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 fiancée 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.