Starred review from June 15, 2020
A Drug Enforcement Administration agent heads south of the border on her own, to the regret of many. Diane "Hardball" Harbaugh has helped put a lot of drug dealers behind bars. "You got two speeds, girl," her partner says. "Legal eagle and meth dealer." A confidential informant named Oscar tracks her down in a northern Michigan cabin and shoots himself right in front of her, saying she's ruined his life. She wonders, "Did she make all the boys cry?" The suicide means she has a whole lot to explain to her superiors, but her troubles quickly become more pressing. A mysterious caller summons her to Mexico to meet a drug lord named El Capataz, who says he needs her help. Her partner wisely advises, "You're not going to meet a cartel underboss without backup, Diane." So does she coordinate a response with her superiors? Noooooo, she goes on her own without backup, "half-cocked" and completely against protocol, hoping for a big win to salvage her career. El Capataz has his own reasons to tell her an "enorme" secret, but Diane doesn't really know if she'll live or die. "There's no telling which way your luck's actually running till the whole thing's been played out," her soon-to-be-left-behind partner says, and then it's too late. The woman has a whole lot more bravery than sense, but that makes for the good story this is. There's plenty of violence and sharp shards of Spanish-language profanity from men like Tom�s, a Zeta gang member with only one skill: He knows how to "delete" people. In this world, "Cash is the chain of command. Money gives the orders." The story has great lines like "he was as fit as an orchestra of fiddles" and "her whole body was smiling." Whether or not Hardball's body still smiles at the end of her journey is for the reader to discover. Either way, she is one tough mujer. Plenty of flaws in the main character but few in this satisfying thriller.
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Starred review from July 27, 2020
DEA agent Diane “Hardball” Harbaugh, a tough former prosecutor, draws on her courtroom skills in this intelligent, propulsive thriller set in 2007 from Henderson (Fourth of July Creek) and Smith. Harbaugh’s reputation for being tough but fair gains her the respect of Gustavo Acuña Cárdenas, a major player in the Cartel del Golfo, whose request for a private meeting in Tampico, Mexico, she can’t resist. The gangster wants to make a deal with her—inside information about the drug trade in exchange for a new identity in the States. It turns out that he is the last one alive who knows the location of a top-secret cartel project, and he fears that he’ll be executed next. Once in Mexico, however, Harbaugh discovers she isn’t the only one looking for Acuña Cárdenas after she meets Ian Carver, a former CIA agent working with a group of ex-military operatives who provide a specialized, shadowy type of service south of the border. Soon Harbaugh and Carver are on the run from just about everyone—the cartel, the global intelligence community, and perhaps even their own government. 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. Agent: Nicole Aragi, Aragi Agency.
August 1, 2020
Diane Harbaugh prefers to think of herself as Diane Hardball, a nickname from her school days. She was honors everything in academics and sports, and has brought the same determination to her career, first as a prosecutor and now as a DEA agent in the L.A. office who interrogates witnesses so ruthlessly that they often confess in tears. Deciding to go off book after she learns of a high-ranking gang member with invaluable information, Diane heads off on her own to meet with the source in Mexico. She finds herself on the trail of an international drug cartel dating back to the Afghanistan War, but she's thwarted by foreign mercenaries, sicario assassins, corrupt officials, and even her own people. She teams up with Ian Carver, a disillusioned CIA agent, and they embark on a high-stakes manhunt with world-changing consequences. The action is relentless, and the language is rough through a somewhat lengthy narrative, but Diane will appeal to fans of Jon Land's Caitlin Strong and Don Winslow's Art Keller.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)