Some biologists speculate that if we ever make contact with extraterrestrials, those life forms are likely to be--like most life on earth--one-celled or smaller creatures, more comparable to bacteria than little green men. And even though such organisms would not likely be able to harm humans, the possibility exists that first contact might be our last.

That's the scientific supposition that Michael Crichton formulates and follows out to its conclusion in his excellent debut novel, The Andromeda Strain.

A Nobel-Prize-winning bacteriologist, Jeremy Stone, urges the president to approve an extraterrestrial decontamination facility to sterilize returning astronauts, satellites, and spacecraft that might carry an "unknown biologic agent." The government agrees, almost too quickly, to build the top-secret Wildfire Lab in the desert of Nevada. Shortly thereafter, unbeknownst to Stone, the U.S. Army initiates the "Scoop" satellite program, an attempt to actively collect space pathogens for use in biological warfare. When Scoop VII crashes a couple years later in the isolated Arizona town of Piedmont, the Army ends up getting more than it asked for.

A MUST READ!!!!!!

The Andromeda Strain is amazing, and a thrilling novel with many twists and turns. This book will grab you and hold you tight. This book will also fill you with tension that is simply awesome. I loved reading this book and think you will, too. The whole idea of the novel is great, as well as it's a very interesting idea. The idea of bacteria form outer space coming to earth on a reentry of a probe is very possible making this novel all the more suspenseful. This is one of Crichton's best. Even though it was written in the late 1960's it defiantly does not lack any of the technological thrill that many books these days give you. All and all I think that this is a great book for people who love crisis novels and novels that will make them wonder what's coming next. A must read for the tension loving, suspense craving, novel reader.

Excellent book with great suspense

The Andromeda Strain is one of the best books I have ever read. This wonderfully written novel is a story concerning an extremely deadly organic structure that is introduced to human knowledge by killing the majority of a small town while driving the rest insane. Outside of the main concept, the book tells of a special team that was set up just in case something like this happened. By the end, the team known as Wildfire is working restlessly to find a cure for this organism. The setting for this book is the southwest of the United States somewhere around the 1970's. The main characters in the novel are Jeremy Stone, Mark Hall, Leavitt, Burton, and Peter Jackson. I particularly enjoyed this book because of the knowledge the author appeared to hold in the subject discussed in the book such as; diseases, human health, micro-biology, biology, and several other areas. When reading this book, you have to pay attention to what you are reading the entire time, this is because there are small bits of important information throughout the book. I would highly recommend this book to any reader, especially those
who enjoy science-fiction. I thoroughly took delight in reading this fantastic book and thought one of the best aspects of it was the way it is written. it seemed as if this might have really happened, or will happen, especially in this day and age. I could hardly put this book down due to the suspense and how interesting I found it. This is the first of Michael Crichtons works I have read but I will doubtlessly read more of his works in part of this superb novel.

Tom N.

An overreaction of "harmful" pathogens.

While the book successfully expresses some of human kind's most insecure thoughts of lethal bacteria or viruses from outer space and provides well-researched information concerning modern technology as well as some data about modern science, the book, overall, is a huge overreaction.

It had been exciting in the beginning as the new virus was introduced into Earth's atmosphere, but the resolution was a disappointment, especially for an author such as Crichton.

The scientists trudged through all that research, spent all those sleepless nights in the facility, and it turned out their work has amounted to nothing. The reader basically suffers through the information that Crichton bombards at us, and that is what made it seem as if the novel was a biology textbook - it contained countless pieces of information that was useless in the very end.

I admire Crichton for his characterization and the suspense he carefully builds, but I do not admire the overall plot. I suggest, unless you absolutely adore microbiology or if you have time to kill, that you do not read this book.