The first book in Diane Fanning’s new fiction series, SCANDAL IN THE SECRET CITY ( November,2014) takes readers back to the dawning of the atomic age, World War II, the war to end all wars with the discovery of the atomic bomb.

The main character, Libby Clark, a recently graduated scientist and only female chemist in the top-secret location, is like hundreds of other top scientists who were transported to an unknown location, doing unknown work for the purpose of ending the war.

Oak Ridge, Tennessee, later nicknamed “Atomic City,” quickly sprang up from 70,000 acres of government acquired rural farmland and became one of the secret cities. Along with Los Alamos, New Mexico, Hanford, Washington, and other selected sites,Oak Ridge was built in 1942, a remote and hidden location which never showed up on any map until 1949 even though it was the new home of over 75,000 people and using more electricity than New York City.

Against this backdrop, shrouded in government imposed secrecy, Libby Clark arrives in Oak Ridge excited to do her part for the war effort performing secret research for the government. She joins other women and forms friendships, but with the scrutiny of her position. The women all had different aspirations, recruited from small towns across the area to perform important tasks, never knowing exactly what the end result would be.

She soon begins to suspect, however, that not all is as it seems. And to make matters worse, one frosty night she discovers the dead body of her roommate’s sister sprawled behind the bleachers. No one else seems to think finding the killer is important and it’s up to Libby to make sense of the situation. Aided by a band of like-minded scientists, Libby follows every possible lead until she comes to a shocking and unexpected conclusion……SCANDAL IN THE SECRET CITY

LIke it’s sister city, Los Alamos, portrayed in WGN’s new series MANHATTAN, Oak Ridge and it’s residents’ lives were continually monitored. Every day activities are carried out under the shroud of secrecy, and nothing escapes the prying eyes of the government. Famous scientists, chemists, physicists and mathematicians race to quickly find the atomic secret that will unlock the bomb which changed our world forever.

Interesting facts about the Secret City:

• Photographer Ed Westcott (the only authorized photographer on the facility) took many photos of Oak Ridge during the war years and afterwards, capturing construction, scientific experiments, military maneuvers, and everyday life in a 1940s company town (where the company happens to be the U.S. government)
• The K-25 uranium enrichment facility was for a time the largest building in the world covering 44 acres.
• The calutron refinery Y-12 in Oak Ridge used 14,700 tons of coinage silver acquired from US government vaults at West Point
• At the height of production nearly 100,000 workers, many female, were employed by the government in the secret city.
• Many Manhattan Project scientists eventually became advocates of the peaceful use of nuclear power and advocates for nuclear weapons control.

 SCANDAL IN THE SECRET CITY is available for pre-order from all online book sellers, or ask for your local book store to order for the shelves! A great way to influence your book store to carry books by all your favorite authors!

Diane Fanning is one of America’s premier Crime novelists and True Crime authors.  At the top of a genre that often gets a rap in the literary world, Fanning brings esteem, doing due diligence when presenting a criminal case in book format.

Diane Fanning best-selling author