A visit from 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 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?
Seriously though, The Button Man is brilliant in so many ways.
First: the name. The Button Man. Such a common daily item that most of us use at least once a day. Let's face it as a nickname you'd expect the moniker for someone who dresses dapper with high end suits or perhaps likes lots of bling on his body. But not King's anti-hero MC. I won't spoil the reason behind said nickname but I love it. Common, clever, unique, legacy . . . sometimes the simplicity of titles can make the biggest impact.
Second: the cast of characters. As for Duke and Kelly, they are a meshing of both sides of the scale. Duke is the hired killer with a legitimate business front and Kelly is the computer geeky teacher with a keeping the hired killer safe sideline. Polar opposites that occupy the same existence without knowing it. When their worlds collide, you can literally see them being totally gobsmacked, that's just how vivid Davidson King's creativity shines. As for the rest of the cast, also equally lovely and 150% needed, not a single character is just thrown in for page or scene filler, they all have a part to play.
Third: the mystery. I love a good who done it or who's behind it woven web. I won't go into too many details because I don't want to spoil this masterpiece for others. I'll just say that I had a few inklings early on that were partially right and there were a couple possibilities that floated in about 2/3 of the way through that ended up being nearly completely wrong. By the time revelations were shared, my brain was a mish mash of "I thought ??? would factor in" and "HOLY CRAP! ??? never even fluttered in".
Last but not least: the family man. I've made no secret of the fact that I have found men who care for kids sexy as hell and Duke's little Everleigh, or Ever as she's called, is a delight. Seeing Duke, and eventually Kelly as a bit of an outsider acquaintance, care for her, protecting her, loving her is just icing on the cake.
Davidson King's talent for storytelling is once again rich and flavorful, a well stirred pot of spicy and sweet with just the right pinch of salt to enhance the taste. I don't know if the author has plans for this setting beyond The Button Man(either way is okay with me, as a standalone it's great but there is definite potential for more which would be equally as great) but I do have to admit that in a seemingly throwaway line, a one sentence statement in passing, Duke mentioned a name to someone in the same line of business he reached out to on the phone. I couldn't help but notice the name is a prominent character name in one of the author's other series. Coincidence? Perhaps. Hints at a future crossover? Perhaps. Please, oh please let it be the latter because seeing Duke and Kelly mixing with that crowd? Talk about mayhem X10. *😉Hint Hint😉* BTW: I won't say the character name because I don't want to spoil anyone else's Easter Egg find if that really is what this was.
To sum up quickly yet another bit of a wordy review: The Button Man is a masterful blend of drama, action, friendship, family, mystery, heat, romance, humor, and of course my personal favorite: mayhem, loads and loads of mayhem. If you've never read Davidson King, this is an excellent pool to wet your feet in.
RATING:
Author Bio:
PROLOGUE
Friday, August 8, 2008
DUKE
From birth, my life was not what many would refer to as typical: I was born into a family of murderers. My great-grandfather bred an era of killers for hire, and because he never trusted anyone, they had to be blood. He raised my grandfather to be merciless, continuing the cycle with my father. When I was a baby, my father looked at me and already knew what my future held. There was never anything I could do to avoid it; embracing what I was secured my survival.
I was eighteen when I made my first kill and when I returned home, covered in blood, and feeling like a piece of my soul had died with my victim, my grandfather handed me a little black box. Inside was a pin. It was made of gold, and it was a button.
He and my father stood side by side that day, their eyes shining with pride, and informed me that I was now a button man. I knew what that meant— in order to be in this family, I had to earn my place. Killing a librarian who sold mafia secrets to the government was my way in.
Many would think that very day was when my world changed, and nothing was ever the same again. Well, they’d all be wrong. August 8, 2008 was the day the earth shifted and everything I loved in the world, all the hope I had, was washed away.
