Near fine condition.Random House,1996.First edition-2nd printing(2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3).Black hardback(gilt lettering to the spine & front cover with the Author's name initials J-D,small nick on the edge of the cover)with Dj cover(crease,nick and light shelf wear on the Dj cover),both in near fine condition.Illustrated inside the front and back cover.Nice and clean pages with a small ink mark,nick and light shelf wear on the outer edges,small crease and nick on the edge of the pages.Nice and clean book.368pp including bibliography.Price un-clipped. This is another paragraph 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.