The Laughing Falcon

Originally published in 2002 and nominated for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel A blend of thriller, satire, and romance with a shocking twist Romance novelist Maggie Schneider flees snowy Canada for Costa Rica, seeking inspiration . and maybe even a romantic encounter. She finds far more than she expected when she's kidnapped by a rag-tag gang led by a handsome, charismatic revolutionary called Halcon: the Falcon.
Also held hostage for ransom is Halcon's main target, the flirtatious wife of a right-wing U. S. senator, who seeks to capture the Republican nomination as U. S. president. Enter burned-out ex-secret agent Slack Cardinal, the protagonist of Deverell's third novel, Mecca. Now he has changed his name and is hiding out in the Costa Rican jungles, working as a tour guide. But he is found there by CIA operative Ham Bakerfield and reluctantly pressed into service to try to rescue the women.