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: |
Это дает возможность вложить сэкономленные средства в качественные материалы или отделку.
Подрядчики ценят готовую документацию за ее прозрачность и полноту, что ускоряет работы на объекте.
готовые планировки домов https://proekty-domov4.ru/
веб-сайте https://navek.by
ColorSync ensures color consistency across devices by embedding ICC profiles in images and matching displays to printers.
Check the details:
shell script to manage startup applications on m2 macs
Is it worth it?:
macOS’s unified logging system collects diagnostic messages via the ‘log’ command for troubleshooting system and application issues with structured queries.
ammo
сайт https://navek.by/catalog/montazh-pamyatnikov/
в этом разделе https://navek.by/catalog/ukladka-plitki/
https://vk.com/mebelszr
посмотреть на этом сайте https://navek.by/catalog/ukladka-plitki/
porn star
работа на удаленке вакансии удаленная работа
кликните сюда https://navek.by/
Путешествие — один из самых ярких подарков, который дарит не вещи, а эмоции и воспоминания на всю жизнь. Ищете горящие туры таиланд? На сайте evrobuket-nn.ru/puteshestviya/ можно купить готовый тур, забронировать отель или подобрать горящее предложение по выгодной цене в Турцию, Египет, Таиланд, Китай и другие направления. Платформа функционирует просто: указываешь страну, даты и бюджет — и сразу видишь актуальные предложения без звонков и долгого ожидания. Тур в подарок актуален для любого события и оставит впечатление значительно глубже, чем любой обычный сувенир.
Welcome to Winpesa Nigeria! Experience top-tier casino games and unbeatable betting action winpesa ke
https://xn--56-6kc5ajblq1am.xn--p1ai/
Источник https://battlepass.ru/service/roblox
выберите ресурсы https://navek.by/
Перейти на сайт https://navek.by/
https://turtella.ru/_a1448.html
проверить сайт https://navek.by/catalog/ukladka-plitki/
There are some serious financial ramifications here.
Продвижение сообщества или страницы во ВКонтакте с помощью привлечения подписчиков. Услуга помогает быстро увеличить аудиторию, повысить активность и доверие к группе или профилю. Переходите по запросу реальные подписчики в вк. Возможна накрутка живых и заинтересованных пользователей, что улучшает видимость сообщества, помогает быстрее развивать бренд, проекты и продажи. Подходит для групп, пабликов и личных страниц.
нарколог на дом анонимно narkolog-na-dom-v-krasnodare.ru .
This article is very informative and easy to follow. Each idea is explained clearly, making it simple to understand. The content is structured well. It provides practical knowledge and useful insights.
Cara Menang Slot Gates of Olympus Pakai Pola Spin
The transparency around useful analytics is refreshing and builds trust. The dashboard gives a complete view of my holdings.
deepfake porn
информационные киоски
go to my site dexscreener
Источник https://navek.by/
indian porn
посмотреть на этом сайте https://battlepass.ru/service/roblox
посмотреть в этом разделе https://navek.by/
why not find out more dexscreener
проверить сайт https://navek.by/
https://antimicrobialresearch.com/amoxil.html Sulfamethoxazole Trimethoprim
19-го адрес был дан. Мефедрон, Марихуану, Бошки, Кокаин мои близкий поделился вашими контактами когда про бывали ваш товар)Я тебе уже все в личке сказал, ты на фейка попал, если такое вообще было.
how to buy stocks in uae https://ceritaarni.com dubai completed properties1st home real estate dubai
Продолжение https://navek.by
The using the mobile app tools are stable performance and low fees. My withdrawals were always smooth.
пояснения https://navek.by/catalog/montazh-pamyatnikov
useful content Dex
перейти на сайт https://navek.by/catalog/ukladka-plitki/
that site dexscreener
такой https://navek.by/catalog/montazh-pamyatnikov
Смотреть здесь https://battlepass.ru/service/genshin
I like the valuable info you supply for your articles.
I’ll bookmark your blog and take a look at once more here regularly.
I’m rather certain I’ll be informed many new stuff right here!
Best of luck for the following!
обновлен Mellstroy Game открылся заново после полной переработки. Добавлены новые провайдеры, обновлённая система бонусов, ускоренная обработка запросов и улучшенная безопасность. Платформа стала удобнее и быстрее — рекомендую зайти и посмотреть.