Neanderthal (novel)

Neanderthal
First edition cover
Author(s)	John Darnton
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Techno-thriller, Novel
Publisher	Random House
Publication date	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)
OCLC Number	34284189
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 20
LC Classification	PS3554.A727 N43 1996

Neanderthal is a 1996 bestselling novel written by John Darnton.

Plot introduction

The plot of Neanderthal revolves around two rival scientists, Matt Mattison 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.

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.

Characters in "Neanderthal"

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