Heart Chants Favorably Compared to Tony HIllerman's Navajo Novels

Heart Chants has been published for a little over two months now and received 11 five-star reviews on Amazon. Here are some of them:

IF YOU LIVE in New Mexico, you've been exposed to Hillerman's novels about Navajo life. Except that they don't really tell you much about Navajo life and beliefs. I found Heart Chants much more satisfying in this regard than the Hillerman novels I've read. And there's an interesting plot, as well! The tie-in to Chinese culture added a bit of a twist and I found myself wanting to follow the characters as they pursued their lives after Heart Chants ended. I'm looking forward to the next Phillip McGuire book. -- NM Reader

GREAT DETAIL in the style of Tony Hillerman.Thanks, Mr. Atwood. I'm looking forward to your next installment of the Phillip McGuire series. -- Steven Malcolm

Very intriguing story with a fascinating story line, and interesting subject matter as well, with the Navajo culture and mysticism factoring in to the plot. Heart wrenching history of the Navajo people revealed in the story. Suspenseful, fast paced, unique. Loved it, highly recommended. -- Jane Austen Fan

IN HEART CHANTS, Randy Attwood reintroduces us to Phil McGuire shortly after the events of the first novel in this series - Tortured Truths. Phil is laid up at home after trouble, in the guise of a woman, finds him again.

Two young Navajo students from the local university have disappeared and the local authorities think they've wandered off on their own. With no one believing claims of foul play, Phil lets another Navajo girl stay at his place to keep her safe. Both of the other missing girls were the daughters of tribal singers, a coincidence too significant to ignore. Before long, the efforts of the trickster draw him into the world of Navajo mysticism and traditions as old as the world.

Heart Chants draws upon the Navajo creation tale, bringing the reader into a rich and detailed canon depicted with masterful and immersive storytelling. While no expert, I found the depictions of rites and cultural lore to be deep and engaging. This was an excellent read, and it kept the pages (electronic as they may be) turning. By the time the action reached its peak, I was reading too fast, and had to back up and reread several pages―I wanted to know what was going to happen.

One does not have to read Tortured Truths to be able to follow this story, though I would suggest doing so, as it provides a richer experience. -- Matt Cox

THE CHARACTER development in the book is solid. Both main characters, McGuire and the killer, are very well developed. The guilt that McGuire feels for things that happened in his past, though not always at the forefront, is almost always present, showing a fairly large and visible crack in his otherwise solid facade.

The author delved deeply into Navajo culture when developing the killer, and when developing the plot, using words to paint pictures for the reader that were both ugly and beautiful, sad an joyous. Though told mostly from the killer’s perspective, the Navajo Indians’ reverence for Mother Earth was refreshing, especially in a world filled with SUVs, smart phones, and “selfies.”

The book could have ended with the resolution to the killings, but the author took it a step further, giving McGuire a miracle, and giving the reader a kernel of hope.

Bottom line: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a quick read that kept my interest. I cared about McGuire, and want to know what happens to him. -- Mark1068

THE AMOUNT of research and knowledge of the Navajo poured into this story is incredible. Randy Attwood spared no expense so to speak as he lavishly and with great respect brings forth the mystical Navajo legends and thought. There is also an acceptance as in the first segment of the Phil McGuire series of peoples of varying cultures. In this novel Randy Attwood brilliantly entwines mystery and suspense with a twist of Native American history which is truly the humble beginnings of American history unknown to most.

The written words in HeartChants flow with ease keeping the reader always turning one more page seeking the treasures and secrets each offers. Randy Attwood has an unflawed ability to create characters that capture the reader's attention; one may find themselves both loving and hating even the most despicable misguided personalities. From beginning to end Heart Chants is an exciting novel that is in my opinion arguably one of the best releases of the New Year.

