ONE DEAD DRAG QUEEN

Gay Chicago superstar pitcher Scott Carpenter, who recently revealed to fans that he loved schoolteacher Tom Mason (Rust On The Razor, 1996, etc.), finishes a bout of serious housecleaning and turns on the television just in time to catch a news bulletin announcing the bombing of the Human Services Clinic, where Tom volunteers. Plucked from the rubble, Tom is hospitalized in a coma while his family stands vigil. His visitors include Myrtle Mae, an aging drag queen; Cubs catcher Morty Hamilton; and a hate letter that appears at Tom’s bedside, scaring Scott into beefing up his personal security with a high-powered, albeit homophobic, investigative firm. Scott’s other assignment is dodging newshound Brandon Kearn, who wants a tragedy exclusive from him to go along with the emerging conspiracy theories. A late-term abortion doctor may have been the bombing target; a nurse practitioner may have set the bomb; or the terrorists in the building across the street may have had a hand in it. Tom awakens, Myrtle Mae dies, and Scott gets followed by just about everybody in town before the blame for the bombing is finally settled—and the trail from Scott and Tom's harassment leads back to the stadium owners' box.

The rendering of the catastrophe's aftermath is poignant but packaged with as many improbable villains as All-Star relievers, and a plot as porous as the Cubs infield.