Bury My Heart At Redtree

In Patrick Chalfant’s Bury My Heart At Redtree, Taylor struggles to preserve his sanity as he embarks on a mission of justice.

Taylor is a white boy, adopted and raised by Native American parents, who is studying for his Master's in Psychology. After their cruel and senseless murders, he formulates a strategy to snare their killers. He's been deprived of justice by corrupt politicians and judges; hence, he and his friends decide to become judge and jury. Patrick Chalfant accurately weaves Freud’s theory of id, ego, and superego into Taylor’s journey toward justice and inner awareness.

Wendy loves Taylor and wishes to assist him, except he won’t tell her what he is doing. Troubled and worried about him, she examines his thesis and ascertains the truth. Determined to locate Taylor and stop him, she travels to Running Bear Cliff. Will she arrive in time or will Taylor be lost to her?

Stanley Jennings is a state detective snooping for evidence in a bizarre case of cold-blooded assassinations. Each victim is a malicious and immoral man who has created misery and death around him without fear of the law. At this moment, Stanley is at a crossroads in his life. He believes in justice and the law, but the corrupt system is wearing him down. Will he solve these grisly murders or permit vigilante justice?

Bury My Heart At Redtree is a spellbinding and thought-provoking saga of bribery, self-indulgence, anguish, and justice. The white man has destroyed and stolen from the Native Americans for ages without penalty and the time for retribution is at hand. Patrick Chalfant cleverly merges Freud’s understanding of man’s nature with Taylor’s need for justice up to the shocking climax. I could not put this book down. Patrick Chalfant’s perceptive understanding of the hopelessness shaped by a dishonest and prejudiced society that leads a moral person to the edge of civility is provocative and haunting.

Reviewed by: Dena