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: |
view publisher site https://gofundmeme.sbs/
fezbet – https://www.fezbet-br.com
Continued https://elara.cc
have a peek here https://verio.lat
Good post. I learn something new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon every day. It’s always interesting to read through content from other writers and use a little something from other web sites.
Get the facts https://universalx.cc/
More hints https://colend.my/
вертикальный пылесос дайсон купить спб вертикальный пылесос дайсон купить спб .
check this https://blendfun.xyz/
official website https://astake.cc/
more https://elara.cfd/
content https://alchemistai.cc
right here https://elara.ink
Excellent web site you’ve got here.. It’s difficult to find quality writing like yours
nowadays. I honestly appreciate people like you! Take care!!
I was suggested this website by way of my cousin. I’m not sure whether this submit is written by him as no one else recognize such specified approximately my trouble. You are amazing! Thanks!
I’m not sure why but this site is loading incredibly slow for me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.
pin-up yarış pinup2009.help
marathonbet – https://marathonbetmx.com
browse around this web-site https://alchemistai.lat/
crasher – https://crasher-mx.com
Hey there! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could locate 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!
I’m curious to find out what blog system you are utilizing? I’m experiencing some small security issues with my latest blog and I would like to find something more safeguarded. Do you have any recommendations?
санкт петербург магазин дайсон dn-pylesos-kupit-5.ru .
have a peek at this site https://hyperunit.buzz/
pokerstars – https://www-pokerstars.com
คอนเทนต์นี้ อ่านแล้วเพลินและได้สาระ ครับ
ดิฉัน ได้อ่านบทความที่เกี่ยวข้องกับ ข้อมูลเพิ่มเติม
สามารถอ่านได้ที่ สล็อตเว็บตรง
น่าจะถูกใจใครหลายคน
มีตัวอย่างประกอบชัดเจน
ขอบคุณที่แชร์ ข้อมูลที่มีประโยชน์ นี้
และหวังว่าจะได้เห็นโพสต์แนวนี้อีก
Chao c? nha, ngu?i anh em nao c?n trang choi xanh chin d? choi Casino thi xem th? d?a ch? nay. Dang co khuy?n mai: Sunwin web. Chuc cac bac r?c r?.
reachriver.click – Pages loaded fast, images appeared sharp, and formatting stayed consistent.
netvortex.click – Overall, professional vibe here; trustworthy, polished, and pleasantly minimal throughout.
click for more https://elara.ink/
strendus – https://strendus-777.com
big bola – https://big-bola-mx.com
казино пин ап официальное
bet casino – https://bet-casino-mx.com
bet7k – https://www.bet7k-br.com
пылесос дайсон спб pylesos-dn-10.ru .
hop over to here https://upshift.ltd/
Read Full Article https://perena.cfd
Ищете профессиональную переподготовку или повышение квалификации? Посетите https://rostbk.com/ – это центр дистанционного образования, у которого более 2000 программ обучения с выдачей диплома и выгодными ценами. Мы входим в ТОП учебных заведений с квалифицированными преподавателями. Лучшие курсы у нас, а обучение онлайн из любого региона.
Whoa! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It’s on a entirely different subject but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Excellent choice of colors!
visit this page https://upshift.ltd
For the reason that the admin of this website is working, no doubt very shortly it will be well-known, due to its feature contents.
sitepilot.click – Navigation felt smooth, found everything quickly without any confusing steps.
bet sport – https://betsport-br.com
parimatch – https://parimatchmx.com
I am regular reader, how are you everybody? This post posted at this web site is truly fastidious.
rushbet – https://www-rushbet.com
review https://askthehive.xyz
No matter if some one searches for his essential thing, so he/she wants to be available that in detail, thus that thing is maintained over here.
дайсон где купить в спб dn-pylesos-3.ru .