When rumors spread at a festive pig pickin' birthday party that the body of a young man has been found at Buckshot Pond near the quaint North Carolina town of Bonner Falls, deep within the backwoods of the Smoky Mountains, Skip Walker, a photojournalist with The Mountain Holler, a biweekly community newspaper, is determined to uncover the murder's identity.
In searching for the truth, Skip is thrust into the dark, secretive underworld of moonshine alcohol. Skip learns that a mysterious bootlegger, whose homicidal lust for power, passion for dogs, and classical music has unleashed a serial killer to destroy his rival, while evading capture by the county sheriff.
Skip doggedly reports the murderous events as the body count climbs. Throughout the carnage, a greedy publisher relentlessly urges Skip to create dramatic, sensational tabloid-style articles, in hopes of increasing the publication's readership and advertising sales.
Amid the turmoil, Skip struggles to maintain a relationship with his loving fianc e and politically incorrect, irascible uncle, who has an unrivaled affection for his Labrador mixed retriever, grilled beer can chicken and contempt for cell phone text messages.
The tables take a sudden, ominous turn when Skip becomes the target of the killer's wrath. With his life threatened and reputation on the line, Skip must join forces with the law to avoid being a victim in the killer's reign of terror.