Heart Chants is an impeccably written novel with a truly unique plot that is truly a must read. -- Lisa

Doing One Of Those Book Signing Things

My books have now been placed in several independent bookstores in the KC area and March 7 I'll be doing a book signing at one of them, Prospero's Parkside in Blue Springs, MO. It's just east of Kansas City. The store owner, Eve Brackenbury, a poetess, pulled images from my Facebook page and did a really cool image to advertise the signing and used that image as the store's current facebook cover.

Here's the image. I'm looking forward to this evening. She also serves wine! So if you know anyone in the area, please alert them. I may bring a few liquid reinforcements myself because, to tell the truth, I'm scare as hell about the whole thing.

And I've been invited to Lawrence, KS to be interviewed on an internet radio program. Details to follow...

Nice recent reviews:

For Crazy About You

I found this story so captivating that I couldn't stop reading once I started, I happen to work at the state hospital depicted in this story and it is incredible fact or fiction, the detail that was written I could see everything he wrote so I was able to follow it with such ease and enjoyed it very much. A very believable story that seemed so familiar. I have recommended this to everyone that I know. I only found one issue with the story and that was, that it wasn't longer......Thanks Randy for such an absolutely amazing read!!!

For Heart Chants

Very intriguing story with a fascinating story line, and interesting subject matter as well, with the Navajo culture and mysticism factoring in to the plot. Heart wrenching history of the Navajo people revealed in the story. Suspenseful, fast paced, unique. Loved it, highly recommended.

For Rabbletown: Life in These United Christian States of Holy America

Once I got past the first few pages, I couldn't put this book down. It's actually a short novel but the story held my interest. The story is of an America where the government and society have been restructured along dogmatic lines that suggest christian dominionism, a nightmare christian theocracy at its height during the late 21st century. By the end of the book, I was disappointed that there was not a second book that picks up where the first leaves off. Can we hope for a Book II, Mr. Attwood?

For Tortured Truths

Tortured Truths by Randy Attwood is a suspense thriller starring Phillip McGuire a journalist who has recently escaped the claws of his middle eastern torturers. In bad shape both physically and mentally he pursues a simpler life and leaves his journalism background behind although not completely. He returns to his hometown in an effort to heal and live a simpler life, getting back in touch with old friends and opening a bar. He soon finds a mystery that needs resolving as people begin turning up dead.

The plot thickens and excitement ascends to a shreaking climax with every word in this thriller. Gruesome and colorful text flows into a string of scenes that coalesce inside the reader's mind with each turn of the page.Character's are vividly displayed through dialogue and narrative giving the reader a sense of being in the thick of the action.

A well written and most definitely stinging suspense thriller that is a must read!

"Heart Chants" Building an Audience

Found a copy of S.I. Hayakawa's "Language in Action" at an estate sale and at the beginning of the chapter on Affective Communication, he uses this quote from T.S. Eliot:

What I call the "auditory imagination" is the feeling for syllable and rhythm, penetrating far below the conscious levels of thought and feeling, invigorating every word; sinking to the most primitive and forgotten, returning to the origin and bringing something back, seeking the beginning and the end.

Throughout my writing life I've felt that if I get the right words in the right order it would create in the reader a deep resonance that was almost like music. I think T.S. Eliot's descriptions gets closer to what I had tried to express.

I like to think that the preface to Heart Chants accomplishes this feeling.

In the beginning was the wind. And when the earth came, the wind cared for it. And when the darkness came, the wind breezed across it beautifully. And when the dawn came and laid its lightness over the darkness, We, the People, were created. And the wind kissed our faces.

Sales of Heart Chants have been building, sufficient that it went as high as #56 in one of its subcategories and past the #100 rank in another category. These are highly transitory, so I have no idea where it may be ranked if you check on its status.

