Book Review: I Promise You Pain

"Not your daddy’s Jack Reacher, Cordon Finn is a different breed..."

Welcome to the book tour for I Promise You Pain by Bart Baker. Read on for more details!

I Promise you Pain (The Cordon Finn Vengeance Series #1) Genre: Crime Fiction/ Action Thriller/ LGBTQ2+ Books Publication Date: May 11, 2023 Hired by a Chicago billionaire to pluck his runaway son from the Palm Springs compound of a wealthy pedophile, former military extraction and information specialist, Cordon Finn, believes it will be a simple snatch-and-go job with a big payday. But Cordon discovers that his quarry isn’t the billionaire's underage son, but rather his trans-daughter, Lucious, whose father wants her dead. After fighting off assassins, Cordon vows to keep Lucious alive. But when the billionaire kidnaps Cordon’s girlfriend and comes after his family and friends, Cordon takes the fight back to the billionaire's door. With the help of Lucious and his sister, Annie, Cordon craves vengeance, even if the cost is his own life.

I PROMISE YOU PAIN contains brutal violence as well as raw language, consensual and nonconsensual sex. There are trans and gay characters. Not your daddy’s Jack Reacher, Cordon Finn is a different breed. Fascinating, faceted, damaged but relatable, Cordon seeks vengeance for those who can't.

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My Review

Cordon is really like your typical guy that you would hang out with as friends. He never really asked to be a hero, but it turned into one. That is what makes him so relatable. Cordon is not "perfect", unless you call him a "perfectly" broken soul. Someone that I grew emotionally attached to as a character.

For what Cordon went through as a child, this case was very personal to him. His connection to Lucious was kind. I liked how they interacted with each other. I do want to take a moment to mention Gio. He brought the humor to this dark, violent, and bloody story. Yes, there is blood spilled and cuss words used. Lastly, the moments between Cordon and his sister, Annie were sweet.

I will leave you with this quote from Cordon:
"His greatest, unspoken fear is, he never will be the man he wishes he was."

Excerpt

“I got money,” Lucious says. “Whatever you’re getting paid for, whatever you’re doing, I can get you more.”

“Shut up,” Cordon demands, pushing Lucious behind him as Cordon plots their escape. As he calculates the route out, Cordon is snapped back to the moment when he hears Luscious behind him.

“I’m at Wayne’s! This fucking lunatic is kidnapping me! He about killed Way---” Lucious barks into his phone as Cordon whips around. Yanking the cell phone from Lucious’s hand, Cordon smashes it against the wall. Dropping the pieces to the floor, Cordon stomps on it.

“What the hell!? That’s a brand-new iPhone!”

“Hear me and hear me good, knucklefuck. You pull any bullshit, you call for help, try to signal someone, anything I don't like, I will rip that little swimsuit off your ass and gag you with it. Understand?"

"Yeah, but—"

Cordon slaps his hand over Lucious's mouth. "Shut! Up! You talk, you die. You keep your mouth shut, do as I say, you will come out of this alive, Lucas,” Cordon warns in a harsh whisper as he takes his hand away from Lucious's mouth.

"Lucious! My name is Lucious! She! Her!"

Again, Cordon slaps his hand over Lucious's mouth again, his face getting close to hers.

"Don't! Care!" Cordon snaps back.

Lucious glares into Cordon's eyes, fighting her rage. She carefully reaches up and pulls Cordon's hand away from her face. “Why are you kidnapping me?”

Cordon’s finger gets right in Lucious’s face, ignoring her question. “We’re going down those stairs together, our arms around each other, and right out the front door. Remember, you try to alert anyone, I will punch you in the head so hard you will wake up in the hospital if you wake up at all. If I'm clear, nod.”

Lucious defiantly does as asked. As Cordon turns back to the door, Lucious seizes the moment and grabs Cordon’s hand, putting a lock on Cordon’s thumb, slamming her elbow into a pressure point in Cordon’s neck. More startled than injured, Cordon’s free hand comes up fast, right into Lucious’s solar plexus, the air blasting from Lucious’s lungs.

Staggering back, Lucious recovers quickly, jumping into the air and surprising Cordon with a kick that connects with his head. Cordon wobbles a step, his fist coming up defensively. Lucious strikes, pummeling Cordon with kicks and punches, her skill as a fighter remarkable but not

unexpected. Cordon knew the kid was a champion and prepared himself for Lucious to fight back.

Blocking Lucious’s attack, Cordon finds his back against the wall. He drops to the floor and sweeps out Lucious’s legs. Lucious hits the floor hard but startling Cordon, Lucious kips back to her feet, ducks under Cordon’s meaty swing, pile-drives a few punches into Cordon’s rib while screaming for help, hoping someone can hear her over the blasting music.

Cordon shoves Lucious back hard into the dresser, but Lucious comes back swinging and kicking. Cordon continues to block most of Lucious’s blows as Lucious continues to scream for help with each swing and kick. The music continues to drown out her pleas.

“I. Should. Be. The. One. Calling. For. Help!” Cordon barks, as he blocks the flurry of Lucious’s punches from doing any damage.

Needing to batter Cordon back long enough to escape, Lucious leaps in the air, her hips jerking hard as she comes around with a furious spin kick to Cordon’s head. But Cordon catches Lucious by the calf and slams her leg into the wall, holding her there, the leg up around Lucious’s face as the barrel of Cordon’s gun jams into Lucious’s balls.

“Hit me again, I’ll open you up like a can of fish,” Cordon snarls into Lucious’s face.

Slowly letting Lucious’s leg drop, Cordon grabs hold of the dozens of necklaces Lucious wears, many appearing homemade, dangling with a charm or amulet, tightening his grip until the necklaces dig into Lucious’s skin, choking her.

“Turn around,” Cordon orders, spinning Lucious towards the wall.

In the small black bag over his shoulder, Cordon pulls out a two zip ties. “I didn’t want to do this,” Cordon says as he binds Lucious’s hands together with the ties, and then grabs the necklaces again to maintain complete control over the kid. Yanking Lucious’s body against his, Cordon holds her tightly, sliding the gun barrel up to Lucious’s cheek. “This is how serious I am about this. I want to get out of here. And unless you want half your pretty face blown off, you’re going to do what I say. I feel you so much as tense a muscle, I’m going to send you home to your family in a plastic trash bag.”

“My father would like that.”

“Let’s not find out, Bruce Lee.”

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About the Author

With seven novels, two seasons of a Kindle Vella story, SCRAPS, eight plays, and 19 produced film and TV credits, Bart has been writing for over 40 years. Starting in the theater, the film rights to Bart's play, RELAY, were bought by Warner Bros., which led him into screenwriting. Bart has had two feature films produced (LIVE WIRE and SUPERCROSS,) eleven produced movies for television for CBS, ABC, USA, Family Channel, and Hallmark as well as work on four television series including DIRT, starring Courtney Cox. Bart's novel, HONEYMOON WITH HARRY was a critical and commercial success with the movie rights purchased by New Line/Warner Bros when the book was in galleys. Bart lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with his husband, Joe Elvis, and two children, Isaiah and Emmanuel. Besides writing, Bart is a lifelong swimmer and gym rat. Follow Bart on Facebook, on Twitter at @firstBartBaker, on Instagram @thefirstBartBaker, IMDB as Bart Baker, or his website www.bartvbaker.com. Book Tour Organized By: R&R Book Tours