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 all hope, 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 community where she was born and raised, and where she swore she'd never return. 

Now, Sucker Falls represents a place of rebirth and refuge. Chasing grandeur, Ladybug sets out to build 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. When the miracle arrives in the form of three strangers with deep pockets, Ladybug and her boys must ask themselves how far they'll go to protect everything they have 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.