But I'm pleased good reviews continue to arrive:

Heart Chants by Randy Attwood is an enticing novel rich in Native American lore and steeped in mystery. Packed with intrigue from the start, Phil McGuire is back, and with cracked ribs as he threw himself into the hands of three Chinese men to save a beautiful Chinese damsel in distress, Hsu Chi. As he lays recovering in bed two Native American girls go missing and as a favor to a friend and assistance with his recovery another Native American girl Zonnie comes to stay with him. Hsu Chi finds him as well and a love affair sparks between them. While Phil is recovering with the aid of two beautiful women a young half white half Navajo man, self proclaimed Ko-yo-teh, is following the vision of his grandfather to rid the land of the white people. Increasing suspense builds as the reader is plunged into Ko-yo-teh's world and Phil assists in solving the mystery of the missing girls. The elements within the novel merge together as the developing plot becomes progressively more compelling for a riveting, unforgettable, and unsuspected ending.

The amount of research and knowledge of the Navajo poured into this story is incredible. Randy Attwood spared no expense so to speak as he lavishly and with great respect brings forth the mystical Navajo legends and thought. There is also an acceptance as in the first segment of the Phil McGuire series of peoples of varying cultures. In this novel Randy Attwood brilliantly entwines mystery and suspense with a twist of Native American history which is truly the humble beginnings of American history unknown to most.

The written words in Heart Chants flow with ease keeping the reader always turning one more page seeking the treasures and secrets each offers. Randy Attwood has an unflawed ability to create characters that capture the reader's attention; one may find themselves both loving and hating even the most despicable misguided personalities. From beginning to end Heart Chants is an exciting novel that is in my opinion arguably one of the best releases of the New Year.

Heart Chants is an impeccably written novel with a truly unique plot that is truly a must read.

I keep expecting the paperback version of Heart Chants to be available on the Amazon site any day now.

"Heart Chants" Now Available on Amazon

Heart Chants, is now available for Kindle users. Don't have a Kindle? You can get a free app for your PC or Mac desktop or phones that lets you read Kindle books on those devices.

Pre-release reviews for Heart Chants were very favorable:

Bernina Gray

Navajo artist

Heart Chants is an intricately woven tale around the life, tradition, and wonders of the Diné people. It leaves you wanting to unravel more stories behind the people, place and creation of it all.

  

Richard Sutton

(Direct reservation trader since 1985 in authentic Navajo art)

Master storyteller Randy Attwood scores again. This time, he’s traced an unexpected, jarring intersection of cultures and bruised mental states that lead the reader into the deepest shadows. Beliefs can sustain a people when all else fails. Sometimes, belief must be tempered with understanding. When that is lacking, evil seeps in. Heart Chants illustrates how even evil done for reasons of restoring harmony is simply, evil. His evocative descriptions of Southwestern vistas and his detail rich research into the Navajo culture pay back in an absorbing reading experience.

 Sean Bennick

(Seattle area writer)

Reading Heart Chants has made me want to read the rest of Phillip McGuire's exploits.

From the first sentence we sense... something unsettling and other worldly. Randy Attwood paints a picture for the reader simply but expertly. His dialog has you hovering over the shoulders of the characters. Where some authors leave you as an observer, Randy involves the reader - drawing them in deeply from the start.

He builds the relationship between his characters with the same delicate strokes and soft colors he uses to create the setting. You learn about Phil through injuries of exploits unseen and it's almost perfect. I say almost because I don't think Phil would like anything to be perfect. I think that would piss him off.

The story reads easy, and moves at a good pace. There are elements of Noir Fiction as things move forward, and I found myself enjoying a genre I had long ago abandoned.

We are involved in both the richness of the Navajo culture and the intrigue of the Chinese Political Environment of the late '80s. For both, be prepared to do a little research to fill in some blanks, it will improve your understanding greatly.

As in real life, some people are who they seem and others aren't. The characters grow and question the world around them, finding connections between their lives and between monsters both real and mythical. Most importantly, Randy honors the voices of his characters and their culture in a way few can match. The result is a mini education of the Navajo people from disparate viewpoints.

More than most authors, Randy Attwood puts you in the setting. You find yourself walking through the lands of Navajo, and exploring the town of Lawrence, Kansas. Again I'll avoid any more detail than this so you can explore and experience the settings on your own.

The ending, while not the one I expected, was satisfying and somehow, well there's no other word for it, perfect. Sorry, Phil - but sometimes things are perfect, even when they aren't.

