July 6, 2005
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 Mans 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.
Reviewed by: Tyrone V. Banks
