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: |
At this time I am going away to do my breakfast, after having my breakfast coming over again to read additional news.
Hi there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it is truly informative. I’m going to watch out for brussels. I will be grateful if you continue this in future. Many people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!
What’s up, this weekend is fastidious in support of me,
as this point in time i am reading this enormous educational piece of writing
here at my home.
We are a bunch of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community. Your website offered us with valuable info to work on. You have done a formidable job and our entire community will likely be thankful to you.
browse around this web-site https://toast-wallet.net
click for more jaxx crypto
bets 10 – https://bets-10-mx.com
refreshing depth of insight. I found myself fully engaged from start to
What’s Happening i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It absolutely helpful and it has helped me out loads. I’m hoping to contribute & help other users like its aided me. Good job.
Heya i am for the primary time here. I found this board and I find It really helpful & it helped me out a lot. I am hoping to provide something back and help others such as you helped me.
Good day! I know this is kinda off topic but I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest writing a blog article or vice-versa? My blog addresses a lot of the same subjects as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other. If you’re interested feel free to send me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Excellent blog by the way!
This design is spectacular! You most certainly know how to keep a reader amused. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Fantastic job. I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
bet777 – https://bet777mx.com
What’s up colleagues, how is the whole thing, and what you desire to say concerning this post, in my view its actually awesome in support of me.
misterjackbet – https://misterjackbet-br.com
casinority – https://casinority-mx.com
check out the post right here jaxx app
vavada sign in https://vavada2007.help/
point resonated strongly and was presented beautifully. It is remarkable
Hey there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this website before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back often!
Hey there, You’ve performed a fantastic job. I’ll definitely digg it and in my view suggest to my friends. I am confident they will be benefited from this website.
https://it.niadd.com/statuses/1063538.html
betway – https://www-betway-mx.com
Wow, incredible weblog layout! How long have you ever been running a blog for? you made running a blog glance easy. The overall look of your site is fantastic, let alone the content material
plinko plinko game, plinko play, plinko play online, plinko online, plinko casino, plinko real money, plinko online casino, plinko login, plinko official site, plinko mobile, plinko mobile version, plinko app, plinko gameplay, plinko start game, plinko access, plinko betting game, plinko casino game
heads bet – https://headsbet-br.com
This paragraph provides clear idea for the new visitors of blogging, that in fact how to do running a blog.
allwin – https://www.allwin-br.com
It’s awesome to pay a visit this web site and reading the views of all colleagues on the topic of this article, while
I am also zealous of getting familiarity.
legalbet – https://legalbet-mx.com
vavada isplata hrvatska iskustva https://vavada2007.help
Can you tell us more about this? I’d want to find out more details.
read this post here jax wallet
My spouse and I absolutely love your blog and find a lot of your post’s to be what precisely I’m looking for. can you offer guest writers to write content in your case? I wouldn’t mind composing a post or elaborating on a number of the subjects you write about here. Again, awesome website!
realbet – https://realbet-br.com
сайт riobet
orus casino – https://orus-casino-mx.com
Very descriptive post, I loved that a lot. Will there be a part 2?
gg999 – https://gg999-88.com
Hey there! I’ve been reading your website for a long time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Lubbock Tx! Just wanted to mention keep up the excellent job!
Hello my loved one! I wish to say that this post is awesome, great written and come with approximately all important infos. I would like to see extra posts like this .
dobrowin – https://www.dobrowin51.com
Awesome blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog stand out. Please let me know where you got your design. Cheers
winzada – https://winzada-br.com
digitaltide.click – Overall, professional vibe here; trustworthy, polished, and pleasantly minimal throughout.
read the article jaxx app
bet77 – https://bet77-br.com
Hi there! This post could not be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this post to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
https://casinovalley.org/exploration-de-linterface-iron-tv-pro/
here are the findings jaxx app
Quality content is the main to attract the users to go to see the web site, that’s what this web page is providing.