Book Review - Site Unseen

Site Unseen
by Dana Cameron
Avon Books, February 2002
340 pages, $6.50
ISBN 0-380-81954-6
Emma Fielding series #1

Site Unseen is the first in a new series featuring Emma Fielding, a 30-year-old archeologist and untenured assistant professor at Caldwell, a small private college in Maine. She is also the granddaughter of famous archeologist, Oscar Fielding. Pauline Westlake, an old friend of Oscar, believes that her land, Penitence Point, sits on the site of the 17th century Maine settlement, Fort Providence. When she asks Emma, with her field crew of students, to excavate the site, Emma jumps at the chance. The discovery of Fort Providence, the earliest English settlement on the American mainland, built in 1605 and predating the famous Jamestown settlement by a couple years and the Pilgrim's settlement by 15 years, could be her ticket to tenure and archeological fame in her own right.

The excavation is going fine until Emma stumbles across a body on the beach just below the site. The next morning, she and Meg Garrity, one of her crew, meet up with a threatening pothunter with a metal detector and a gun, vandalizing the site. Emma reports the incident to the local sheriff and, in the process, finds out that someone has been clandestinely digging up holes all over historic Fort Archer, upriver from Emma's site. Is someone else looking for evidence of Fort Providence or is it the legendary buried treasure that is attracting the digger?

As Emma and her crew start finding evidence that the site is indeed a 17th century site, rain stops the excavation work for the weekend. The crew breaks up for the weekend. Pauline heads out of town to visit her sister for a week. Emma drives home to Boston and her chemist husband, Brian Chang, for a weekend of camaraderie and celebration with their friends, Kam and Marty. The company that Brian and Kam work for has been bought out by a large pharmaceutical company. They are also buying Brian's and Kam's stock options. It means Brian will be living in San Francisco for a few weeks to help with the buy-out but after that their future is rosy and bright. Brian and Emma can finally buy a house equidistant from Brian's job in Boston and Emma's job at Caldwell College. No more living at the dorms and commuting home on weekends for Emma.

A prominent historical site to excavate, tenure and her professional reputation almost assured, and no more commuter marriage--Emma feels life can't get any better than this.

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