A Vancouver-based, amateur sleuth mystery where murder, extortion, and computer hacking threaten a family business and lives. Too bad that the man hired to save them is in way over his head.
Dressed as Kermit the Frog on Halloween night, an unemployed Alex Bellamy wonders where his life went wrong. It could be worse. A few miles away, Coquitlam resident, Zachary Ternoway, is stabbed at his front door. In need of cash, Alex agrees to help catch a computer prankster at McKinleys' Department Store. But things turn serious when someone vows to permanently encrypt the store's data and torch the building unless ten million dollars is handed over in two weeks. Alex knows there's a connection between the murder and the extortion threat, yet time's running out. People are questioning his competency, and a killer's threatening his life.
Excerpt
Alex stepped out of his Mustang and, scanning the parking lot to make sure no one was looking, tugged on his bright green tights. Lena had promised to make tonight's Halloween party up to him with a home-cooked, gourmet meal next week. At this moment he felt like she'd struck the better deal.
Professional Reviews
From Midwest Review
Held hostage for ten million dollars - only Alex Bellamy can save the company from giving into the demands and going bankrupt. "Fatal Encryption" is the story of a sudden murder and its strange link to McKinley's Department Store in which Alex agreed to assist, believing that the murder and the ransom plot against the store's computer information are connected somehow. He must find the connection, the killer, and the extortionist or face unemployment, among other unpleasantness. A riveting mystery, "Fatal Encryption" is highly recommended for community library mystery collections.
From Cheryl Kaye Tardif, bestselling author
Fatal Encryption is a corporate caper with plenty of twists and turns, and an assortment of appealing characters that will keep you guessing.
Debra Purdy Kong's newest novel offers a well-plotted modern day mystery that is reminiscent of the classic whodunnits, and her amateur sleuth Alex Bellamy makes for an interesting, yet flawed, hero. A great beach read!
From Debra Gaynor of ReviewYourBook.com
Debra Purdy Kong reprises her lead character, Alex Bellamy, in her book Fatal Encryption. This book begins with a murder and Alex in a frog costume. Alex takes a job at McKinleys' Department Store as a systemst analyst. Someone is threatening to encrypt their system permanently. Alex delights in a challenge, but is he up to this one?
Debra Purdy Kong writes with a flair for technology. Fatal Encryption has a timely plot. The thought of Alex is a frog costume brings humor and depth to his character. This is an entertaining read. Mystery readers will love it.
Looking for a Well-Crafted, Well-Written Mystery? Then This One’s for You!!!!
If you're one of those diehard mystery fans that love nothing better than to match wits, compile clues and figure out whodunit long before the author's solution is revealed, then this book is for you!!!
Fatal Encryption is a classic mystery that offers fans everything they look for including a compelling story, lots of suspects, tons of clues and a very likable amateur sleuth/murderer tracker downer named Alex Bellamy. He's a very modern day kind of detective. His style is decidedly laid back and reliant on good old-fashioned hard work. He's sort of an anti-hero - his only problem being that he doesn't like bad guys getting away. He's lucky he has this "hero complex" characteristic as it gives him some sort of drive. Without it, we could well imagine him content to spend his life living in his parent's basement on a futon, waking up at noon, and selling used computer parts from discarded units he collects off the street. Fortunately, he does and so he's fiercely independent - doggedly determined to make it on his own. The fact that he tries to help his friend Tristan, who also has some `being proactive' issues - makes the story that much more enjoyable. In Tristan's case, his drive for self-sufficiency comes from being the sole caretaker of his adorable baby daughter, Keri-ann. Alex and Tristan are an unlikely pairing, but it works beautifully!
Fatal Encryption starts out with a bang - well actually more of a well-placed stab - on Halloween no less - and goes from there. Alex Bellamy is brought onboard by his rather rapacious, needy girlfriend, Lena to help at McKinley's. McKinley's is the department store where she works. They have been hard hit by a number of computer pranks that are now turning the corner into becoming ominous. When Alex is hired, they quickly slide downhill into outright extortion, but do they have anything to do with Zachary Ternoway's murder? That's what Alex Bellamy is determined to find out.
In this book, Debra Purdy Kong establishes a solid lock and opportunity to create a wonderful series of books based on her lead characters. There's lots of room for her to go and we'd be more than happy to go with her and see what Alex Bellamy is up to next time around!
Halloween--Port Moody, British Columbia: Unable to join the trick-or-treating fun due to the chicken pox, one young suburban girl is the sole witness to a costumed reveler responsible for brutal premeditated murder. Nearby, the wife of the victim's brother storms home from a party and finds the body. But why was he killed? What did he know?
Alex Bellamy a young computer geek in need of work takes a contract job to solve recent network and computer glitches at his girlfriend's company. He soon learns that the glitches are more than just pranks. In fact, all of the computers vital records are encrypted by an extortionist threatening to destroy all of the records or pay ten million dollars to save the company. Soon Bellamy is engulfed in a whirlwind of corporate greed and believes that not only is the company at risk but lives as well; the suburban murder and the young girls knowledge is the key to unlocking the conspirators' identity. In his zeal to debug the company's computer system and solve the murder, Bellamy finds his as well as his friends and families lives are in danger.
Debra Purdy Kong's book "Fatal Encryption" is an entertaining mystery full of back room corporate deals, family squabbles and power plays, secret affairs, and murder. I enjoyed this novel. Kong creates multiple plausible suspects throughout the story leaving the reader guessing all the way until the end. I was also surprised by how bold and brave Alex Bellamy was throughout the book. He frequently questioned potential suspects telling them how he believed they committed various crimes which if true would have put him in grave danger as in most situations he was alone with these potential killers.
Reminiscent of "Murder She Wrote", "Fatal Encryption" features an everyday guy with good observational and deductive skills who solves a crime. Kong has created an interested character and I look forward to the next Alex Bellamy mystery.
Yolanda Carter dreams of owning her own bakery. Employed at a cat shelter, she stumbles across a scheme that threatens to close it down. Will her delicious brownies save them?
Book three in series. Excitement and tension begin on the first day of filming a Restoration drama on location at the historic Jacobean mansion, Ham House in Surrey.
An Internet stripper finds fortune, love and murder in New York City after an encounter with a rare first edition book, which opens doors to many possibilities.
