Bury My Heart at Redtree eloquently combines Patrick Chalfant'ss pride in his Osage Indian heritage with his passion for penning stories that capture the essence of life in the American heartland. As in his debut novel, When the Levee Breaks, this ground-breaking novel unites relentless suspense, charismatic characters, and plot twists so shocking that even the most seasoned reader will be enthralled until the page-turning finale. Bury My Heart at Redtree is a haunting exploration of the conflict that resonates deep in one man'ss soul. Set against the grandeur of the Great Plains and reflective of the storm raging in the heart of America'ss legal system, it is Chalfant at his thrilling, thought-provoking best.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A host of unappealing characters-chief among them an inept Wyoming detective, a corrupt banker and a brilliant but disturbed grad student-cum-murderer-crowd Chalfant's fast-moving but ham-fisted second novel (following When the Levee Breaks). Psychology student Taylor Hayes lies at the heart of this tale, which starts out as a murder mystery and then evolves into a revenge saga. The target of Taylor's wrath is Kyle Gayland, the cartoonishly evil banker who planted poison around the apartment complex where Taylor's Native-American foster parents lived, killing them and several other residents, so that Gayland could make a huge profit when he sold the property. Chalfant tracks the duel between Taylor and Gayland in a pair of parallel plot threads. While Taylor attends classes, romances his girlfriend (who happens to work for Gayland) and embarks on killing sprees, Gayland stuffs his corpulent body full of pork ribs and plots to destroy still more lives. The characters and dialogue are almost comical in their clumsiness-lines like "You'll never get away with it" and "Wealth buys no favors in the darkest chasms of hell" are particularly prize worthy-and the Native-American spirituality that Chalfant invokes to justify Taylor's actions seems laughably hokey. Indeed, there's little to redeem this sophomore effort; even the climax, which is painfully predictable, ends the story on a sour note.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't miss this great read from Chalfant !,
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This review is from: Bury My Heart At Redtree (Hardcover)
Taylor Hayes and his friends, Elijah and Keith, set out to conduct research for his psychology thesis - Freud's theory of the personality development in stages of id, ego and superego.
In the first chapter, we soon discover that the research is being conducted as the vigilante group seeks revenge for the murders of Taylor's parents and other innocent people who mysteriously died on a now deserted Indian reservation. Detective Jennings is suffering burn out from years on the force, and seeing the legal system fail one too many times. He is present at the scene of the first of several seemingly unrelated killings of wealthy business men - but soon the murders start to have the makings of a serial killer - who dresses up as a woman for each attack. Taylor's girlfriend, Wendy, works for the local banker, Kyle Gayland. Soon she and Taylor realize that Gayland has something to hide, and is not the outstanding citizen he is portrayed to be. The suspense builds in this fast-paced page turner - as Taylor pushes on to uncover the truth behind the death of his parents, the shady business dealings of banker Gayland, his quarrelling friends Elijah and Keith, his relationship with Wendy, and the ultimate question - will he be able to cross back over the line of sanity when is mission is complete? This is an excellent probe into the complexities of the mind - combined with a fast-paced story line and page-turning suspense.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining and unpredictable from start to finish!,
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This review is from: Bury My Heart At Redtree (Hardcover)
Entertaining and unpredictable from start to finish!
Taylor Hayes sees himself as a modern day warrior. He and his "associates" carry out a stream of seemingly pointless murders as they elude the local authorities and one discouraged Detective named Jennings. In the beginning of the book in the characters' earlier stages of development, the crimes committed will shock the reader. You will see Taylor as a serial killer who is guided by a Native American Elder. He believes that he has a sacred mission to accomplish. First and foremost he believes that he is seeking revenge for the death of his adoptive parents who he suspects were killed by a local banker named Kyle Gayland. We find out later that his mission has many facets and this creates an environment of "organized confusion" that will only make sense in the end. Gayland is Taylor's "nemesis" and is more or less a money driven businessman who will do anything to "turn a profit." His master plan is one that we find in several pieces of fiction and non-fiction. He wants to build on underdeveloped land and only one thing stands in his way - the people who live there. He will resort to any tactic to remove them from this land. He sends in an exterminator to spray the area to remove unwanted pests. The people are unaware of the fact that they are indeed the "pests" that Gayland would like to exterminate. They are exposed to a poison designed to sicken and/or kill off the men, women and children who want only to live in peace. These tactics are similar to the use of bison skin blankets smeared with smallpox in 1763 to rid the land of the Natives. The Natives received this gift only to succumb to the disease later. At this point, the reader may actually start to understand Taylor's cause and the reopening of racial wounds that many would like to forget. He feels that his acts of violence pale in comparison to the "White Man's" acquisition of Native American territory for many centuries. Although his adoptive parents were Native American and he is not! A fine line develops between vengeance and murder as Taylor begins to see his mission as a psychology experiment as well. He moves forward for all of the wrong reasons and his noble quest becomes nothing more than an unjustified bloodbath. However, Taylor does not see it that way and at some points in time the reader may see things this way as well - until a better sense of ethics and morality sets in. "Bury My Heart at Redtree" is an entertaining read that is well worth the money and the time to explore its pages. The ending is unexpected and the journey towards that ending must be taken to appreciate the author's message. Tyrone V. Banks
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read!,
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This review is from: Bury My Heart At Redtree (Hardcover)
Bury My Heart At Redtree
by Patrick Chalfant Publisher: ISBN: 1-930709-53-6 Format: Hardcover Reviewer: Lori Soard Bury My Heart At Redtree grabbed me from the opening line: "Survival is the psyche's soul rsponsiblity in times of danger." How could I help but read on when the writer had grabbed my attention with such an opening line. The story itself centers around Taylor, who is determined to avenge the death of his adoptive parents. He struggles between his quest to finish his thesis in psychology and his darker side. Chalfant's descriptive language and page-turning suspense make this a must read mystery. Readers will also want to read Chalfant's WHEN THE LEVEE BREAKS. ~Lori Soard, author of THE ELIXIR (Amber Quill, June) Patrick Chalfant offers an easy-to-read style that pulls the reader into the pages of his story and makes him want to keep reading.
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