Sucker Falls : A Novel

From the author of Cold and Motorcycles & Sweetgrass, a razor-sharp and darkly funny tale of ambition, greed, and Indigenous sovereignty—where the biggest gamble isn''t at the tables, but in the human heart.

Welcome to Sucker Falls—Abandon hope all ye who enter here.


Ladybug LaFlesche is a hurricane of a woman—a powerfully persuasive con artist plowing through people, places, and even her two sons, Donnie and Reeper, if necessary. On the run with police hot on their trail, Ladybug and her boys set their sights on Sucker Falls, the reserve where she was born and raised, and where she swore she''d never return. But that was in another life.

Now, Sucker Falls represents a place of rebirth and refuge—a reserve she hopes to turn into its own sovereign nation. Ladybug''s hopes for grandeur have her constructing the greatest casino in the land, but things quickly get out of hand leaving her family and her home in piles of debt and in search of a miracle. And when the miracle arrives in the form of three strangers with deep pockets, Ladybug and her boys have no choice but to lean in to the storm and manipulate their own moral compasses in order to maintain everything they''ve worked for.

Full of thrills and deception while also showcasing Drew Hayden Taylor''s stylish and always-hilarious voice and teeming with a cast of characters that will haunt and infuriate readers, Sucker Falls is a modern take on a classic crime caper, showing us the pitfalls of power and how it can create monsters far scarier than those of legend.