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: |
https://sex-positions.online/es-ES/position/igra-v-myach/
Публикация предоставляет читателю набор разрозненных идей, которые сложно применить на практике. Мы лишь слегка касаемся разных точек зрения, не углубляясь в анализ и не предлагая никаких выводов.
Вот – бесплатные порно видео
https://sex-positions.online/es-ES/position/veer/
Предлагаем вашему вниманию интересную справочную статью, в которой собраны ключевые моменты и нюансы по актуальным вопросам. Эта информация будет полезна как для профессионалов, так и для тех, кто только начинает изучать тему. Узнайте ответы на важные вопросы и расширьте свои знания!
Детальнее – https://vivod-iz-zapoya-2.ru/
Appreciating the dedication you put into your website and detailed information you offer.
It’s awesome to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t
the same out of date rehashed material. Wonderful read!
I’ve saved your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my
Google account.
With BetAndreas Casino, you have direct access to an incredible variety of games Casino Betandreas
get redirected here netx360+ login
I have learn some good stuff here. Certainly price bookmarking for revisiting.
I surprise how a lot attempt you put to
create this sort of excellent informative website.
This Site netx360+
published here netx360+
vdcasino güncel vdcasino
Oh my goodness! an amazing article. Great work.
More hints netx360 login
Рабочий ключ активации для Windows 11 — проверено и обновлено, без блокировок!
Подробнее – Как активировать Windows 11 без ключа
https://betnano1st.online/# betnano güncel giriş
try here netx360+ login
over at this website netx360 login
заказ курсовых работ заказ курсовых работ .
click here now netx360+
visit homepage netx360 login
österreich wetten online
Here is my web blog :: halbzeit oder endstand wette; gratis-wetten.com,
quotenvergleich wetten
Review my homepage: wo am besten Sportwetten
https://betnano1st.online/# betnano giris
Hello, everything is going sound here and ofcourse every one is sharing data, that’s in fact fine, keep up writing.
wett tipps ergebnisse
My site – basketball pro b wetten; Rosaria,
great site netx360+
wettbüro hamburg
My web page wie funktioniert kombiwette
look at these guys netx360
Скачайте патч для обхода активации Windows 11 и пользуйтесь системой без ограничений.
Подробнее – Скачать ключ активации Windows 11 Pro
Find Out More netx360+ login
see here now netx360+
This is my first time pay a quick visit at here and i am in fact pleassant to read everthing at
single place.