Grayson McLeod, a rising reporter in the competitive media market of northwest Arkansas, loses his job when a rival newspaper buys the daily he works for. He accepts the first position he is offered: managing editor of the weekly White Horse Mountain Chronicle. His new home is Indian Lakes Village, a tiny hamlet hidden in the Arkansas Ozarks — just four hours away but light years away culturally.

The publisher gives Grayson one year to rescue the newspaper, which is in danger of closing. But he soon puts his own life in more immediate danger with investigative reporting that exposes corruption in the county political machine.

Grayson's personal life is also in shambles. He is torn between the woman he left behind, impatiently awaiting his return, and his strange new home, with its growing hold on him. Amid backward and unwelcoming locals, he finds a small band of allies whose support he comes to depend on. And behind it all is the mysterious, invisible owner of the newspaper who seems to know everything about the editor, even though they've never met.

The legend of White Horse Mountain, a Native American tale Grayson hears soon after his arrival, becomes his personal allegory. With eccentric Southern characters and Dickensian plot twists all the way to the end, this work of commercial fiction is equal parts humor and suspense, romance and mystery.