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: |
look what i found jaxx liberty wallet
a fantastic read https://toast-wallet.net
great post to read jaxx liberty
Привет! Если вы ищете казино с высоким RTP — не гонитесь за громкими названиями. Лучше смотрите статистику. Мой проверенный список — тут: казино Мелстрой. Кто что добавит?
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.
Привет! Хочу предупредить новичков: не все клубы одинаково полезны. Чтобы не слить депозит и получить выигрыш, проверяйте условия вывода и изучайте форумные обсуждения. Я составил подборку рабочих вариантов с минимальным депозитом от 10 рублей — смотрите тут: Р’РћР’РђРќ вован. Делитесь опытом!
digitaltide.click – Found practical insights today; sharing this article with colleagues later.
vm777 – https://vm777-99.com
https://www.swap-bot.com/swap/show/26715#comment-1040513
I’m not sure where you are getting your information, but great topic. I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more. Thanks for magnificent info I was looking for this info for my mission.
heads bet – https://headsbet-br.com
mexplay – https://mexplay-mexico.com
санкт петербург экскурсии по городу на автобусе санкт петербург экскурсии по городу на автобусе .
obabet – https://obabet-br.com
https://content-qa.fortuneconferences.com/kasyno-internetowe-vox-casino-online-jedna-sposrod-najpopularniejszych-platform-do-gier-kasynowych-online/
I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your website. Do you ever run into any web browser compatibility problems? A number of my blog audience have complained about my blog not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any solutions to help fix this issue?
Greetings! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could get a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having trouble finding one? Thanks a lot!
adsforge.click – Loved the layout today; clean, simple, and genuinely user-friendly overall.
searchrocket.click – Color palette felt calming, nothing distracting, just focused, thoughtful design.
riobet официальный сайт
I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz answer back as I’m looking to design my own blog and would like to find out where u got this from. many thanks
seobeacon.click – Color palette felt calming, nothing distracting, just focused, thoughtful design.
Bet61 – https://bet61-br.com
click here to investigate jax wallet
queens – https://www.queens-br.com
capri – https://capri-mx.com
imperador bet – https://imperadorbet-br.com
казино риобет онлайн на деньги
Физкультурно-спортивный клуб «Родина» предлагает жителям и гостям города современную спортивную инфраструктуру для активного образа жизни. На сайте https://rodinasportsclub.com/ представлена информация о тренировочных программах, расписании занятий и квалифицированных тренерах. Клуб оборудован качественными тренажерами и залами для различных видов спорта, что позволяет заниматься фитнесом, силовыми тренировками и командными играми. Удобная система онлайн-записи экономит время посетителей, а гибкие абонементы подходят для любого графика и бюджета.
mostbet casino http://www.mostbet2008.help
автобусный тур в санкт петербург из москвы автобусный тур в санкт петербург из москвы .
18bet – https://18bet-mx.com
I am regular visitor, how are you everybody? This post posted at this site is truly good.
10bet – https://www-10bet-mx.com
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be actually something that I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!
winzada 777 – https://winzada777-br.com
I would like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in writing this site. I really hope to see the same high-grade blog posts from you later on as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own site now 😉
Link exchange is nothing else but it is simply placing the other person’s website link on your page at proper place and other person will also do similar for you.
my explanation https://toast-wallet.net
I think this is one of the most significant info for me. And i’m glad reading your article. But should remark on few general things, The web site style is perfect, the articles is really nice : D. Good job, cheers
сайт riobet
click for more https://toast-wallet.net/
Why viewers still make use of to read news papers when in this
technological world everything is accessible on net?
Hey there! Do you know if they make any plugins to safeguard against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any suggestions?
Get the facts jax wallet
spinbet – https://spinbet-mx.com
winpot – https://www-winpot.com
vavada cashback hrvatska https://vavada2007.help
риобет на деньги
It’s remarkable designed for me to have a web site, which is valuable in favor of my knowledge. thanks admin