Atlanta, 1956. When Arthur Bishop, editor of Atlanta's leading black newspaper, is killed in his office, cop-turned-journalist Tommy Smith finds himself in the crosshairs of the racist cops he's been trying to avoid. To clear his name, he needs to learn more about the dangerous story Bishop had been working on. Meanwhile, Smith's ex-partner Lucius Boggs and white sergeant Joe McInnis -- the only white cop in the black precinct -- find themselves caught between meddling federal agents, racist detectives, and Communist activists as they try to solve the murder. With a young Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. making headlines of his own, and tensions in the city growing, Boggs and Smith find themselves back on the same side in a hunt for the truth that will put them both at risk.