Customer Reviews

Bury My Heart At Redtree

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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.

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

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.

When I began reading this book I thought I'd not be able to get past the first few pages. However the more I read, the more captivated I became with how well written the story was. I found myself looking forward to reading it every evening. The suspense built as the story progressed and it was filled with many completely unpredictable turn of events.

Reading this book actually expanded my awareness of my own personality. It stretched my thoughts and ideas such that I was filled with wonder and eager to discover even more about myself. I am very grateful for the opportunity to have read this book.

BURY MY HEART AT REDTREE is a murder mystery centered around the revenge of Taylor Hayes, a white man raised by Native American parents. Taylor, who lived in an orphanage until he was ten years old, was initially rebellious after his adoption, but he finds his place and accepts the customs of his adoptive parents. Their recent death, which he believes was a result of poisonings by greedy businessmen, is the catalyst for Taylor's actions.

A graduate student by day, Taylor uses his work in psychology to test his theories about the law, society and man's mental state, to avenge his parent's death. Under the guidance of a tribal elder and medicine man, Taylor engages the help of two buddies; their goal is to eliminate the men who have caused so much sickness and death in the Indian community. The unexpected murders of local business owners have the authorities perplexed. Since robbery is not the apparent motive, the authorities believe professional marksmen are the culprits. But why would professional killers infiltrate their small community?

The land owned by the Native Americans is prime real estate, but their refusal to sell has angered the potential buyers. The investors devised a plan to force the land owners to sell. Since there is no honor among thieves, the two primary investors hire someone to kill the other members of the group as soon as they have secured their investments. But when members are murdered before the hired assassin arrives, everyone becomes wary.

Patrick Chalfant vividly shares this haunting tale, which focuses on the turmoil that reverberates through the emotional state of one man. BURY MY HEART AT REDTREE is suspenseful, provoking and candid. It shares a conflicting look at our legal system and its lackluster approach to caring for all of its citizens. It also gives an in-depth look at the beliefs of a different culture. The ending will surprise and appease readers in an unexpected way. This is good read that will hold your interest.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ™Reviewers

The price of justice is usually quite expensive. So expensive that those without money, rarely receive it. No one knows this better than Taylor Hayes, however, Taylor uses something more valuable than money to obtain justice...he uses his keen mind.

Never knowing his real parents, Taylor was adopted by a Native American family when he was very young. He was raised in the culture of Native Americans, which made him a modern day John Howard Griffin (Black Like Me), a Native American in the body of a Caucasian male. This made him privy to information and conversations he would not normally be exposed. Taylor grew to be an absolute genius and becomes a graduate student in psychology. His life is wonderful until he loses his parents in what the authorities only refer to as an "unfortunate incident".

Stan Jennings, the state police investigator, has had his fair share of `bartered justice'. After years of injecting his blood, sweat & tears while conducting air-tight investigations, Jennings' work has been assaulted too many times, by seeing bad guys walk away on a mere technicality.

Kyle Gayland is THE local banker in the city of Carson is above the law and likes to flaunt it. Not only does Kyle control the money, but the lives of everyone in Carson and in the surrounding towns---including Ducotey, Taylor's hometown.

Set in the heartland of America, "Bury My Heart at Redtree" is an excellent novel about love, grief, greed, revenge and justice. Patrick Chalfant has weaved, in intricate detail, a web of nine lives that remain unattached until he completes his masterpiece of literary tapestry. In the spirit of Dean Koontz, Patrick Chalfant has written a psychological thriller sure to keep the reader turning pages. By combining life in the heartland of America with the tradition of Native American heritage, Chalfant has turned ordinary circumstances into an extraordinary story that will keep you guessing till the end.

Full of suspense, culture and Freud, I highly recommend "Bury My Heart at Redtree". It's a quick read, not because it's short, but hard to put down.

Review by Robert Denson III
Managing Editor of Sunpiper Press

Taylor may be white, but he was adopted by a Native American couple and learned to live in both worlds. His adopted parents died of poisoning at their old housing unit, Kickingbird. They were not the only ones who expired either. The authorities never found out the cause. Everyone was moved out and now reside at Redtree. Oddly enough, the events of Kickingbird are starting all over again at Redtree. Natives are getting poisoned and some are near death. And everyone KNOWS that the authorities will, once again, do nothing.

