Steven Saylor

A Twist at the End: A Novel of O. Henry

SIMON AND SCHUSTER

IN AUSTIN IN 1885 the talk of the town was the series of unsolved ax murders of eight people — most of them maids or young mothers — by unknown fiends who were dubbed the Servant Girl Annihilators. Today Steven Saylor's fictional take on the crimes has generated its own local buzz. How could it not? Besides ticking off titillating details of the deaths, the author casts as his protagonist a real Austin resident of the day, William Sydney Porter, a then anonymous layabout who would later serve time before achieving fame as the short-story writer O. Henry. Saylor throws in bits of history, such as the dog ghosts of African American folklore, and peoples the plot with specifically Texan tidbits, like the personal habits of sculptress Elisabet Ney. But ultimately A Twist at the End comes unwound. The murders are given disappointingly short shrift, and Saylor's solution is uninspired. Whither poetic license? Ultimately, the novel fails to live up to its name. Today the O. Henry-style surprise ending is standard, and readers expect no less.

Molly Ivins & Lou Dubose

Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush

RANDOM HOUSE

FOR THE BRIEFEST OF MOMENTS in Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush (Random House), the authors allow that political expediency is not George W. Bush's sole call to arms. Witness his aggressive pursuit of a school funding initiative. That moment aside, Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Molly Ivins and Texas Observer editor Lou Dubose argue that Candidate George's vision of Governor George's record of political service is, shall we say, kinder and gentler. A f'rinstance: The Candidate says the air in Texas is cleaner since he took office. Au contraire, say Molly and Lou: "Texas pollutes more than any other state or Canadian province." George W. fans with high blood pressure should avoid this epistle from two of Texas' hardest-throwing political lefties.

Lawrence Wright

God's Favorite: A Novel

SIMON AND SCHUSTER

Panama's deposed dictator Manuel Noriega has disappeared from the world's radar screen, but Austin's Lawrence Wright shines a klieg light on the despot's bizarre tenure in God's Favorite: A Novel (Simon and Schuster). The former Texas Monthly contributing editor brilliantly fictionalizes Noriega's fall from grace, complete with chilling depictions of political goon squads and slapstick scenes of voodoo hideouts.