I’m asked to do book reviews sometimes; I
get these notices in my role as a freelance writer. Mostly I don’t do them, but
one intrigued me. It was pitched to me as a new political thriller -- “to be a
bestseller.” How’s that for confidence?
I’ve mislaid the title, but the plot sets
Texas against the rest of us again, this time as the Lone Star State attempts
to become even more lone by seceding from the union. In the ensuing conflict,
the scariest part for the author is not the constitutional crisis, but comes
when the federal government suspends the Second Amendment, threatening
Texans’ right to shoot people. Right there you have the book’s viewpoint.
Of course I’m just a name on a list of writers, so the people who send these things don’t know my political leanings
one way or the other. I haven’t read it, but this is what a review of a “Texas
secedes” book oughta be.
“In
_title_, popular opinion in Texas finally boils over and the legislature votes
to secede from the union. For reasons not apparent to the rest of the country,
the federal government tries to prevent this. In the ensuing conflict, the
hero becomes involved in the
political cross-currents generated when the state’s National Guard commander,
the devastatingly beautiful heroine, orders the occupation of the state
capitol. To the horror of everyone in the state, the federal government
suspends the Second Amendment, and shooting people threatens to become difficult
and sometimes even illegal. It’s a deeply frustrating time; the state has already
voted to secede and no one can think of another symbolic act to demonstrate the
people’s displeasure. The legislature finally settles on closing the borders
and ports to all traffic, and the population, trapped, inbreeds, and an
interesting new generation of Texans arises.”
Alright, I made up the part about the
National Guard commander.
