THE THIRD SON, a family novel, features Lieutenant Barry Kernahan's promise to care for Sarah, the 6-year-old daughter of his commanding officer, Charlie Abercrombie, who is killed in a night raid in Afghanistan. Wounded in the same raid and discharged as a hero, 23-year-old Barry goes to Abercrombie's home in Raleigh, N.C. to check his options as Abercrombie's beneficiary, only to find the situation complicated and frustrating. Middle son in a family of five children, Barry left home in Queens, New York at the age of 18 to enlist in the Army. Due to service in Japan and Afghanistan he has not been home since enlisting. Now, he must live in Raleigh, find a nanny to care for Sarah, and marry in haste to adopt the young girl. Aware he knows nothing about women, and because his proposed bride is targeted by an obsessed killer, Barry asks each member of his Bayside family for their advice before he takes action. Everyone's perspective is different. The final choice is his alone.