A satellite lands in the desert near the small southern Utah town of Piedmont. Within hours, everyone in the town is dead. Piedmont is a virtual ghost town.
As the US government assembles a team of doctors and scientists to investigate, the race is on to find out what killed everyone in the town.
Although The Andromeda Strain was written in 1969, I think it was far ahead of its time. So much so, that while reading it, it is not hard to imagine the events taking place today.
Like most of his books, Crichton writes about things that could possibly happen, and in recent years we have seen how mysterious viruses can spread.
Like all of his books that I have read, I couldn't put this book down. In fact I read it in 33 hours. I think that helped to keep the tension of what the characters were going though in the book. However I did find the characters to be mostly forgettable.
And Even though Crichton uses a lot of technical jargon, as he usually does, it doesn't hamper the understanding or slow the narrative down, until, however; the end which I thought was anticlimactic.
This is an exciting fast paced novel that will have you turning the pages to find out what will happen next.

Story ****
Characters ***
Readability ****
Overall rating ****

This is a great book, one of the best by Michael Crichton that I've read. Like most of Crichton's books, it borders skillfully along the line of believability.
The story is about a virus which finds it's way to a small American town with devastating effects on the residents. Where did the virus come from? How does it spread, and can the books main characters find a cure before it's too late?

I really enjoyed this MC book. I suppose it was the hype on TV that made me read it first. Knowing that his storylines are often based on real events made this read more spectacular. If you love science (not the textbook kind), suspense and mystery, you'll enjoy this book. Had a hard time putting it down.

I actually have the first released copy of this book and it leaves you in awe. I had to read it for an essay and I bought it.