Just remember, Coyote is a trickster and the magic of the ancient world is real.

Steve Glassman

Reviewer for Midwest Review of Books

(Here's a review of Attwood's second mystery novel. In it he does the unthinkable--he writes a Hillerman-like mystery set among the Navajo--and he stays even with Hillerman and even exceeds him in the ethnology, hard as that is to believe. This is a heck of a book. I have left much of the hyperbole out of the review in order to keep the review from sounding as though it was written by a PR man.)

Randy Attwood has done a gutsy thing. He has gone up against the legacy of Tony Hillerman in the second novel of his Philip McGuire crime series. Even better he wins the bet, not because his crime novel is better than any of Hillerman’s, although it might be and probably is, but because he has the good sense to play off Hillerman in a totally novel way.

The action in Attwood’s novel is set in the Midwest in the outlying Kansas City suburb of Lawrence. Some may know the burg as the seat of the University of Kansas Jayhawks, but it is also home to Haskell Indian College. Philip McGuire, the novel’s main viewpoint character and protagonist, has settled there after a short career as a foreign correspondent which culminated in his being taken hostage, his hand mutilated, and then released by the Hezbollah in Lebanon right after they blow up the Marine base in the early 1980s.  McGuire retains his intrigue of foreign things. His love interest in the novel is the lovely Chinese activist Hsu  Chi. Yes, Chinese in a novel that delves more deeply into Navajo cosmology than any Hillerman novel I’m familiar with ever went.

The bad guy, and wow is he ever a bad guy, is a Navajo half caste, who comes to Lawrence to live with and then assassinate his birth mother. He builds a hogan inside the barn on his mom’s place after he inherits the property, and takes a job as janitor at Haskell Junior College. There is a deep method to this plan. He had been raised in the Southwest and had been trying since his youth to become a full-blooded Navajo in spirit. As a byproduct his spiritual quest, he fervently believes, will also drive the white man from Navajo land. At Haskell he finds three Navajo coeds whose Navajo connections and gruesome deaths and gory dismemberment (and cannibalization) will complete the black magic ritual he had started in the Southwest. At this point, the usefulness to the general reader of some familiarity with Navajo ritual thanks to Hillerman novels should be apparent.

Two of the coeds are indeed abducted and ritually slain. In an unrelated subplot McGuire’s Chinese love interest is made off with by red Chinese agents, and almost immediately afterwards so is the third Navajo girl. A Navajo tribal policeman arrives in Lawrence to investigate the disappearances. Though interesting enough in his way, this cop is no rival to Hillerman’s twin protagonists. He resembles nothing so much as a dutiful nightclub bouncer. The investigation tool he brings along to find the girls goes one up on Hillerman. It’s an elderly seer known only by the reverend old-age title of Hosteen. He knows not a word of English and is guided only by his knowledge of Navajo ways.

Attwood pulls the various storylines and conceptual elements together in a most satisfying and compelling conclusion. If you like hardboiled mysteries or Hillerman or novels with multi-ethnic subplots, this is a book for you.

Katy Sozaeva

Top 1000 Amazon reviewer

My Thoughts: This book provides a peek into the legends and lore of the Diné, or as they are commonly known, the Navajo. Their creation story is beautiful.

“In the beginning was the wind. And when the earth came, the wind cared for it. And when the darkness came, the wind breezed across it beautifully. And when the dawn came and laid its lightness over the darkness, We, the People, were created. And the wind kissed our faces.”

Phil McGuire's portion of the story focuses on two young women—Hsu Chi and Zonnie—whom he takes in to try to protect, Hsu Chi from anti-democratic Chinese gangs, and Zonnie from whoever or whatever has taken away two of her friends, also Navajo, from their college. Attwood has obviously done a great deal of research into the Diné culture, legends and lore and shows the reader exactly how beautiful that culture was, and how much the European settlers destroyed in their hubris. I do not know if there are any reparations to be made for the damage we did to the native cultures here, but I find it been heartbreaking how much knowledge has been lost. It would behoove us to find those who have kept this knowledge and preserve it before it is gone forever.

