Shawn Lawrence Otto reads from "The Sins of Our Fathers"

Sins of Our Fathers is a twisted morality tale from the American heartland.

JW is a small-town banker. His specialty: teaching other bankers in towns near Indian reservations how to profit from casino deposits without exposing themselves to risk. His problem: having lost his son in a car accident a year ago, JW is depressed, his wife is leaving him, and he can’t stop gambling.

When he is caught embezzling funds to support his addiction, JW’s boss offers him a choice. He can either accept responsibility and go to prison, or use his talents to sabotage a competing Native American banker named Johnny Eagle. With the clock ticking, JW moves into a trailer on the reservation within sight of his prey. But as he befriends Eagle and his son, JW finds that his plan to reclaim his freedom will be more dangerous than he ever could have imagined.

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Shawn Lawrence Otto is the writer and co-producer of the Oscar-nominated film House of Sand and Fog, and the author of Sins of Our Fathers. His nonfiction book, Fool Me Twice, garnered praise from Bill McKibben, Bill Nye, and Steven Pinker, and his writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, Science, and Salon, among other publications. He lives in Marine on St. Croix, MN.