Make Them Cry: A Novel

by Smith Henderson, Jon Marc Smith

Overview

A DEA agent uncovers an international conspiracy when she follows a tip from a Mexican drug lord in this “intelligent, propulsive thriller” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Diane “Hardball” Harbaugh doesn’t flinch easily. A former prosecutor, she’s now a DEA agent known for getting suspects to confess—in tears. But she’s thrown for a loop when a Mexican drug lord offers her explosive information about the international black market. After heading south of the border to meet him, her concepts of justice and duty are shaken to their core. 

Suddenly, Harbaugh is on the trail of a criminal conspiracy more pervasive than anything she ever suspected. Together with CIA agent Ian Carver, she unravels layers of deception and grift that date back to the Afghanistan War. As they connect the dots, they become the target of cartel assassins, embittered spies, and even their own government. Now the only way out is for Diane to do the one thing she promised herself she’d never do . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062825193
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/15/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	357
Sales rank:	902,940
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Smith Henderson is the author of Fourth of July Creek and lives in California and Montana.

Jon Marc Smith teaches English at Texas State University and lives in San Marcos, Texas. Make Them Cry is their first novel. 

Editorial Reviews

"A kinetic new thriller. . . . What starts as a violent thriller flips over and becomes an examination of the aftermath of armed conflict, in which sorting the good guys from the bad is less about uniforms and codes and more about personal morality." — Los Angeles Times

"Plenty of flaws in the main character but few in this satisfying thriller."
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"An intelligent, propulsive thriller. . . . Flawed, flesh-and-blood characters provide nuance and depth, and the authors’ grasp of global politics is on full display. Fans of Don Winslow and T. Jefferson Parker will be enthralled." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Make Them Cry is one of those rare novels that is both artistically principled and marvelously fun to read, a combination of elegant, painstaking craftsmanship and suspenseful entertainment.  If that were not enough, it is also a book that reaches into the reader's heart.  It is not often that I can say, as I do now: I loved this novel."   — Tim O'Brien

“In their debut thriller Make Them Cry, Smith and Henderson burst onto the scene with muscular style, a blockbuster plot, and flair to spare. Intelligent, informed, important, humane, and remarkably witty, Make Them Cry arrives like a bullet train to your cerebral cortex...No doubt, Agent Diane Harbaugh, a bad-ass woman for our times, is here to stay and will take her rightful place alongside Bourne and Reacher before long.”  — Ivy Pochoda, author of Wonder Valley and These Women

From the Publisher

In their debut thriller Make Them Cry, Smith and Henderson burst onto the scene with muscular style, a blockbuster plot, and flair to spare. Intelligent, informed, important, humane, and remarkably witty, Make Them Cry arrives like a bullet train to your cerebral cortex...No doubt, Agent Diane Harbaugh, a bad-ass woman for our times, is here to stay and will take her rightful place alongside Bourne and Reacher before long.” 

Ivy Pochoda

"A kinetic new thriller. . . . What starts as a violent thriller flips over and becomes an examination of the aftermath of armed conflict, in which sorting the good guys from the bad is less about uniforms and codes and more about personal morality."

|Los Angeles Times

"Make Them Cry is one of those rare novels that is both artistically principled and marvelously fun to read, a combination of elegant, painstaking craftsmanship and suspenseful entertainment.  If that were not enough, it is also a book that reaches into the reader's heart.  It is not often that I can say, as I do now: I loved this novel."  

Tim O'Brien

"A kinetic new thriller. . . . What starts as a violent thriller flips over and becomes an examination of the aftermath of armed conflict, in which sorting the good guys from the bad is less about uniforms and codes and more about personal morality."

Los Angeles Times

Fans of riveting audiobooks about good guys and bad guys, current events, and realistic characters are in luck. This mystery is a great listen narrated well by Sophie Amoss. The story centers on Diane Harbaugh, a DEA agent who is almost too good at her job. Then, a visit from a criminal turned informant disrupts everything Harbaugh thought she knew and believed. In pursuit of the truth, she must traverse international hot spots, the drug war, the war in Afghanistan, and so much more. Amoss does an exceptional job depicting the conflict Harbaugh faces in her professional life and with regard to her sense of right and wrong, good versus bad, justice versus mercy. This is an action-packed listen, and fans of thrillers will not be disappointed. J.P.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2020 - AudioFile

Fans of riveting audiobooks about good guys and bad guys, current events, and realistic characters are in luck. This mystery is a great listen narrated well by Sophie Amoss. The story centers on Diane Harbaugh, a DEA agent who is almost too good at her job. Then, a visit from a criminal turned informant disrupts everything Harbaugh thought she knew and believed. In pursuit of the truth, she must traverse international hot spots, the drug war, the war in Afghanistan, and so much more. Amoss does an exceptional job depicting the conflict Harbaugh faces in her professional life and with regard to her sense of right and wrong, good versus bad, justice versus mercy. This is an action-packed listen, and fans of thrillers will not be disappointed. J.P.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2020 - AudioFile