If you've read NEANDERTHAL by John Darnton,

[raccoon]

please check in here. I'm about halfway through listening to it on CDs, want to know how it turns out, and don't want to finish it.

[monktonman]

1. press fast forward.

[raccoon]

2. But there's many more CD's--and I don't know which track to jump to.

Main thing I want to know is

POSSIBLE SPOILER BELOW





















Why was one set of Neanderthals mean, and the other set nice?

[Jackpine Radical]

3. Some were Republicans.

[raccoon]

4. And the good ones were progressives. That's it! nt

[WhiteTara]

5. here...read the review...it tells most

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
An exciting novel that will do for pre-historic man what Jurassic Park did for Tyrannosaurus Rex. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Matt Morrison and Susan Arnot, archaeologists and ex-lovers, are summoned to investigate an odd find: an apparently new Neanderthal skull. They rush to Tadjikistan and foray into some of the least hospitable terrain in Asia. Not too unexpectedly, they find their quarry only to discover a long-lost mentor who is guarding unsettling moral, political, and archaeological secrets that threaten their lives and those of the reclusive Neanderthals. Untangling the puzzle involves figuring out why one tribe is vegetarian and peaceful, the other martial and carnivorous; why their brains are larger than those of contemporary humans; and how they communicate without speech. When government agents intrude and threaten the scientific find, the two scientists must survive, rescue their old friend, deceive American and Russian intelligence gatherers, and balance a study of an astounding archaeological find with the interests of the tribes. This first novel by a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter is very Indiana Jonesish; in fact, movie rights have been sold to Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks. Recommended summer reading, if not to be taken seriously. ?Edwin B. Burgess, Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

of the 166 reviews, 33 gave 4stars 47 gave 1star.
here's enough of a spoiler for you to get the gist
snip
The answer to these questions is . . . yeah it's pretty well written, and yeah, there's enough research there to make it worthwhile. I would have liked to see a little more depth as it regards the nature of the Neanderthal society--think of the imagination that went into Dune, for example, or the Hobbit thing--but on the whole it was entertaining. The characters were pretty much cardboard also. Naturally, the single boy and girl heroes are brilliant and beautiful and of course have sex, the eccentric doctor finally goes around the bend, and the brilliant, lead U. S. scientist is a crippled, deformed geek. Trot out the usual suspects.

Both the malevolent CIA and some nameless Russian organization are involved. We wouldn't want to read this sort of thing without at least one of them making an appearance, would we? Oh, and very late in the book, there is a ridiculous contrivance: a Russian soldier unexpectedly appears out of nowhere to save our heroes, who are about to have their skulls bashed in. And also . . .

[raccoon]

6. Thanks. I read that & returned the audiobook to the library. nt

[JitterbugPerfume]

7. I read it a while back

and it is not on my re read list . I don't remember much about it.


It does not compare to Issac Asimov's The Ugly Little Boy.( in my opinion)