There, There meets The Night Watchman in this gripping literary debut about power and corruption, family, and facing the ghosts of the past.
Mitch Caddo, a young law school graduate and aspiring political fixer, is an outsider in the homeland of his Anishinaabe ancestors. But alongside his childhood friend, Tribal President Mack Beck, he runs the government of the Passage Rouge Nation, and with it, the tribeâs Golden Eagle Casino and Hotel. On the eve of Mackâs reelection, their tenuous grip on power is threatened by a nationally known activist and politician, Gloria Hawkins, and her young aide, Layla Beck, none other than Mackâs estranged sister and Mitchâs former love. In their struggle for control over Passage Rouge, the campaigns resort to bare-knuckle political gamesmanship, testing the limits of how far they will goâand what they will sacrificeâto win it all.
But when an accident claims the life of Mitchâs mentor, a power broker in the reservationâs political scene, the election slides into chaos and pits Mitch against the only family he has. As relationships strain to their breaking points and a peaceful protest threatens to become an all-consuming riot, Mitch and Layla must work together to stop the reservationâs descent into violence.
Thrilling and timely, Big Chief is an unforgettable story about the search for belongingâto an ancestral and spiritual home, to a family, and to a sovereign people at a moment of great historical importance.