*****
“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 fuck? 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. Fuck, Duke, I know what I’m doing—”
“No, you don’t, ’cause Tony and Phil are fuckin’ 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 fucked.”
Three hours ago, Pete had been the furthest thing from in trouble. He’d been cackling as we got into our cars, and seeing as I was with him most of the time, I’d have known if there was an issue.
“What are you talking about?”
“Someone’s taking territories that aren’t theirs. Tony and Phil died so I could get away. When I was in the car, I called Frankie before you. Four bosses were hit tonight, Duke. I’m the last one.”
“Vince is dead, too?”
“Yeah.”
“Then we hide you. No one’s killing you, Pete, I won’t let them.”
“Duke, listen to me. I gotta tell you something; it’s why I asked you here. It’s the thing you gotta take to the grave with you.” His breath was shaky, and I kept my mouth shut. “I have a daughter.”
This was a night of surprises. “What?”
“She’s not even a year old; it was that night at the bachelor party, remember? I told you I fucked that dancer and… and how I thought of you the whole time just to get it up.”
Pete and I had to put up a straight front— not many in our line of work thought kindly about homosexuality.
“Duke, I need you to take care of her. I—”
“You talk like you’re dying, like…” That was when Pete lifted his other hand, the one I realized he’d had hidden. It was covered in blood.
“Duke, I am dying, and if they find my little girl, they’ll kill her too. I kept her hidden so no one knew. The dancer overdosed two months ago. My daughter, she has a nanny who loves her, but she can’t protect her. Duke…”
“We gotta get you to a hospital.”
Pete shook his head, chuckling darkly. “No time.” He coughed, and a small splash of blood painted the table.
“You’re not dying here!”
I went around and helped him up, happy when he didn’t argue. I didn’t ask the waitress, just went through the kitchen out the back, where I had my car. Keeping vigilant, I got Pete into the passenger’s seat and raced to the driver’s side.
“She’s on Beechwood Lane in Fairfield, Connecticut.” I looked over to see Pete take out a thumb drive and plop it into the cup holder. “Everything you need to know about her is on there. Everything else has been destroyed.”
“You hold on, I’m getting you to my father.” My dad had medical training, and I’d seen him stitch up quite a few people in his day.
“Duke.” Pete coughed again, and this time blood flowed from his mouth. I knew it was bad— at least my head did; my heart was another story. “Pull over, please.”
I was only five minutes from the house and knew if I floored it I’d get there. “Duke, stop the car.”
His gaze met mine, and he gripped my forearm. With a nod, I slowed down and drove to a small clearing on the side of the road.
“Promise me, Duke, promise you’ll keep her safe. No one can ever know.”
I quickly got out of the car and ran over to his side, flinging the door open to kneel in front of him.
“Let me see.”
Pete shook his head. “Can you not? What I need, please.”
I couldn’t hold back. At that moment, I didn’t care if people drove by and saw us. I reached in and scooped him into my arms.
“Fuck,” he moaned, the painful sound filling the night.
“I promise,” I whispered as I bent my head closer to his face.
“Love her like your own.” A sob tumbled from his mouth.
“Please, Peter Pan,
I can’t do this without you.” I pressed my forehead to his, crying silently.
“I hate when you call me that.”
I’d called him that since the first time I met him. We were ten, my dad worked for his dad, and Pete and I were friends, later lovers.
“Whoever did this—”
“I’ll find them, Pete, I’ll hunt them down and kill them.”
He shook his head. “You need to run, take my daughter and run far from here.”
We were silent. I stared into his dimming hazel eyes, knowing this was the last time I’d hold him.
“I’ll always love you, Peter Pan.” I brushed his sweaty hair off his forehead.
“I’ll meet you in Neverland.” His breath hitched, and right there on the side of the road, in my embrace, my heart died and my whole world changed.
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.
When she's not writing you can find her blogging away on Diverse Reader, her review and promotional site. 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.
EMAIL: davidsonkingauthor@yahoo.com
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