John Peters is an archaeologist.
We learn quite a bit about his background and his integrity in the second paragraph of the first recorded adventure when we are told:
"It was only a year ago that John was a tenure track professor of archaeology with a bright future at an Ivy League university. Then his world collapsed when he was accused of plagiarism in his doctoral dissertation. Despite the fact that the allegation was dismissed as erroneous he was appalled by the lack of support from his department, not to mention the university. And he feared that as he approached tenure that despite being cleared the allegation might still be used against him. Especially as he never could find out who made the allegation. He quit in disgust."
At our meeting, Peters is 30 years old and single and living at his parents' summer home on the Jersey Shore trying to figure out what to do next with his life. With his idleness beginning to weigh on him, Peters is going to learn that he should appreciate the calm and quiet when he finds it because his life is about to get a whole lot more exciting than he would have imagined it would be as digger of old bones and such.
This change will come about because of a call he will make to his old friend and Oxford mentor. Peters had met him back during his time at that prestigious institute as a Rhodes Scholar, before earning his Ph.D. at Harvard. That contact will put him in an expedition which will change his life completely though it will also put him in grave danger more than once.
Peters will learn that mixing his study of archaeology with having to deal with the schenanigans of both the CIA and MI6 is a deadly thing to do. Of course he will consider it worthwhile since he will meet the woman who would become the love of his life as well as his companion in further adventures which may not always involve clandestine government organizations but seem to always have people shooting at him a lot.