Mysterious Reviews Home

Texas Panic!

A Jim Bob Masterson Mystery by Harry Haines

Texas Panic! by Harry Haines

Synopsis (from the publisher): B-S-E spells death. Cattle or human — if you get it, you will die.

The Washington Post calls Texas veterinarian Dr. James Robert Masterson the "World's Foremost Expert" in BSE — Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, more commonly referred to as mad cow disease. Jim Bob, as he is known to friends and family, achieved his celebrity through a test he invented, a remarkable accomplishment considering the fact that Texas has never had a case of BSE.

Until now.

The story opens when a cow slips and goes down in a feed yard in Sagebrush, Texas, a tiny rural community sixty-five miles north of Amarillo. Bearing in mind that there are thirty-five million cattle in the Texas Panhandle, where one-third of the nation's fed beef is produced, one "downer" would hardly seem noteworthy.

But two factors escalate the seriousness of the incident. First, this is the health scare with everything — a gruesomely exotic disease, unknown dangers, bungling bureaucrats, and a common food item found in virtually every home. And second, the sensation-hungry American press finds the story irresistible.

Jim Bob is sure they have a false alarm. BSE has to come from somewhere. Infected prions don't mutate or appear spontaneously. But "The Masterson Test" becomes suspect as the USDA struggles to confirm its diagnosis. Meanwhile the panic escalates. Cattle futures tank. Beef processing plants close. Millions of Texas cattle become worthless. Billions are at stake.

Amazon.com Print and/or Kindle Edition Barnes&Noble NookBook Abe Books The Book Depository: Free Worldwide Shipping Biblio Alibris Books-a-Million

Clicking on the above button(s) will open a new window or tab on the respective vendor's website with more information about purchasing this book. (Links to Abe Books, Alibris, Biblio.com, and Books-a-Million are to the home page only.) Availability of books from listed vendors is subject to change without notice.

Mysterious Reviews is a participant in several affiliate programs that may provide a commission or advertising fee as the result of a product sale; see our full disclosure on the About page.

Books-a-Million tracking Alibris tracking Biblio tracking

— ♦ —

Texas Panic! by Harry Haines

Texas Panic! by Harry Haines — A Jim Bob Masterson Mystery

Publisher: Mayhaven Publishing
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-1-932278-60-6
Publication Date: October 2009
List Price: $19.95

Return to Review

— ♦ —

Page Author: Lance Wright
Site Publisher: Mysterious Reviews

Mysterious Reviews is a Division of
The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books
and a Business Unit of the
Omnimystery Family of Mystery Websites