Duberstein (The Handsome Sailor
) explores an unconventional custody battle in a sensitive novel about a gay man who is made a sudden parent by tragedy. Tim Bannon is a 40-ish Boston travel agent whose evening with a blind date ends when state troopers knock on his door; they're delivering Bannon's beloved niece and nephew, whose parents have just been killed by a drunk driver. Bannon proves surprisingly adept at emergency parenting, and despite his misgivings about being named the primary caretaker in his sister Jill's will, he quickly comes to relish his chance to raise Billy, 11, and Cynthia, 8, who obviously love their "Unk." Family conflict enters the picture when his sister Erica's redneck, homophobic husband, Earl Sanderson, outs Bannon to his aging mother and pushes to contest the will. Duberstein keeps a close lens on Bannon's emotional ups and downs, but also introduces an abundance of characters and reaches back to the family's Carolina roots to complement (and sometimes slow up) the primary plot. Though there's more than a touch of sentimentality here, Duberstein's scenes are often poignant and funny. The surprise ending, however, strains credibility and falls flat when the author introduces a new, underdeveloped set of characters into the final child-care solution. But Bannon is a sympathetic protagonist, and Duberstein's probing examination of a thorny issue makes this a solid sixth novel. (Nov.)
