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Rating: 
Summary: Decent, if unoriginal, Adventure
Review: "Neanderthal" is your normal "Lost-Creatures-in-the-Wild-Archaelogical-Adventure-with-Some-Big-Time-Consparices-Thrown-In-For-Good-Measure" similar to "Congo" and "Relic." While not as good as those two, "Neanderthal" is a decent read. At times it doesn't seem as fully realized as those other books, and the Tom Clancy subplot seems tacked on. But maybe those other books were just under edited. Some of the comments on the jacket such as "international sensation" are a bit of a overkill, and being "sold to 12 foreign countries before publication" doesn't make sense. The book is simply pulp entertainment that doesn't pretend to be a classic. The plot tricks are all quite familiar.
Since this book was published, a lot has changed concerning Neanderthal science. Genetics has show that they are unrelated to man and no evidence of interbreeding occurred. They are no longer, to the dismay of hard-core Darwinian naturalists, seen as a missing link in man's origins.
Rating: 
Summary: EXCITING AND FULL OF ACTION
Review: But not very memorable. The story line supposes that a tribe of Neanderthals still survives in a hidden Himalayan valley. Our hero, a scientist out exploring, stumbles upon them and ends up helping to save them from another race of beings who live underground in nearby caves. It's perhaps an entertaining read for a vacation or a lazy afternoon in the hot tub, but not going to set the world on fire. It's formula fiction with a variation on a classic plot. Entertaining to read all the same.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as I remembered
Review: I first read this book a few years ago (as a teenager) and enjoyed it then. So when I was looking for a book to entertain me while trudging away on the treadmill, I thought it would be a light, exciting -- and perhaps mentally stimulating -- read. Hmmm ... it wasn't what I remembered. The first half, while the team is on the quest for the lost Neanderthals, was pretty intense and interesting. But as soon as the team found them (not a spoiler, you KNOW they're going to find them or there wouldn't be a book), the book plummets into boredom. I found myself trudging through the book as well as on the treadmill. Also, this time around, I noticed a lot of cheap writer tricks. The worst and most obvious was using dialogue between characters to explain concepts to the audience. These highly educated individuals would not have needed to explain this stuff to each other. But we do need it, so the author thinks we'll enjoy it more coming from the mouth of one of our charmingly two-dimensional characters. This little trick and the others are nothing new in popular fiction. But they really stick out compared to more literary fiction. If you're not worried about how good the writing style is, maybe you'll love this book. It does put forth some interesting ideas about Neanderthals, but by the end such unbelievably silly things are happening that you don't really care anymore.
Rating:
Summary: Great idea, bad execution
Review: I picked this story up because I was fascinated by the concept. The idea that neadersal man could developing ESP I thought was very cool. So I checked the book out and got about halfway through. The problem in this book lies not with the concept but with the characters. Them seem like they are ripped from the pages of a soap opera. Instead of worrying about the scientific discoveries and important stuff like that the two main protagonists seem only interested in having sex with each other. Never mind that they are high up in the mountains being chased by a bunch of homicidal hominids. Overall-Great idea the author must really want the reader to go take an anthropology 101 class.
Rating:
Summary: Michael Crichton-ish but in a lesser league.
Review: Neanderthal is an engaging and suspenseful story that would seem to make for a fascinating movie. (It's loaded with dramatic and imaginative visuals.) It takes an interesting premise, the existence of modern Neanderthals, and transcends the typical survival struggle with its own myths and a bit of philosophy. The story is fast paced throughout with better than average characters for this type of thriller.
Written in 1996, one drawback is Neanderthal's setting-- in the supposedly obscure and unknown mountains of Afghanistan. As infamous as the country has become, Afghanistan, as a setting, is unfortunately a jarring distraction.
Rating:
Summary: Worth a Read...
Review: Neanderthal is good summer pulp. Every chapter ends with a teaser or a good, old-fashioned cliffhanger that makes you want to read on. John Darnton has written an imaginative and entertaining high adventure story along the lines of Richard Leakey meets Indiana Jones. Purists beware-it's not "Origin of Species." or even "Jurassic Park" Neanderthal has just enough science to make it feel right and just enough creative flourishes to make it feel like fun. Darnton begins intermixing anthropological fact and fiction on the first page and his book quickly evolves into a pounding ride that doesn't let up until the final page. For me i love the idea of ancient tribes and the fact that the tribe doesnt care for [us]lowly cro-magnon types make it all the more enjoyable...
Buy this book if you like the idea of another species usurping the polluting earth-killers we have all evolved into...
Rating: 
Summary: Insipid and Shallow
Review: No Jurassica Park here. Whereas JP inspired me to turn every page quicker than the last, the only thing this inspired me to do was to turn larger clumps of pages after the last. Honestly, I bought this at a used bookstore when I was hoping to find something by Robert Sawyer from the Hominids series because recent buying sprees have kept me from dipping too deeply my pockets! The premise of Neanderthal was good, the beginning was good, everything was moving along fine until they "moved in" with the buggers, and it was lost for me from there. Descriptions of the neanderthals were fairly uninvolved with little depth to the explanation of how they remained unseen and undetected for millions of years, nor why they so openly accepted outsiders into their midst. Basically, I read the first half of the book, then thumbed through the last half reading a page or two here and there, and read the last few chapters. I don't think I missed a thing, unfortunately. I really enjoyed Darnton's The Experiment, but this is one experiment that didn't pay off in the end.
Rating:
Summary: EXCITING AND FULL OF ACTION
Review: THIS BOOK IS ONE OF THE BEST AND MOST EXCITING NOVELS I'VE READ.
THE OTHER REVIEWERS HAVE ALREADY DETAILED THE PLOT LINE AND NO DOUBT BORED YOU WITH THEIR CRITICISM - I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK REGULARLY AND IT HAS FAILED TO DISAPPOINT ALL WHO HAVE READ IT. iT'S ONE OF THOSE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT TYPE BOOKS AT THE END. THIS IS WAY BETTER THAN SOME OF THE MICHAEL CHICHTON BOOKS
IT IS DEFINITELY WORTH OWNING AND KEEPING- A GREAT SUMMER READ
Rating:
Summary: Exciting then Mundane
Review: This book started out quite exciting with the idea of creatures that were of the Ice Age and yet had developed a capability beyond ours RV/ESP. The first 1/3 of this book was very interesting, but once the characters escaped the hominids the first time the book became predictable and mundane, and the ending wasn't well put together as it only was composed of the last few pages. The author wrote a decent book and then obviously didn't put nearly enough time or effort into the ending.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting then Mundane
Review: This book started out quite exciting with the idea of creatures that were of the Ice Age and yet had developed a capability beyond ours RV/ESP. The first 1/3 of this book was very interesting, but once the characters escaped the hominids the first time the book became predictable and mundane, and the ending wasn't well put together as it only was composed of the last few pages. The author wrote a decent book and then obviously didn't put nearly enough time or effort into the ending.
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