Anthony Andrews, a young black man, is raised in an upper class family who feels that they are "above the fray" of the Civil Rights Movement. As a teenager, Anthony is traumatized after witnessing a hanging of another young black man in the nearby woods. After finding that no one has publicly acknowledged this act of violence, Anthony vows to become a reporter and be a voice for the voiceless. Thus begins the twisted and torturous journey from the safety provided by his family's status into the racial maelstrom of the 1960's south.
Anthony becomes the first black reporter at the Arkansas Sun and is assigned to investigate a racial atrocity that took place in Evesville, Arkansas. In spite of the trauma he still experiences when he is confronted with violence, he takes the assignment. Upon visiting the town, he finds it mysteriously abandoned. His subsequent investigation finds that the townspeople left in a panic because fourteen men had disappeared. Anthony's investigation narrows the search to two black families that might have been responsible, the Williams and the Coulters. The Coulter family has also disappeared, so Anthony, aided by Professor Carla Monroe, begins his investigation with the Williams family who has since moved to Cleveland, Ohio.
What Anthony finds in his investigation not only shocks him, but enlightens him when he finds that the disappearance of the fourteen men is related to the hanging he saw as a young man. His interaction with the William's family gives him a new perspective on racial matters. He is now torn between continuing the investigation and furthering his career or not writing the story and losing a job he had worked so hard to obtain. Anthony's final decision almost costs him his life as he learns that nothing is what it seems. Anthony also learns that the consequences of his choices will lead to his own salvation and that being "above the fray" is not an option.
