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: |
The company has gained popularity thanks to its fast payouts, transparent operations under Curacao license https://novoevnukovo.ru/index.php?topic=4738.new#new
9870k.top – A couple images didn’t load for me, hope they’ll fix asset links soon.
I’ve been active for a few days, mostly for portfolio tracking, and it’s always responsive team. Perfect for both new and experienced traders.
The company has gained popularity thanks to its fast payouts, transparent operations under Curacao license https://edu.shpl.ru/moodle/blog/index.php?entryid=
ylu555.xyz – The color scheme is subtle and easy on the eyes, nice touch.
I’ve been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or weblog posts
in this sort of space . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this
web site. Reading this information So i am glad to convey that I’ve an incredibly excellent uncanny
feeling I discovered just what I needed. I most unquestionably will make sure to do not overlook this site
and give it a look regularly.
Недавно попробовал Складчик впервые и был приятно удивлён. Купил складчину на курс по дизайну. Материалы пришли быстро, доступ открыли сразу. Всё полное и качественное. Цена минимальная, экономия впечатляющая. Удобство сайта отличное. Теперь буду пользоваться регулярно: https://v27.skladchik.org/
Откройте секреты счастливого детства с качественными товарами от TykePop.
Для тех, кто ищет информацию по теме “ОШИБКА: Не удалось получить контент.”, есть отличная статья.
Смотрите сами:
https://zachitaprav.ru
Если у вас возникли вопросы или пожелания, наша команда всегда готова помочь. До скорых встреч!
17kshu – The visuals are neat, gives off a clean and modern impression today.
storagesheds.store – The layout is clean, though I’d like to see more detail in sections.
storagesheds.store – Load speed is decent, though heavier pages lag a bit on slower nets.
вызвать психиатра на дом
psikhiatr-moskva009.ru
платная психиатрическая скорая помощь
dersimizmuzik.org – The layout is clean, doesn’t feel cluttered even with many posts.
Take advantage of promo codes and bonuses at 1xBet to enhance your gaming experience and increase your chances of winning https://www.useum.org/myuseum/promo%20codefor1xbet
The company has gained popularity thanks to its fast payouts, transparent operations under Curacao license https://forum.lfl.ru/index.php?showtopic=57042
Take advantage of promo codes and bonuses at 1xBet to enhance your gaming experience and increase your chances of winning https://textualheritage.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5499
bbofrwhnimpcjibfunu.live – The color palette is gentle, doesn’t overwhelm even with long reading.
captcha-kraken17at.org – Overall the site is mysterious yet promising; I’ll monitor developments.
I’ve been active for a month, mostly for testing new tokens, and it’s always fast transactions.
weopwjrpwqkjklj.top – the layout is neat, though some sections seem underdeveloped or bare
Попробуйте https://www.sbgwebseo.com/blog/
купить оригинальный диплом техникума купить оригинальный диплом техникума .
Приобрести онлайн кокаин, мефедрон, гашиш, бошки
Откройте для себя новые возможности с перетяжкой мебели в Минске, позволяющей обновить ваш интерьер и продлить жизнь любимым предметам!
Выбор материалов включает как натуральные, так и синтетические варианты.
The testing new tokens tools are easy onboarding and wide token selection.
Blake here — I’ve tried checking analytics and the intuitive UI impressed me. The updates are frequent and clear.
bitcoin-mining-news.website – I saw a broken chart image here and there — hope they fix those.
I switched from another service because of the useful analytics and scalable features. The mobile app makes daily use simple.
Take advantage of promo codes and bonuses at 1xBet to enhance your gaming experience and increase your chances of winning https://thesn.eu/blogs/106940/%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%82-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B4-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B8%D1%82
x3165.xyz – The footer is a bit sparse, more links or info would help.
The company has gained popularity thanks to its fast payouts, transparent operations under Curacao license http://adminka.getbb.ru/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3208
I personally find that great platform with wide token selection — it made my crypto journey easier. My withdrawals were always smooth.
ylu555.xyz – On mobile a few elements overlap but it’s still usable overall.
ylu555.xyz – Typography is decent, reading text doesn’t strain the eyes.
It’s appropriate time to make a few plans for the longer term
and it is time to be happy. I have learn this publish and if I may I desire to counsel you few
interesting issues or advice. Maybe you could write subsequent
articles referring to this article. I want to learn more issues about it!
LaLiga oyunlarını izləmək indi çox asandır. Komandaların vəziyyətini izləmək indi çox rahatdır.
LaLiga tv live yayımını izləmək üçün link buradadır. Futbol dizayn sevərləri üçün LaLiga logo nümunələri.
Bütün LaLiga oyunlarının nəticələri burada — laliga maçlar.
Ən çox LaLiga qazanan komanda hansıdır?.
LaLiga tv canlı baxmaq üçün seçimlər.
LaLiga teams haqqında maraqlı faktlar.
LaLiga super cup 2024 möhtəşəm idi.
Futbol azarkeşləri üçün LaLiga livescore bölməsi.
ylu555.xyz – Overall it’s intriguing, I’ll revisit later to see what new content appears.
консультация адвоката Рекомендуем посетить профессиональный сайт юриста Светланы Приймак, предлагающий качественную юридическую помощь гражданам и бизнесу в Украине. Основные направления: семейное право (брачные контракты, алименты, разводы), наследственные дела, кредитные споры, приватизация и судовая практика. Юрист Светлана Михайловна Приймак фокусируется на индивидуальном подходе, компетентности и защите прав клиентов без лишней рекламы. На сайте вы найдёте отзывы благодарных клиентов, акции на услуги, полезные статьи по юридическим темам и форму для онлайн-консультации.
order propecia without insurance RegrowRx Online Best place to buy propecia
The checking analytics tools are stable performance and robust security.
I was wondering if you ever considered changing the page layout of your site?
Its very well written; I love what youve
got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.
Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two
images. Maybe you could space it out better?
Take advantage of promo codes and bonuses at 1xBet to enhance your gaming experience and increase your chances of winning http://fabnews.ru/forum/showthread.php?p=107332#post107332
businessesnewsdaily.site – Overall it’s a solid news site, I’ll return to check fresh business updates.
businessesnewsdaily.site – Found a few broken images in posts, hope they patch those soon.
I personally find that i value the intuitive UI and reliable uptime. This site is reliable.
Ищете все самые свежие новости? Посетите сайт https://scanos.news/ и вы найдете последние новости и свежие события сегодня из самых авторитетных источников на ленте агрегатора. Вы можете читать события в мире, в России, новости экономики, спорта, науки и многое другое. Свежая лента новостей всегда для вас!
The company has gained popularity thanks to its fast payouts, transparent operations under Curacao license http://khvoynaya.getbb.ru/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=9411
The checking analytics process is simple and the responsive team makes it even better. The updates are frequent and clear.
dersimizmuzik.org – On mobile the text flows nicely, didn’t struggle to read.
Магазин 24/7 – купить закладку MEF GASH SHIHSKI