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: |
published here https://universalx.lat/
If some one wants expert view on the topic of running a blog then i suggest him/her to go to see this weblog, Keep up the nice work.
A person necessarily help to make critically posts I might state. This is the very first time I frequented your web page and thus far? I amazed with the research you made to create this particular post extraordinary. Excellent process!
you could try these out https://astake.lat
Clicking Here https://gofundmeme.sbs
I seriously love your blog.. Very nice colors & theme. Did you make this website yourself? Please reply back as I’m trying to create my very own site and would love to learn where you got this from or exactly what the theme is named. Thank you!
how effectively you communicate your ideas, and this piece genuinely
дайсон пылесос купить dn-pylesos-kupit-4.ru .
Hello, all the time i used to check web site posts here in the early hours in the break of day, for the reason that i enjoy to gain knowledge of more and more.
their explanation https://pactswap.cc
i thought about this https://flaunch.my/
navigate to this website https://heyanon.pro/
bonjour I love Your Blog can not say I come here often but im liking what i c so far….
article https://unchainx.org
dyson купить спб dyson купить спб .
why not try this out https://kyros.my
Full Article https://elara.ink/
dyson пылесос купить спб pylesos-dn-8.ru .
доставка алкоголя 24 часа доставка алкоголя 24 часа .
Great items from you, man. I have take note your stuff previous to and you are just too wonderful. I really like what you’ve obtained right here, certainly like what you are stating and the best way during which you say it. You are making it entertaining and you continue to take care of to keep it smart. I can not wait to learn far more from you. This is really a terrific website.
try here https://flaunch.cc
important site https://askthehive.org
look at more info https://agentsland.org/
betano – https://betano-mx.com
find here https://prismagent.agency
navigate to this website https://alchemistai.buzz
купить пылесос dyson спб dn-pylesos-4.ru .
pop over to this web-site https://blnk.my/
Peculiar article, totally what I was looking for.
read what he said https://blnk.my
Hi i am kavin, its my first occasion to commenting anyplace, when i read this article i thought i could also make comment due to this good piece of writing.
Read Full Report https://tophat.ink/
her response https://cytonic.cc
check this site out https://universalx.lat
Continued https://noon.pics
page https://slop-club.org/
bwin – https://bwin-br.com
informative post https://asterdex.lat
However, most JILI APKs come from unofficial sources. Downloading such apps can involve security risks, including malware or misuse of personal data. Users apkgift xx
should always be careful and aware of digital safety issues.
codere – https://www-codere.com
click here to investigate https://elara.cc
Read Full Article https://kingprotocol.net
Greetings, I believe your site could be having browser compatibility problems. When I take a look at your site in Safari, it looks fine however, when opening in I.E., it’s got some overlapping issues. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Besides that, fantastic site!
casinority – https://casinority-mx.com
My brother suggested I might like this blog. He was once entirely right. This publish truly made my day. You can not consider simply how a lot time I had spent for this information! Thank you!
Hi there! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site?
I’m getting sick and tired of WordPress because I’ve had issues with hackers and
I’m looking at alternatives for another platform. I would
be great if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
http://moviescript.bplaced.net/index.php?title=%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%BA%20%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%83%D1%87%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%8C%20%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%83%D1%81%D1%8B%20%D0%A4%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%82%20%D0%BF%D0%BE%20%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%83%20GIFT200
официальный сайт дайсон официальный сайт дайсон .
you could try this out https://kyros.wtf
visit this page https://noon.lat