Five hundred miles from America’s Gulf Coast, the mountains of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge seemed safe until Hurricane Helene tore across six states with unabated fury, flooding the Great Smoky Mountains. The flood washed away homes and lives in rivers of mud. The storm left a staggering death toll and unimaginable destruction in its wake.

When an estranged family member vanished on Black Mountain, Gerry Frey asked his wife, ‘Are we our brother’s keeper?’ The answer was clear: they had to find him. Towing horses from their home in Texas to the Appalachian mountains, Gerry’s family navigated government roadblocks, poisoned water, and mud-choked landscape to join volunteer organizations at the foot of the mountain. Carrying supplies on horseback and ATVs, the family ventured into the devastation where roads no longer existed.

Smoky Blue: The Rescue on Black Mountain is a gut-punching tale of Americans thrust back into a pioneering struggle with no official help in sight. It reveals who stands with us—and who stands in our way—in a journey both bleak and uplifting. This fictional odyssey views one of America’s greatest natural disasters through the lens of faith and perseverance.  

A stand-alone book in the Saltair Series, Smoky Blue chronicles the fiery late-life romance of Mare and Gerry Frey.

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Drama • Romance • Mild Gore • High Stakes Adventure