I found the talk Ko-yo-teh had with the old man at the filling station very funny, especially when the old man repeated the message he had sent to the moon in Navajo: “Watch out for these guys; they come to take your land.” Sad, of course, but also very funny. It fits in with the overall theme of the book, which is well represented by this quote:

“I'm convinced the deepest passion mankind has is the need to inflict belief on another person. Belief in God, belief in these words as God's words, belief in this interpretation of these words, belief in these acts in the name of God. If it's not religion, it's politics.”

Like all of Randy Attwood's stories, this one is absolutely amazing. I kept having goose bumps from reading it. Highly recommended for those who enjoy a good story, especially if you are interested in Native American stories and culture.

Synopsis: Burnt-out foreign correspondent Phillip McGuire, who gave up journalism, is now happy owning and running a bar in Lawrence, Kansas. He's happy with his new house in the country. But he's not happy. When two Navajo female students are missing from Haskell Indian college, he agrees to shelter a third. And then a mysterious beautiful Chinese woman stumbles into his life. And all the while, Coyote is working on the largest sandpainting ever created and advancing his plan to reopen the gates to the Navajo's Holy People.

First Pre-release Reviews for "Heart Chants," #2 in Mystery Series, Encouragingly Wonderful

This is an apprehensive time. The digital formats for Heart Chants arrived the other day and I sent them to readers who indicated they would be willing to read, and perhaps review, pre-release copies of this novel that is strongly dependent on the Navajo creation story.

Heart Chants is #2 in the Phillip McGuire mystery/suspense series. Tortured Truths, #1 in the series, came out in October.

Phillip is a burnt-out foreign correspondent who, after being kidnapped and tortured by the Hezbollah in Beirut and released, says enough is enough. He quits journalism and returns to his college town of Lawrence, KS to own and run a bar where adventures come his way.

Heart Chants has a major character who is half-Navajo and half-white who believes he is a witch and knows how to create the largest sandpainting every created and do a chant that will reopen the gates to the

Holy People, from whom he can acquire new gifts to deal with the White Man.

Two reviews have come in now, one of them from a direct reservation art dealer with the Navajo since 1985. Here's what Richard Sutton had to say:

Master storyteller Randy Attwood scores again. This time, he’s traced an unexpected, jarring intersection of cultures and bruised mental states that leads the reader into the deepest shadows. Beliefs can sustain a people when all else fails. Sometimes, belief must be tempered with understanding. When that is lacking, evil seeps in. Heart Chants illustrates how even evil done for reasons of restoring harmony is simply, evil. His evocative descriptions of Southwestern vistas and his detail rich research into the Navajo culture, pay back in an absorbing reading experience.

Seattle area author Sean Bennick in a longer review was also very positive. That review can be found on Goodreads here and if you are member of Goodreads or join up for free you can put Heart Chants on your to read list. You'll see a "want to read" button. Last I check 220 people had put Tortured Truths on their to-read list.

You can't pre-order the book, but if you are interested, just email me and I'll send you an alert when the book is available. It should be out early next year. randyattwood@hotmail.com

Two Novels Accepted by Curiosity Quills, But...

I am pumped that Curiosity Quills, the small press in the DC area that published the very dark/suspense work Blow Up the Roses has now accepted two more novels. But.

These two mystery/suspense novels feature the same protagonist: Philip McGuire. He is burnt-out foreign correspondent who had his hand mangled in torture by the Hezbollah and quits journalism to return to his college town to buy and run a bar. Adventures come his way.

The two works (may be more; I don't know) was a kind of homage to the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. I read that series not so much for the story, but because it meant I got to spend more time with Travis. His reflections on life, his mini editorials, his romances were wonderfully created by the master. I was hoping readers would want to spend time with Philip.

