Espionage at the Manhattan Project is the central subject of Joseph Kanon's Los Alamos (1997), a novel that combines a first-rate spy story with a vivid recreation of the Manhattan Project on the brink of its completion.

The central figure in Los Alamos is Michael Connolly, brought in by General Groves to investigate the murder of Karl Bruner, a security officer at "the Hill," as the Los Alamos site is familiarly known. Although the murder took place in town and is being handled by the local police, Groves wants Connolly to find out if any security breach was involved. Connolly soon complicates his investigation by falling in love with the wife of one of the project scientists. He also observes closely the activities of Oppenheimer, who, operating under tremendous strain as the bomb's testing date nears, exhibits extraordinary tact and discipline as he confronts the complex details of the project and the even more complex personalities of the scientists. Connolly's respect for Oppenheimer leads him to solve the murder while covering up the evidence of spying, since the leak has already occurred, and the revelation can only aid Oppenheimer's enemies in the government.

The novel's resolution takes place on the evening before Trinity, leaving Connolly the opportunity to observe the test: "Connolly saw, looking out at the cloud in the desert . . . that all those ideas, everything we thought we knew, were nothing more than stories to rewrite insignificance. . . . Now we would always be frightened." The novel concludes with a  discussion between Oppenheimer and Connolly, in which the latter expresses his fears, and Oppenheimer his hopes, for the future.

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