I liked this book but felt like I'd heard this plotline before. The action is great, and Diane is a solid protagonist character, but I actually thought Tomas was a more fun character. Overall, it's a great read and I would definitely read more from these writers.

This book was action-packed and a very good read. The story could almost be ripped from today's headlines and anyone who enjoys a badass woman protagonist will like Diane. She can deal with the worst of them.

If you like your protagonists flawed, then Make Them Cry is gonna be right up your alley. With the possible exception of a couple of innocent bystanders (who might not be all that innocent after all), not one character in this novel has more redeeming qualities than flaws.

That negative balance definitely includes Diane Harbaugh, grifter’s daughter turned ASUA turned DEA agent; a woman with a penchant for playing fast and loose with whatever rules get in her way. It’s that penchant that already has her in hot water with her agency when she goes rogue in an attempt to bring in a cartel lieutenant in the Mexican coastal town of Tampico. Ultimately, she finds herself pitted against a sicario whose hobby is reading sword-and-sorcery fantasy and somehow in debt to Carver, a sexy ex-CIA agent who’s also gone rogue in his own way.

Everything quickly goes blood-soaked, as cartel dealings tend to do; and Harbaugh finds that her career as a DEA agent is in jeopardy… but there’s a light in the tunnel, so to speak. Stay tuned for more thrills from Harbaugh and her new comrades.

The first novel from Smith Henderson and Jon Marc Smith, Make Them Cry is most assuredly a 21st-century thriller. Just like so-called reality TV, everyone’s a villain at heart and trust is in short supply. There are other modern touches as well: like many modern novels (and movies) back-story is also in short supply. For most of the book I thought I’d been dropped into the middle of a series; the references to past shenanigans and characters were so liberally sprinkled through the plot. Your mileage may differ.

If you don’t mind some intense action – a chase scene with Harbaugh fleeing a pack of Zetas in a Kia compact will keep you on the edge of your seat – and if you don’t mind characters whose moral code is a little slippery, this one belongs on your shelf. Keep your Spanish translation app on hand and make certain the slang is up to date, and you’ll be fine.

While you’re in there, watch for the shout out to Pancho and Lefty…

Maybe it's more like a 1.5, but I'm feeling far too salty to round up.

The only good thing I have to say is that the style isn't bad. The writing is clean and sharp, and I can appreciate how the authors utilize language. I just wish it felt like there was something actually happening.
It's a very aestheticized version of the drug trade, I think, highly romanticized and one-note; the strength seems to be in the action sequences, with the characters feeling purely like 'furniture' - particularly Diane, despite how she's framed as the lead. She seems to have such a minor presence, and what's there is so flat; no character comes across as truly developed, but she seems to suffer the most, defined strictly by the men she's surrounded by and her sexuality and 'beauty'.

Tomas is by far the most developed character, but he just feels like a character with his gratuitous Spanish (that doesn't feel natural at all.) I found myself able to actually sympathize with him, but only barely.

Overall, I'm just lost on the point. The plot is vague, especially near the end, where the writers finally seem to remember Diane is the main character, and rush through the aftermath and consequences; the open-endedness only furthers the frustration felt during the entire story. I just don't care for how dismissive an attitude the writers seemed to have when describing the dirty tactics and abuse of power Diane and every other agent committed. The portrait painted of Mexico feels rather racist, diminished to nothing but drugs and the cartel and sicarios. I hated every second I wasted on this trash.

Cartels, car chases, drugs, gangs, gunfire, torture – what more could an ambitious but conflicted DEA agent want?

Diane Harbaugh, former lawyer, and now master interrogator is taking a brief vacation with her wannabe boyfriend in the Upper Peninsula. She is contemplating a future removed from her work life. But then a former CI shows up and her plans quickly shift as things go very badly, very quickly.

When Diane tries to explain her actions to her boss, her explanations seem threatening to him and jeopardizing to her career. With that relationship quickly souring, Gustavo, a cartel member in Mexico throws her a lifeline: Get me out of Tampico to the US and I’ll tell you everything. So, Diane goes down solo to Mexico to show everyone that she can nab a prize catch. That is where everything goes to hell.

The action is none stop and visceral. Although Diane is not a very likeable person, she soon discovers and revels in her badass self. Minor characters are even more intriguing: Carver a former CIA guy and Motown, a ruthless gang member. Foremost among them is Tomas who really deserves a sequel of his own. He is one of the best and most complex sicarios to emerge from a book.

This title is not for the feint of heart, but if you’re seeking non-stop action and can’t wait for the movie….get this title. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing the opportunity to review this book.

In Make Them Cry by Jon Marc Smith and Smith Henderson, Diane Harbaugh is a former prosecutor and current Drug Enforcement Agent known for her aggressive and bold behavior while being nicknamed "Midwife" for her ability to extract confessions from almost anyone she interrogates.

The novel opens with Harbaugh and her boyfriend spending time in a cabin when an incident occurs that most likely will derail her career with the DEA. While being sidelined and after receiving a mysterious telephone call from an intermediary of a man she can't recall, without the consent of the DEA, she agrees to travel to Mexico to meet with this stranger in hopes bold action on her part will put her future with the DEA back in a better light.

Harbaugh meets with a man named Gustavo, who while ramped up on cocaine and is telling a wild, worldwide tale of deep conspiracy and corruption, agrees to tell Harbaugh highly sensitive information only he knows about a Mexican drug cartel if she will transport him to the US. Parts of Gustavo's are so wild Harbaugh is unsure who to believe, especially after meeting more and more secretive characters with questionable motives and goals of their own.

Soon, both Harbaugh and Gustavo are being hunted by the cartel, assassins, and people not known to be villains or adversaries.

Make Them Cry is a good summer thriller and a novel many would consider a "summer read."

Recommended to those that enjoy escapist thrillers, tales of conspiracies, red herrings, and stories with wide-ranging plot tentacles.

DEA Agent Diane Harbaugh doesn’t always play by the rules, but she gets the job done. She receives a mysterious call from a cartel member in Mexico and immediately goes “rogue”, traveling there “unofficially”.

Her initial meeting, surprisingly also includes a CIA agent, and the novel is spent on a fast-paced hunt/run.

I enjoyed parts of this novel and was rooting for Diane, flaws and all.

Free ARC from NET GALLEY

I enjoyed this book although the story line is not unfamiliar. The DEA angle was good for me but Agent Harbaugh never got me to where I liked her. Tomas, the literate death dealer made this enjoyable.

I came to this collaboration between Smith Henderson and Jon Marc Smith with great anticipation despite being unaware of Smith. This was in part because of my love for Smith Henderson's FOURTH OF JULY CREEK. It was one of my favorite novels of 2014 and I've been waiting in anticipation for his next act. Imagine my surprise upon learning it would be a narco thriller and that Henderson would be sharing the writing duties. Interesting. I'm happy to say this collaboration was a winner. I loved the tortured character, Diane Harbaugh, a DEA agent with...issues. She's real and fully drawn and you will root for her despite her often questionable choices. I loved some of the ancillary characters as well: Tomas, the book reading Mexican hit man; Gustavo, a bloodthirsty savage hopped up on drugs, alcohol, and fear so real it stinks; Childs, Harbaugh's partner; and Carver, an enigma who may, and I emphasize "may", bring some rays of hope into Harbaugh's tortured existence. The writing is beautiful. The plot engaging (rogue DEA agent travels to Mexico without agency consent to pow-wow with a narco who claims to have a secret worth dying for). The characters, as I've mentioned, are fully drawn. I hope to hear more from Agent Harbaugh as well as the two Smiths as author collaborators. This is top-level crime fiction.