The Button Man
By Davidson King
A visit from The Button Man means only one thing: someone wants you dead.
Duke is born into the world a hired killer. It’s his birthright—all he knows, all he thinks he’ll ever be. Then one fateful night, the unthinkable occurs and in the most tragic of moments, a promise is made. That promise is kept for almost fifteen years, until he comes face-to-face with a target he never expects and a future he never sees coming.
Kelly spends his days in a classroom, while his nights couldn’t be more different. Unbeknownst to those around him, their friendly neighborhood teacher is the handler for a hit man. For over a decade he has watched The Button Man’s back from behind a computer screen. He is content living his double life, believing he will never cross paths with the dangerous assassin, but fate has a different plan.
When the past collides with the present, Duke and Kelly must prevent it from destroying the future. It’s not just their lives they need to think about—the entire world of a fourteen-year-old girl is about to spin on its axis. Dodging bullets and uncovering truths bring the two closer than they could have imagined. But lust takes a back seat to survival when enemies threaten to drown them both in blood. Can they navigate these twists and turns when death is lingering at every corner, or will they die trying?
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Excerpt
“It’s late, Pete. Why are we in a diner at two in the morning? I saw you three hours ago.” I sat across from Peter Panzavecchia. He was the man I mostly worked for, took out the trash for, and loved with my whole heart. He was more than my boss; he was my lover, and we lived that life in secret.
“Yeah, sorry, Duke, um.” He cleared his throat, and my annoyance over being woken up to meet him at a hole-in-the-wall diner after only a couple of hours’ sleep vanished.
Peter’s clothes were rumpled, and sweat beaded on his upper lip and hairline. I watched as he nervously tapped the fingers of one hand on the cracked Formica table, and judging by the slight vibration, he was bouncing his leg.
“Hey.” I reached across the table, desperate to grab his hand and calm him, but he jerked away so fast.
“Duke, no, just.” He took a breath. “I gotta tell you something, you gotta hear me, and what I’m about to say, it’s gotta die with you.”
I’d thought I knew everything about Peter there was to know. But as the cold chill slithered up my spine and spiderwebbed in my brain, I realized I’d been wrong.
“I promise, Pete.”
He nodded curtly. “After we left I got a call, had to go meet at the docks.” He shrugged; it wasn’t a big deal—oftentimes that was where he met other bosses, but he shouldn’t have gone alone. “I went with Tony and Phil. I’m not stupid.”
“Good.”
His laugh wasn’t filled with humor. “Yeah, well, Tony and Phil are dead, Duke. When I showed up, no one was there. It took me like a minute to figure out it was a setup.”
“What the f*ck? Who called the meeting?”
“I thought it was Vince, but—”
“Thought? I don’t understand, Pete. How did you not know who you were meeting?”
“I was told Vince wanted to meet. F*ck, Duke, I know what I’m doing—”
“No, you don’t, ’cause Tony and Phil are f*ckin’ dead!”
“I lowered my voice when the waitress peered over at me from the counter. Pete sighed and ran his fingers through his dark hair. When his hazel eyes met mine, all I could see was fear.
“Duke, I’m f*cked.”
Carra's Review
This was a pairing I haven’t read before, with a hired killer and his handler. The setup had me thinking “uh-oh!”, and the subsequent race to determine exactly what is going on definitely held my attention through the rest of the story.
The matchup of Duke and Kelly didn’t feel obvious; it actually took me a long while before it felt like they were meshing together on the emotional side of things. I actually never felt a full connection between them, it was closer to convenience than the big “L”. They did work well together though in figuring out what was going on and how to get out of the situation in which they found themselves.
There are some interesting secondary characters—to be expected considering the mafia aspect—but my favorites were Duke’s father and daughter, who were characters with good depth that contributed to the story. The resolution at the end felt like it went too quickly after all the buildup prior. It did lead to a satisfactory conclusion, I just would have preferred a less rushed ending.
Overall this book is falling somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars for me, so we’ll split the difference to 3.75. The Button Man is meant for readers 18+ for adult language, sexual content (most of which was limited to short scenes), and violence.
Enter the Giveaway:
To celebrate the release of The Button Man, Davidson is giving away a signed paperback of The Button Man and some author swag!
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About the Author:
Davidson King, always had a hope that someday her daydreams would become real-life stories. As a child, you would often find her in her own world, thinking up the most insane situations. It may have taken her awhile, but she made her dream come true with her first published work, Snow Falling.
She managed to wrangle herself a husband who matched her crazy and they hatched three wonderful children.
If you were to ask her what gave her the courage to finally publish, she'd tell you it was her amazing family and friends. Support is vital in all things and when you're afraid of your dreams, it will be your cheering section that will lift you up.
Connect with Davidson:
https://linktr.ee/davidsonkingauthor
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