Texas Mutiny: Bullets, Ballots and Boss Rule

by Sheila Allee

There's more to the famous tale of how Lyndon Johnson bulldozed his way into the U.S. Senate on the strength of 87 questionable votes. This is the story of a political boss and the sophisticated small-town lawyer who brings him to his knees. It's the story of a hired gun hiding in Mexico and the Texas Ranger who haunts his trail. It's the story of a political assassination gone wrong, of intrigue that begins in a murky 1948 election and ends at the doorsteop of a vice president promoted in a crisis. Texas Bullets, Ballots and Boss Rule is a tale of the Wild West in modern times. Texas Mutiny is a true story told in novel form and related by a fictional newspaper reporter. It is set in a a forsaken part of Texas where barren soil, mesquite and a burning sun shape the fortunes of the people. Vast poverty and incredible wealth live side by side in this land, making it fallow for corruption, deception, vote stealing, embezzlement and every sort of vice. Texas Mutiny is about the struggle to topple the oppressive feudal order that gripped the people of this land generations.

364 pages, Hardcover

Published August 1, 2003

About the author

I knew since elementary school that I wanted to be a writer. In fact, I joined my first writers group with classmates when I was 10 years old. In high school, I got interested in journalism and majored in that field in college. I was a journalist for 12 years and I have to credit journalism with providing my early training in the basics of writing.

My latest book is All are Free to Write, a one-year journal with writing prompts and blank pages for journaling.

Also on my author's bookshelf is My Father's Eyes, a memoir about the friendship I had with an uncle who had a profound intellectual disability and who was locked in an institution for decades.

My first book was Texas Mutiny: Bullets, Ballots and Boss Rule. It is a true crime about a political assassination that happened in the 1950s.

Reviews

[Lukas Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s cool to learn about the political history of South Texas, and how George Parr’s political machine shaped the nation. The book dives into his election fraud ballot stuffing, vote buying, and the infamous Box 13 scandal that helped Lyndon B. Johnson win. Parr controlled jobs, law enforcement, and even who got to vote, making South Texas feel like the Wild West. What’s crazy is how some of these tactics still feel familiar in politics today. Fast paced and well researched, though it drags in places. A must read if you like Texas History. 4/5