The first novel, Heal My Heart So I May Cry establishes his background and gives him a situation where he ends up encountering the torturer who mangled his hand when he was kidnapped in Beirut and gave up all the details he knew of the Marine compound that was later blown up with the loss of 237 soldiers.

In this novel, he has a bittersweet romance with a university journalism student that has an O. Henry ending (boy, does that date me).

Here's a taste from the beginning:

The car stopped. The hood was taken off my head. My good hand was untied from the interior car door handle. The bright sun of Beirut blinded me. My pupils squeezed tight. My eyes adjusted a little by the time they had the back door open and were pulling me out of the car so I could look again at the face of that son-of-a-bitch, the one they called Mohammed, who had taken so much joy looking into my eyes while the cutter had done his work on my hand, the hand now wrapped in the dirty napkin as I held it high against my heart. I looked at that motherfucker's face and felt the hope that hate gives. The hope that I'd see that face again and have a fair chance to get even. Fuck that. Have an unfair chance. Have any chance to get even. You and me someday, Mohammed. Give me that, God, I prayed. But God hadn't answered any of my prayers lately. Maybe I'd be due someday.

  

In the second novel, a half-Navajo and half-white character who believes he is a witch plays a major role. He calls himself "Koyoteh" (coyote). Both novels are set in Lawrence, KS, which is home to Haskell, a college for American Indians. Two Navajo girls have come up missing. Researching the Navajo culture led me to their creation story, which is as complicated and fascinating as Greek mythology. I think, and hope, I have created a full retelling of that story that is better than any that exists in any fiction work. I titled this work "A Heart to Understand." To make this novel even more complicated, the romance in this novel involves an illegal Chinese immigrant trying to sneak out of the US to go back to China and with an ulterior motive for contacting Philip.

Here's a taste of that work:

"Another Indian girl's missing, Phil."

"That's two now, isn't it."

"In two months. No bodies found. Yet. Officially, it's another missing person's case. The police still take the attitude that Indian students from Haskell run off all the time. But Navajo aren't solo runaways. Being in a group is too important to them, especially girls."

"Navajo?"

"Both have been Navajo. Could just be the odds. Highest percentage of students at Haskell are Navajo. Both had friends, left behind too many personal possessions to be runaways. Got to be kidnappings. When I was in law school I did a summer internship in a law office in Gallup. Did a lot of reading into Navajo culture and Native American sovereignty rights. Word gets around. I began to represent Native Americans around here. Some of them came to me asking if I could help them make the police investigate more. But, hell, there's not much they can do unless a body turns up. Shitty thing, isn't it, hoping a body will turn up? They're all upset and angry. Not a good combination. The Navajo believe in this cause and effect deal. They don't like having these ugly effects without understanding or knowing the cause. I'm afraid it could be a serial killer with a thing for Indian girls. And one of my clients has a daughter whose Navajo girlfriend is really spooked. I've talked to her and I've got a favor to ask."

"What's that?"

"I'd like to hide her out here."

"Out here?"

"Sure. The kidnapper must be prowling the Haskell area. He wouldn't be prowling around here. And she's really shaken. Something going on she won't tell me about. And you could use the help now that you're laid up. How about it?"

"Well, sure. If that's what you want," I said as I watched him walk to the window on the other side of the room that looked out over the drive up to the house.

"Phil?"

"Yeah."

"That Chinese girl. You said she had really long hair?"

"Down to her butt. And we're talking a tall girl here."

"Really beautiful?"

"Stunning. Even features. Sexy mouth. Full lips. High brow. Why?"

"She's walking up to your front door."

Okay, here's that but.

Editor doesn't like the titles and urges me to change them to something more consistent with the genre of mystery/suspense. I have to admit my titles, Heal My Heart So I May Cry and A Heart to Understand sound more like romance novels. I have lived with these titles so long it has become very hard for me to brainstorm within myself for new ones. But I have also learned that a writer should heed an editor's suggestion.

Friends: any ideas?

Happy to share manuscripts with anyone really interested in all of this. Guess if you're reached the end of this long blog, you may well be!