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: |
Fortune Ox explosão total: já limpou a tela 4 vezes numa sessão?
Fortune Rabbit modo turbo: 1000 giros em 20 minutos – quem aguenta?
https://playcet.cat/
Playcet es una plataforma digital de apuestas en linea y juegos de casino operada por CET, una compania de origen argentino con un largo recorrido en casinos fisicos de Cordoba, dandole asi un respaldo real y confiable en 2026.
Jogo do Tigrinho cashback 15% toda semana: qual o maior reembolso que você pegou?
Cassino PG Soft com roleta diária: 50–300 giros grátis no Fortune Tiger
Сборка игрового компьютера своими руками — это возможность получить максимум производительности за свои деньги и подобрать комплектующие именно под свои задачи: от киберспортивных игр до требовательных AAA-проектов, а заодно лучше понять, какие компоненты действительно влияют на FPS и как в будущем проще делать апгрейд системы. А вы предпочитаете собирать игровые ПК самостоятельно или покупаете готовые сборки? Подскажите где лучше брать игровой компьютер
Fortune Tiger modo turbo + auto: quem já deixou rodando 1000x?
PG Soft mobile 2026: quem ganha mais no Android? Celular ou PC – qual sua preferência?
Hi, in this thread they are discussing selecting a service center for Toyota: https://gatchina-forum.wixom.ru/viewtopic.php?t=19335
Hello, here they are covering selecting a service center for Toyota: https://moskovsky.borda.ru/?1-2-0-00001614-000-0-0-1774258409
Fortune Ox explosão de símbolos: já ganhou 1000x com uma única ativação?
Cassino PG Soft com roleta diária: 80–250 giros grátis no Fortune Tiger toda noite
https://deogiricollege.org/
Jogo do Tigrinho ao vivo com narração: já jogou versão com locutor brasileiro?
Fortune Ox explosão total: já limpou a tela 4 vezes numa sessão?
https://financeconsultanttrade.com/melbet-promo-code-no-deposit-2026-mel200vip-bonus-e130/
NovaMen Pharmacy: NovaMen Pharmacy – NovaMen Pharmacy
Jogo do Tigrinho Pix R$20: ganha 100 giros + 20% extra hoje!
PG Soft lançamentos 2026: Fortune Mouse 2 ou Fortune Dragon – qual você quer primeiro?
Jogo do Tigrinho cashback sem limite: qual site tá devolvendo mais em 2026?
Fortune Rabbit tá pagando mais consistente que o Tigrinho? Mostra seu maior respin nos comentários!
https://childstrive.org/
https://www.driedsquidathome.com/forum/topic/61870/exploring-88vv:-the-future-of-online-entertainment
Сижу жду пока высохнет АМ2233 =) https://moscowity.ru А ты тс в лс отпиши , и если ты не балабол , в чем я очень сомневаюсь то проблема будет решена , а писать на ветке это говно для чего не понятно , на что вы надеетесьВсе есть, объем большой
PAOK 1-2 Celta Vigo 2026 Europa League thriller result
Jogo do Tigrinho no Pix R$1: teste grátis com chance real de bônus explosivo
Ludogorets 2-1 Ferencvaros 2026 Europa League Bulgarian edge
Betboom VIP: quem já subiu de nível só jogando Fortune Tiger? Benefícios reais
PG Soft Brasil 2026: melhor combinação Pix + cashback + giros grátis
Статьи, личный опыт, руководства по преодолению тревоги, развитию критического мышления, гигиене информации и самопомощи.
Корпоративные программы: Психологическая поддержка сотрудников компаний для
улучшения их благополучия.
Философия: Создание поддерживающего и человечного пространства, где забота о ментальном здоровье
становится нормой
Лучше понимать мысли чувства и состояния
анализ наружной рекламы reklamnyj-kreativ13.ru .
Fortune Ox respins infinitos: já chegou a 25 respins seguidos? Mítico!
https://blogfreely.net/canoeband09/melbet-free-bet-promo-code-turkey-mel200vip-eu130-bonus
PG Soft cashback diário 12%: quem já acumulou R$200+ só de devolução?
PG Soft top cassinos Pix 2026: lista atualizada com bônus reais
Jogo do Tigrinho ao vivo chat: já ganhou bônus interagindo com outros jogadores?
Fortune Rabbit respins + wilds: já teve chain de 40 giros?
вертолеты россии руководство
Bodø/Glimt 3-1 Inter Milan 2026 Europa League Norwegian shock
Jogo do Tigrinho 2026: aposta R$1 e ganha 100x – já aconteceu com você?
https://juul-carson-2.blogbright.net/melbet-vip-bonus-code-mel200vip-eu130-offer
нейросеть для учебы нейросеть для учебы .
Fortune Tiger cartinha misteriosa: quantas vezes você já pegou x10?
Jogo do Tigrinho multiplicador aleatório: melhor que respins fixos? Opine!
PG Soft Brasil 2026: melhor combinação Pix + cashback + giros grátis
PG Soft top 5 jogos 2026: Tigrinho, Coelho, Touro, Mahjong e… qual o 5º?
https://playdoit.cat/
Playdoit Casino es un contemporaneo casa de apuestas online y tambien casa de apuestas creado especificamente para el publico mexicano, que realiza sus actividades con licencia oficial y ofrece un recorrido completo tanto desde el celular como desde el ordenador.
https://mozillabd.science/wiki/Melbet_Promo_Code_Today_Saudi_Arabia_MEL200VIP_130_Bonus
http://wargame-workshop.com/bbs/home.php?mod=space&uid=977802
yo ngl 777bet slaps fr fr, like lowkey addictive but in a good way imo, the whole vibe is just different fr