loaded up as quickly as yours lol
official website https://kyros.lat
كورا 360 مباشر – https://kora-360-live.com
corinthians ao vivo placar – https://corinthians-ao-vivo-placar.com
cpbl粉絲必備的官方認證資訊平台，24小時不間斷提供官方cpbl新聞、球員數據分析，以及專業的比賽預測。
go to this site https://lombard.pw/
grenal ao vivo placar – https://grenal-ao-vivo-placar.com
lava – https://lava-778.com
blog link https://heyanon.lat/
bolaklik – https://bolaklik-id.com
find more https://kyros.lat
over here https://prismagent.org/
Статьи, личный опыт, руководства по преодолению тревоги, развитию критического мышления, гигиене информации и самопомощи.
Корпоративные программы:
Психологическая поддержка сотрудников компаний для улучшения их благополучия.
Философия: Создание поддерживающего и
человечного пространства, где забота
о ментальном здоровье становится нормой
Страх как из врага превратить его в союзника
try these out https://noon.gay
browse around here https://tophat.lat/
see https://heyanon.my
find more information https://heyanon.lat/
Bitcastle
ffok – https://ffok-vi.com
view website https://flaunch.ink/
navigate here https://tophat.lat