The Button Man

Button Man Series, Book 1

By: Davidson King

Narrated by: Iggy Toma, Tor Thom

A visit from Button Man means only one thing: someone wants you dead.

Duke is born into the world a hired killer. 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.

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?

Contains mature themes.

©2022 Davidson King (P)2023 Tantor

Loved this book!

I’m really glad that I listened to this book. The narrators were wonderful, Tor and Iggy made the story come to life. I can’t wait for the next one.

My first Davidson King book….

But it won’t be my last!

The perfect mix. A mobster hit man action mystery that had me in turns laughing out loud, nearly crying, and yearning for these characters to find their happiness. Davidson King did not shy away from the dark, gritty, and heavy, so the laughs surprised me! They were the bright notes to balance the pain. A fine piece of writing. I will definitely be looking for more.

Tor Thom has the deep voice people love but not a lot of range. Several times he confused his character voices and missed the essence of a line or scene.
Iggy Toma, once a narrator I wasn’t terribly fond of, has grown on me as he has honed his skill. He’s good at maintaining several distinct characters and conveying the emotion and tension of a scene.
Overall this was a pretty good narration.

Though the book was fairly short, it didn’t feel like it was missing anything. I enjoyed it a lot and will be adding it to my Listen Again list.

Loved It!

I love Davidson King's Haven Heart series (I discovered it in audio and listened to them) and am looking to snatch up everything else with that type of vibe. As soon as I read this premise, I knew I had to listen to it. Great would building and wonderful characters. I like the dynamic of a relationship between a hitman and his handler- even more so when Duke accepts a job to assassinate his handler (unknowingly). The story had so much mystery and suspense that it was easy to get hooked. I loved both Duke and Kelly, and liked that they both had things they were better at than the other. Kelly "facing off" against Everleigh's principal Pemberley was such an awesome moment I fist-pumped and it's one of my favorite scenes. I liked the way they grew closer, came to trust each other, and fell in love. The chemistry between them was sizzling. I loved the dangerous action scenes. Davidson King does it so well!

I love both Iggy Toma and Tor Thom, and thought they did a fantastic job bringing these guys to life. Tor's deeper, gruff voice was perfect for Duke and Iggy's really suited Kelly.

I really hope we get more books with this theme and in this series!

Overall: 5 stars
Performance: 5 stars
Story: 5 stars

Great narrator but not Davidson Kings best work...

I love Iggy Toma, he's one of my favorite narrator and I will listen to anything he does but without him this would have been a total flop. He makes his character amusing and Tor Thom does decent, not my favorite but not enough to make this book better than a 3 star. The story line was decent but not executed well. Davidson King usually does a more compelling story so than Thai so it was disappointing. The characters deserved more depth than they got and their love story was nill so I was confused if this was a suspense romance or a thriller with a live story or neither or maybe both, I still don't know. This was included with the Plus catalog so no hardship to listen to since I listen to 20+ books a month (I listen while I work) but if I had used a credit on it I would have quickly returned it. and if I had spent money on it, even on a sale, I would have been really disappointed.