The first in the Cordon Finn Vengeance Series, I Promise You Pain follows Cordon Finn, a brutal, damaged man who left his abusive Chicago home and joined the military, working in 'extraction and information' in the most dangerous places around the world. Now back stateside, Cordon is hired by a Chicago billionaire to collect his underage son from a compound in Palm Springs, owned by a wealthy pedophile. After grabbing the kid in a bloody fight, Cordon discovers that everything he's been led to believe, about the billionaire's son, about what he's involved in, is a lie. And now the people Cordon loves are in danger as the billionaire wants his transgendered child dead. And Cordon to take the fall. But Cordon is not a man who goes down without a fight. If he goes down at all. Vowing to protect the billionaire's transdaughter, Lucious, from her father, Cordon battles an army of the father's men in Palm Springs, before realizing that again, nothing is as it seems. When Cordon discovers that the woman he loves has been taken hostage by the billionaire to force Cordon to do his bidding, Cordon knows he has no choice. He takes the fight back to the billionaire's doorstep. This locks Cordon in a fierce and feral war against the billionaire's army. Cordon is on a mission to save Lucious, who becomes an ally, and the woman Cordon loves. It's a bloody and dangerous battle of fists and firearms, that ultimately leaves an injured Cordon face-to-face with the billionaire. A fight that will leave only one man standing... I Promise You Pain is a violent, bloody, and diverse tale of a man who stands up against the powerful, fighting for the marginalized and those who can't fight back for themselves. Not your daddy's Jack Reacher, Cordon Finn is a new breed of badass. He is a man wrestling with a dark, abusive background, trying to reconcile who he is now with the past he's survived while helping those who need it the most. Cordon Finn is the hero we need now. And with his ally Lucious, they form a diverse and powerful team in I Promise You Pain that will be enjoyed for many books in the future.

バート・ベイカーが放つ本作は、暴力の連鎖に抗う男の魂の救済を描いた、過激かつ高潔なハードボイルド・ノワールです。主人公コードン・フィンは、凄惨な過去を背負いながらも、社会の周縁に追いやられた者のために拳を振るう。彼の姿は、単なる復讐を超えた、現代における「騎士道」の再定義と言えるでしょう。 物語の核心にあるのは、マイノリティへの深い眼差しと、絶対的な権力に対する妥協なき闘争です。トランスジェンダーの少女との共闘は、既存のアクション小説の枠組みを鮮やかに打ち破り、孤独な男が他者との繋がりを通じて己の闇と対峙する様を克明に描写しています。痛みを知る者だけが宿す静かな怒りが、読者の心を激しく揺さぶる傑作です。