Aim at the Heart

Miller Townson has left behind would-be killers in Vietnam and Germany who, fortunately, missed. Having moved with his wife back to the States, he attends graduate school at the University of Texas.He continues to read ancestor letters and gets fascinated by William Martin who worked for the richest Cherokee Indian in Georgia. Miller learns about gold “tracers,” Cherokee war women, and a deadly Indian game called anetsa. He meets Dexter, a white man who mints coins from gold dust and calls himself Running Bear, Brigadier General of the Philadelphia Society of Red Men. Dexter wants to meet “a real Indian,” not “Rich Joe” Vann to whom William introduces him.  In graduate school, Miller plays too much tennis, writes no articles in his field, and can’t find a job teaching. His wife, Denise, divorces him, but moves no farther than the guest room because they remain friends. When Miller gets engaged, his fiancée, Elizabeth, joins him in the master bedroom. The three of them live amiably together until he accepts a business job in another city.  The work makes him miserable, but he doesn’t worry about being shot at until his “little brother” is killed in a road rage incident. Miller learns that a stripper’s jealous boyfriend may have shot his friend. Miller refreshes his shooting skills and drives up to Austin. Yorby, his blue oracle owl, remains silent, giving him no clue about what is about to happen. AROUND THE NEXT BEND took Miller through his army years. AIM AT THE HEART follows him through his working years which are far too violent, but he sure does enjoy the sexual revolution.