Endour, a Middle-Eastern-financed corporate giant with deep pockets and an insatiable thirst, has acquired the legal means to carry out a vicious hidden agenda with the help of a corrupt U.S. senator. When Endour assumes control of much of the nation's potable water distribution systems, rates suddenly spike, residents howl in protest, and newsman Peter "Mac" McDermott knows he may be onto the biggest story of his career.

McDermott goes fishing for leads, but that only makes Endour's leaders anxious to permanently silence him. As the stakes rise, McDermott and the staff of Baltimore's weekly North Bay Times are all that stand between Endour and its secret backers-and a parched America exposed.