Tangles - by Kay Smith-Blum (Paperback)

About the Book

Seeking to avenge his father's death, Luke, a brash young scientist, races to daylight the evidence, only to discover the truth of why his first love, Mary, disappeared.

Book Synopsis

"In a well-crafted debut, Smith-Blum provides the reader a ringside seat to the birth of the nuclear age...a beautifully written, important story...Tangles packs a punch and hits close to home." -Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling author of The Tracy Crosswhite Series

Oppenheimer was just the beginning.

When a harpooned whale offers proof the Hanford Nuclear Reservation is endangering all life in the Columbia River Basin, Luke Hinson, a brash young scientist, seizes the chance to avenge his father's death but a thyroid cancer diagnosis derails Luke's research. Between treatments, he dives back in, making enemies at every turn. On an overnight trek, Luke discovers evidence that Mary, his former neighbor, embarked on the same treacherous trail, and her disappearance, a decade prior, may be tied to Hanford's harmful practices mired in government-mandated secrecy.

A love story wrapped in a mystery, this stunning Cold War home-front tale reveals the devastating costs of the birth of the nuclear age, and celebrates the quiet courage of wronged women, the fierce determination of fatherless sons, and the limitless power of the individual.

Tangles is a genre-defying must-read for our time.

Review Quotes

2025 American Fiction Awards Winner "Mystery/Suspense: Historical"

"An ambitious debut novel that is at once labyrinthine and simply and deeply human...in stunning and engrossing multiple narratives, Smith-Blum reminds us about the devastating and lasting costs of love, loyalty and freedom and, above all, the enduring solace of nature and family." -James Anderson, award-winning author of The Never-Open Desert Diner

"In a well-crafted debut, Smith-Blum provides the reader a ringside seat to the birth of the nuclear age...a beautifully written, important story...Tangles packs a punch and hits close to home." -Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling author of The Tracy Crosswhite Series

"In her knockout debut novel, Kay Smith-Blum sheds new light on Hanford...skillfully blending historical details and nail-biting suspense, she delivers two complex protagonists you can really root for..." -Kevin O'Brien, New York Times bestselling author of The Enemy at Home

"A brilliant, captivating ride [that] reveals many truths about our radioactive legacy." -Joshua Frank, award-winning investigative journalist and author of Atomic Days

"With haunting and hopeful prose, Smith-Blum captures the complexity of the fear-filled decades of the Cold War...a compelling novel [filled] with grace and insight." -Readers Favorite

"...a gritty and compelling environmental thriller..." -Clare Hodgson Meeker, 2020 Washington State Book Award Winner for Young Readers

"Tangles tells a very compelling and well-crafted story. It is an important contribution to the annals of the atomic age and its legacy." -Atomic Heritage Foundation

"In a well-crafted debut, Smith-Blum provides the reader a ringside seat to the birth of the nuclear age...a beautifully written, important story...Tangles packs a punch and hits close to home." -Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling author of The Tracy Crosswhite Series