Neanderthal (novel)

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Title Neanderthal
First edition cover
First edition cover
Author John Darnton
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Techno-thriller, Novel
Publisher Random House
Released April 1996
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 368 p. (hardback edition) & 395 p. (paperback edition)
ISBN ISBN 0-679-44978-7 (hardback edition) & ISBN 0-312-96300-9 (paperback edition)

Neanderthal is a 1996 bestselling novel written by John Darnton.

[edit] Plot introduction

The plot of Neanderthal revolves around two rival scientists, Matt Mettison and Susan Arnot, who are sent by the United States government to search for missing anthropologist James Kellicut. Their only clue for their search is a neanderthal skull. The skull should have existed 40,000 years ago, however carbon dating shows it is only twenty-five years old.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Russian and American governments are competing to study the surviving Neanderthals, because of their power of remote viewing. The Neanderthals are split into two tribes, a peaceful valley tribe and a cannibalistic, violent mountain tribe. Soon, the protagonists are captured by Neanderthals and must try to escape from the cannibal tribe. They hope to do so without jeopardizing the safety of the peaceful tribe. It eventually, however, becomes necessary to train the peaceful tribe for war. The novel explains that such a completely peaceful society was doomed in any case, and would have been destroyed soon by the mountain tribe.

[edit] Characters in "Neanderthal"

  • Matt Mettison – protagonist, a scientist
  • Susan Arnot – Mettison's scientific rival
  • James Kellicut – an anthropologist who has gone missing