When journalist Josh Wittmore moves from the Illinois bureau of Farm
Country News to the newspaper's national office in Wisconsin, he
encounters the biggest story of his young career--just as the paper's
finances may lead to its closure.
Josh's big story is that a corporation that plans to establish an
enormous hog farm has bought a lot of land along the Tamarack River in
bucolic Ames County. Some of the local residents and officials are
excited about the jobs and tax revenues that the big farm will bring,
while others worry about truck traffic, porcine aromas, and manure
runoff polluting the river. And how would the arrival of a large
agribusiness affect life and traditions in this tightly knit rural
community of family farmers? Josh strives to provide impartial
agricultural reporting, even as his newspaper is replaced by a new
Internet-only version owned by a former New York investment banker. And
it seems that there may be another force in play: the vengeful ghost of
a drowned logger who locals say haunts the valley of the Tamarack
River.