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: |
Заказать диплом ВУЗа по доступной стоимости вы сможете, обращаясь к надежной специализированной фирме: http://serrok.kabb.ru/posting.php?mode=post&f=3&sid=35676179bc124822796205f595277064/ – serrok.kabb.ru/posting.php?mode=post&f=3&sid=35676179bc124822796205f595277064
Pretty great post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to mention that I’ve truly enjoyed surfing around your blog posts.
In any case I will be subscribing for your feed and I hope you write again soon!
vm777 – https://vm777-88.com
jojobet – https://jojobet-mx.com
superdeporte mejores casas de apuestas (ridejapan.altervista.org) madrid campeon champions
Click This Link https://toast-wallet.net
lvbet – https://www.lvbet-br.com
top article https://toast-wallet.net
seo partner poiskovoe-prodvizhenie-moskva-professionalnoe.ru .
超人和露易斯第三季高清完整版运用AI智能推荐算法，海外华人可免费观看最新热播剧集。
bet casino – https://bet-casino-mx.com
browse around this web-site https://web-breadwallet.com/
casas de apuestas seguras baloncesto; Genie, virtuales perú
gg999 – https://gg999-id.com
Through ball completion, killer passes and their success rates
esoccer bet – https://esoccerbet-br.com
look at here https://web-breadwallet.com/
кракен онлайн
kraken даркнет
more tips here https://toast-wallet.net
Crossing accuracy, wide players and their delivery statistics
продвижение сайтов интернет магазины в москве продвижение сайтов интернет магазины в москве .
mejor pagina de apuestas en casinos online (Astrid) csgo
you could try these out https://web-breadwallet.com/
mejores casas de Apuestas caballos (procesos.azc.uam.mx) nba gratis
Bono Apuestas sin deposito nfl semana 4
kraken вход
kraken зеркало
betleao – https://www.betleao-br.com
vm777 – https://vm777-11.com
Bonuses https://toast-wallet.net
programa para hacer apuestas deportivas
Have a look at my web page; Basketball-wetten.com
pagina para hacer apuestas deportivas; davydhavrylets.sites.3wa.io, brasil uruguay
moverbet – https://moverbet-cassino.com
bet7 – https://bet7-br.com
The using the bridge tools are fast transactions and useful analytics.
Resources https://toast-wallet.net
jogodeouro – https://jogodeourobet-br.com
кракен актуальная ссылка
kraken darknet
brwin – https://www.brwin-br.com
https://maps.google.hr/url?q=https://www.hlsports.de/wp-includes/articles/?code-promo-1xbet___bonus.html
vm777 – https://vm777-55.com
como ganar apuestas de futbol para mañana (https://Dashboard.Dokandemo.com/) de tenis
esportebet – https://esportebet-br.com
roleta online – https://roletaonline-br.com
888casino – https://www-888casino.com
seo partner poiskovoe-seo-v-moskve.ru .
spin bet – https://spin-bet-mx.com
Consumer-focused marketplace – Navigation works well and the shopping flow is enjoyable.
have a peek at this website https://toast-wallet.net
https://bestcomedy.ru/user/godellljsv
Discover More Here https://web-breadwallet.com