Science & Technology - Fiction, Thrillers, Occupations - Fiction
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Overview
In a remote, unexplored savanna in Kenya, American paleoanthropologist Ken Lauder discovers a boy whose physical characteristics match those of the so-called "missing link." This earthshaking encounter sets the course for a stunningly unique tale of adventure and wonder. Ken soon realizes that this place has escaped the progress of evolution and has stood still for several million years. Alone in the wilderness, Ken forms an extraordinary bond with the boy, and together, they must hunt in order to survive - while being hunted by the dangerous predators that haunt the beautifully primal savanna. Soon Ken figures out that he is not alone with the boy. The hideous, crablike Modibo, a self-interested poacher, is on his trail, determined to kill Ken and prevent him from uncovering the mystery behind the boy's existence. Modibo joins forces with Cyril Anderson, a headline-grabbing, world-famous anthropologist, who has been years without a significant "find." He will do anything to steal Ken's discovery. Anderson touches off a high-powered conspiracy to pierce the secret of the savanna. To escape, the boy leads Ken into the forest and introduces him to a hidden tribe of proto-humans. Ken quickly becomes a part of them, letting go of his modern self and forming a link with these beings so very like his own ancestors.Editorials
Library Journal
Ken Lauder has made one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time, but he may not live to announce it. On a remote Kenyan savanna and mountainside he has found evidence of existing protohumans, perhaps the long-sought "missing link" in humankind's evolutionary chain. But Kenya is in political turmoil and on the verge of civil war-which for Ken may be the least of his problems. He has been abandoned on the deadly savanna with neither supplies nor weapons and is pursued by murderous thugs who for unknown reasons already have attempted to kill him. Are they simply poachers into whose terrain he has intruded, or have they been sent by the government? Or have they been hired by a world-famous scientist with a reputation for appropriating what others have found first? Befriended by an eight-year-old boy of the protohuman tribe, Ken, if he is to survive, will have to live as one of them. A riveting thriller and an accessible crash course in paleoanthropology, this novel by the author of Amazon Beaming (LJ 8/91) also grapples with the fundamental question of what it means to be human. Highly recommended. [See the review of John Darnton's Neanderthal, p. 83, for another fictional account of the discovery of primitive folk surviving today.-Ed.]-Charles Michaud, Turner Free Library, Randolph, Mass.Book Details
Published
January 28, 2005
Publisher
China International Book Trading Corporation
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9787805677514