Taylor and his two friends, Elijah and Keith, have become vigilantes. They know the names of the powerful men behind it all. The trio, with Chief Campanow as their spiritual guide, are hunting them down one-by-one for execution.

The banker, Gayland, is to be the last man taken down. The last one so he can worry and sweat the most. He is also the boss of Wendy, Taylor's fiancé. Wendy knows nothing about the shady dealing of Gayland or what Taylor is doing. Wendy only knows that her boss is acting strange and making moves on her. Worse still, she is being stalked by one of Gayland's acquaintances. Taylor is about to up the ante.

*** On the whole, I found this to be a pretty good novel. But I found some things to be unbelievable. The smart detective in the story (and all his cop associates) kept saying that whoever was killing the powerful men must be professionals, because zero clues are ever left behind. They totally dismiss the dozens of shells and ammunition casings as clues. When one of the vigilante trio is hurt and bleeding badly, he has little trouble dealing with the pain, getting all his blood (DNA) up from the murder scene (though he is still bleeding), and never gets medical attention from any true medical person. As for Wendy, she is the only sane one in the group, in my opinion. Yet even she is too good to be true. She has been groped by her boss, stalked by a hitman, had her apartment broken into, and KNOWS that Taylor understands everything that is happening and why. Still, she simply accepts it when Taylor says he'll deal with it and refuses to tell her what's going on.

I am not a Crime Scene Investigator, detective of any kind, or very knowledgeable in law and politics. However, several things do not ring true to me. Yet for some reason, I could not stop reading. The premise of the plot and the need for closure among the people involved kept me enthralled. The author clearly got a message through to me, the reader. That message is that those people with money and/or power can bribe law enforcements to look away, leaving them free to do anything to anyone or any community. It also told me that if the law does not protect its people, the people will no longer respect the law and deal with problems their own way. All-in-all, a good read. ***

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Bury My Heart At Redtree is such a fast-paced thriller, it is impossible to put down. Chalfant draws you in and connects you to each of the characters while the bad guys plot and destroy and the good guys try to even the score.

Patrick Chalfant weaves a tale that is a mixture of psychological suspense, Native American mysticism and revenge in his sophomore novel Bury My Heart at Redtree. Redtree follows Taylor, a promising young psychology student as he builds his masters thesis around the revenge he has planned for those who are responsible for his parent's death.

Taylor is aided in his vigilante justice by his friends Elijah and Keith and hunted by the local authorities, detectives Stan Jennings and Carol Parker of the State Bureau of Investigations. With a cast of a characters that also includes a naďve, yet insightful girlfriend, a mystical and manipulative Native American chief and a business man with shady dealings that could put Kenneth Lay to shame, Bury my Heart at Redtree is entertaining, suspenseful and exciting, albeit a little predictable and underdeveloped.

Chalfant's use of Freudian psychology as a plot device is original and ingenious as Taylor uses his criminal spree as a means to prove his thesis regarding Freud's idea of the id, ego and superego. Also, the opening sequence of Redtree, a daring and bloody convenience store hit, is one of the best opening sequences of a novel I have ever read. And I must say Gayland, the resident wealthy business man and all out bad guy is a well written and deliciously evil, villain. You love to hate him and hope and pray that he gets what he deserves.

Redtree manages to be fresh and engaging in a genre that can easily be stale and unoriginal and that is all do to Chalfant's masterful storytelling and innovative use of the old themes of revenge and redemption.

However, Redtree does have some problems, the biggest of which is Chalfant's lack of character development. With so many characters you don't expect to be up close and personal with everyone but the main characters, particularly Taylor and Jennings should feel like close friends, or at the very least people you'd care about if something happened to them and that closeness just isn't there.

Chalfant doesn't offer much in the way of motivation or understanding for their behavior or their thoughts, so as a reader you don't have much stake in what happens to them good or bad. He does a great job at portraying Gayland as a corrupt and soulless man but lacks the same depth with the rest of the characters and that lack of depth ultimately hurts the story he's trying to tell.

Despite these criticisms Bury My Heart at Redtree is worth your time and money. It's a good and fast read and while the surprise ending isn't really a surprise you'll still find it satisfying and fulfilling.

Tamika Johnson