The Marchand Woman by Brian Garfield

When her son is kidnapped in Mexico, a mother seeks vengeance

Film director Carole Marchand’s son has just been kidnapped for the third time. The first two times weren’t as troubling, since Carole had abducted Robert herself—incidents in her hideous divorce. This time, the kidnappers are unknown killers, and Carole wants to know what her ex-husband Warren is going to do about it.

Robert was in Mexico with the American ambassador when gunmen swarmed their convoy, taking the ambassador and snatching Robert up with him. As Robert disappears into Central America, Warren and his colleagues at the State Department turn up no leads. Because Robert wasn’t their actual target, his life has little value. When Carole receives word that Robert has been killed, she resolves to take revenge. If the government won’t help her, she will punish her child’s killers herself.