Red Mound

by B.D. Smith

Things are heating up for the archaeologists digging at Hamblin’s Fort, an ancient Native American settlement in Arkansas. The local sheriff tries to involve them in his drug dealing. A mysterious black dog is shadowing their excavations. The marriage of “Boss Man,” the crew chief, is unraveling, and Cecelia, one of the crew, claims she can see a menacing dark red energy vortex flowing up from the temple mound.

As if that’s not enough, disagreements over excavation priorities escalate, with two crew members pushing to excavate the temple mound in search of feasting remains, while others look for evidence of community organization in ceramics recovered from the village settlement. Exciting discoveries draw the interest of Professor Shetler, Boss Man’s faculty advisor, who needs something big to save his job. He thinks maybe Hamblin’s Fort is his ticket to tenure. More discoveries come to light just as Professor Shetler shows up, and the ensuing tug-of-war over who calls the shots takes several unusual turns, keeping everyone guessing what will happen next.

268 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 15, 2026

Reviews

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really don’t know what to expect when I started this book. I was intrigued by the archeology setting and knew a little about the native mounds in Arkansas from a couple of episodes in a Great Courses I watched. But as the book continued, I didn’t see that ending when it came! It was amazing.

The book takes place in Hamblin’s Fort, a Native American settlement, as a bunch of wildly different archeologists return to continue their dig into the site and its purpose. The dig is being sponsored by a museum and is affiliated with a university (I’m surmising the University of Michigan because of the street names mentioned). The motley crew go to work and when a shard is discovered that could the dog on the scholastic map, one of the crew, Josh, gets a small grant to work on his own project. This turns out with the help of another member, Denny, to discover a most unusual artifact that sets in motion a seismic reckoning. While there is a drug subplot that adds a twist to the story, the internal rivalries keeps the tension high.

What I liked most about this book was how realistic the story flowed. The telling is subtle and one could be thrown off that this is thriller. The day-to-day work seems more focused on the egos of the crew than whet they are trying to prove. It helped too that the author is a retired archeologist because the descriptions of the work is so interesting. And suddenly as Denny and Josh are tasked to return to the museum with their find, the ultra egos who stayed behind (the university mentor and Boss Man, the dig’s lead in particular) are confronted by their errors. What an ending to! You have to read the book to find out. You won’t be disappointed.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Black Rose Writing, for allowing me to read this ARC.

[Denice Langley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mixed genre fiction set in Arkansas. A large archeological excavation set in the Native American mounds will draw many professionals interested in how this dig can further their career. There is drama found at every turn with priorities changing every few hours. Will they find home sites or communal settlements? Will the artifacts be returned to the tribes or sent to educational forensic departments for research? I live in Oklahoma, not far from the sites described in this book, but knew very little about them. The story is so compelling, I had to do further research. An excellent fiction that drew me in and held my interest until the end.....and what an end!

[Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

What began as a humorous read became slow and boring with too many words and not enough story.