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: |
Moderate entry and target exit keep winning.
перейти на сайт
Vavada промокод бонусы на депозит
the community keeps reminding rookies to size positions properly.
https://stromectol.reviews/# stromectol reviews
Продолжение
Hype casino промокод
узнать
Бонусы за регистрацию с промокодом Unlim казино
этот сайт
Lex casino промокод при регистрации
такой мега сайт
такой
1xbit промокод бонусы на депозит
перейти на сайт мега ссылка
этот контент
Приветственные бонусы по промокоду казино Jetton
Компания осуществляет поставки базового металлургического сырья, включая олово, свинец и цинк в чушках.
https://rms-ekb.ru/catalog/list/list-9khs-36x1500x3000-gost-19903-74/
перенаправляется сюда
1хбит промокод
посетить сайт
Irwin casino код активации бонусы на депозит
Fortune Dragon kept presence in the morning sessions.
Читать далее мега сайт
страница
Риобет промокод бонусы на депозит
seoshelf – Content reads clearly, helpful examples made concepts easy to grasp.
на этом сайте mega onion
опубликовано здесь
1xbit промокод при регистрации
подробнее mega onion
Особенно понравился раздел про Современные вызовы и перспективы районов Пензенской области.
Вот, делюсь ссылкой:
https://xroniker.ru/%d0%b1%d0%b5%d0%b7-%d1%80%d1%83%d0%b1%d1%80%d0%b8%d0%ba%d0%b8/rajony-penzenskoj-oblasti-segodnya-demografiya-ekonomika-dorogi-i-uslugi-bez-sryvov/
узнать мега ссылка
такой mega onion
на этом сайте mega onion
Fortune Tiger delivered good combinations in sequence.
Подробнее
Мартин казино промокод
A player entered with a small bank transfer bankroll and left in profit without raising risk.
интернет мега даркнет
Перейти на сайт мега онион
смотреть здесь мега ссылка
содержание mega darknet
Ganesha Gold stays strong but the race with Treasures of Aztec is more balanced this week.
этот контент мега ссылка
взгляните на сайте здесь мега ссылка
нажмите mega onion
Wild Bandito kept good performance for those who tuned bets to the conservative range.
the forum prefers clear T&C explanations over flashy banners.
выберите ресурсы mega onion
этот сайт мега онион
этот сайт мега сайт
Instant PayPal made same-day entry and exit easier.
на этом сайте mega darknet
https://paripesa.com.co/
Paripesa se presenta como un innovador sitio de apuestas digital y operador de apuestas pensado unicamente para la audiencia de Colombia, que realiza sus actividades con permiso vigente y pone a disposicion un recorrido completo desde el dispositivo movil como desde la computadora.
Нарколог на дом — это не просто возможность получить медицинскую помощь в удобное время, но и решение важнейших задач по стабилизации состояния пациента, избавлению от острых симптомов абстиненции и восстановлению его здоровья. В случае с алкоголизмом и наркоманией выезд врача на дом в Воронеже — это важный шаг к восстановлению, который начинается там, где пациент находится, в удобной и привычной обстановке. Клиника «Частный медик 24» предлагает круглосуточные выезды нарколога, предоставляя экстренную помощь при запоях, наркозависимости, а также консультации по дальнейшему лечению и реабилитации. Врач приедет по указанному адресу и проведёт все необходимые процедуры, включая капельницы для стабилизации состояния пациента.
Исследовать вопрос подробнее – нарколог на дом анонимно воронеж
http://shkola.spez-vizit.ru/components/pages/?idealynye_rastitelynye_masla_dlya_volos.html
Fortune Dragon enters strong in the hot novelty group.
A player entered with a small PayPal bankroll and left in profit without raising risk.
перейдите на этот сайт mega ссылка
Источник мега онион