I’Ll Never Tell

I’ll Never Tell is a work of historical fiction set during the war years between 1941 and 1945 on the ridges and in the valleys of Eastern Tennessee. Five young people from diverse backgrounds come together to tackle the mystery of a secret city—a so-called “shining city on the hill”—59,000 acres encircled by a barbed-wire fence and guards with guns. The government forced more than 3,000 people in five communities to give up their land, so that a pre-fab city called Oak Ridge could be built. Why did 75,000 workers pledge to keep total silence about what they were doing, promising “I’ll Never Tell?” And why was all this foretold forty years earlier? The novel follows Callie, Saree, Irene, Billy and Jeff as they seek answers to these and other puzzling questions.