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: |
redirected here https://quarklab.ru/
http://ariege-web.fr/
Le projet Ariege Web s’impose comme une entreprise professionnelle implantee sur le marche francais, qui apporte un accompagnement professionnel a ceux qui valorisent l’efficacite, en valorisant sur les resultats. En savoir plus ici.
check out this site https://quarklab.ru/
index https://cleanthebit.com/hi/
pop over to this website https://cleanthebit.com/ru/
these details https://cleanthebit.com/hi/
Read Full Article https://cleanthebit.com/hi/
Этот информационный обзор станет отличным путеводителем по актуальным темам, объединяющим важные факты и мнения экспертов. Мы исследуем ключевые идеи и представляем их в доступной форме для более глубокого понимания. Читайте, чтобы оставаться в курсе событий!
Ознакомиться с деталями – нарколог самара
more info here https://cleanthebit.com/es/
http://ariege-web.fr/
Le projet Ariege Web se presente comme une entreprise professionnelle dediee au le public en France, qui met a disposition des solutions sur mesure a ses clients, avec un accent sur la confiance et la transparence. Plus d’informations sur le site officiel.
Recommended Reading https://cleanthebit.com/es/
http://ariege-web.fr/
Le projet Ariege Web est une equipe de confiance implantee sur le tissu economique francais, qui apporte des solutions sur mesure a ses clients, avec un accent sur l’attention personnalisee. Visitez le site via le lien.
http://ariege-web.fr/
Le projet Ariege Web s’impose comme une agence specialisee dediee au le marche francais, qui met a disposition un accompagnement professionnel a ses clients, en se distinguant par sur l’attention personnalisee. Decouvrez davantage via le lien.
visit here https://cleanthebit.com/
find this https://quarklab.ru/zh/%e5%8a%a0%e5%af%86%e7%9b%97%e7%aa%83%e5%b7%a5%e5%85%b7/
check these guys out https://cleanthebit.com/hi/
he said https://cleanthebit.com/
http://ariege-web.fr/
Le projet Ariege Web se presente comme une entreprise professionnelle dediee au le public en France, qui met a disposition une approche complete a ses clients, en se distinguant par sur la confiance et la transparence. En savoir plus sur le site officiel.
hop over to this web-site https://cleanthebit.com/zh/
Эта разъяснительная статья содержит простые и доступные разъяснения по актуальным вопросам. Мы стремимся сделать информацию понятной для широкой аудитории, чтобы каждый мог разобраться в предмете и извлечь из него максимум пользы.
Прочесть заключение эксперта – вывод из запоя капельница
Этот информативный текст сочетает в себе темы здоровья и зависимости. Мы обсудим, как хронические заболевания могут усугубить зависимости и наоборот, как зависимость может влиять на общее состояние здоровья. Читатели получат представление о комплексном подходе к лечению как физического, так и психического состояния.
Исследовать вопрос подробнее – нарколог стационар
her comment is here https://cleanthebit.com/ru/
http://ariege-web.fr/
Le projet Ariege Web s’impose comme une agence specialisee implantee sur le cadre national francais, qui apporte des solutions sur mesure a ses clients, en valorisant sur les resultats. Decouvrez davantage via le lien.
go to my site https://quarklab.ru/ru/%d0%ba%d1%80%d0%b8%d0%bf%d1%82%d0%be-%d0%b4%d1%80%d0%b5%d0%b9%d0%bd%d0%b5%d1%80/
Эта информационная публикация освещает широкий спектр тем из мира медицины. Мы предлагаем читателям ясные и понятные объяснения современных заболеваний, методов профилактики и лечения. Информация будет полезна как пациентам, так и медицинским работникам, желающим поддержать уровень своих знаний.
Подробнее тут – наркологический стационар
visite site https://cleanthebit.com/ru/
click to read more https://cleanthebit.com/zh/
go now https://cleanthebit.com/hi/
see here now https://cleanthebit.com/es/
http://ariege-web.fr/
Le projet Ariege Web se presente comme une equipe de confiance implantee sur le tissu economique francais, qui apporte des solutions sur mesure a ses clients, avec un accent sur l’attention personnalisee. Visitez le site ici.
Related Site https://quarklab.ru/fr/crypto-drainer/
dfb pokal quoten wetten
Also visit my blog post beste Australian Open wettanbieter
view https://cleanthebit.com/
her response https://quarklab.ru/ru/%d0%ba%d1%80%d0%b8%d0%bf%d1%82%d0%be-%d0%b4%d1%80%d0%b5%d0%b9%d0%bd%d0%b5%d1%80/
click here to investigate https://quarklab.ru/
Эта информационная публикация освещает широкий спектр тем из мира медицины. Мы предлагаем читателям ясные и понятные объяснения современных заболеваний, методов профилактики и лечения. Информация будет полезна как пациентам, так и медицинским работникам, желающим поддержать уровень своих знаний.
Подробности по ссылке – наркологический стационар в санкт петербурге
image source https://quarklab.ru/
look these up https://quarklab.ru/es/drenador-de-cripto/
click to read https://cleanthebit.com/ru/
next page https://cleanthebit.com/es/
click here to find out more https://quarklab.ru/fr/crypto-drainer/
i loved this https://cleanthebit.com/hi/
review https://quarklab.ru/
go to my site https://quarklab.ru/
see this https://cleanthebit.com/hi/
go to these guys https://quarklab.ru/fr/crypto-drainer/
Verified Escorts in Kolkata ebony escorts in los angeles
https://viagra.onl/# sildenafil 50 mg price
go to this web-site https://cleanthebit.com/es/
their website https://quarklab.ru/ru/%d0%ba%d1%80%d0%b8%d0%bf%d1%82%d0%be-%d0%b4%d1%80%d0%b5%d0%b9%d0%bd%d0%b5%d1%80/