Fool's Gold: Classic Adventure Novel

I received Fool's Gold, the first of the Sam Harris series, from TheFussyLibrrian, P.J. Skinner, and Amazon Digital Services. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to recommend PJ Skinner to friends and family. She writes a tight, exciting mystery with realistic characters in locales we are not always familiar with. This is a series I will want to complete. It's 1987 and Englishwoman Sam Harris has just finished qualifying for her Master's degree in geology. Of course, in 1987 mining was an occupation almost exclusively held by men and she has student loans that will kick in immediately, so she really needs a job. She is offered one in the rainforest of Sierramar in South America. The entrepreneur offering her this position is very much as shifty as a used car salesman, and the pay sounds ok but is perhaps not forthcoming, but it's a job, it will give her practical experience, and it will look really good on her resume. Our cast is made up, for the most part, of the natives who live in the isolated, primitive communities scattered through the rainforests of Sierramar, most accessible by river travel or sometimes by train, or only occasionally on wildly erratic two tracks wandering through the forest. There are no motels, hotels, or hostels, no indoor plumbing, and the available bedding is often infested by bedbugs and mosquitos. The food is good, however, and plentiful, and Sam enjoys the company of the women she meets as she travels through the country-side searching for signs of gold in and near the rivers of the region. The men involved in the search are a different story. Again 1987 was a time when macho was considered a masculine asset. Native men treat her with respect, but she is almost raped by a fellow Englishman. A naive Sam has to establish new boundaries of what she will tolerate but she adjusts very quickly to a stance that will protect her from the gropings of men in general and Englishmen in particular. She is her only protection as her boss Mike cannot travel with the crew because of heart health issues. And then Sam finds the sign of the snake. This could be the X that marks the spot of ancient Incan artifacts of gold - but if it is, turning that treasure over to the native communities would have to be the honorable thing to do... But it is doubtful that boss Mike and the wealthy Englishman who is ultimately footing the bill for this wild ride will feel that way about it...