The Andromeda Strain

By: Michael Crichton

Narrated by: David Morse

First published fifty years ago, The Andromeda Strain redefined the science fiction genre, and immediately established Michael Crichton as one of the brightest voices in contemporary literature worldwide.

"I love anything Michael Crichton writes." (Stephen King)

A military space probe, sent to collect extraterrestrial organisms from the upper atmosphere, is knocked out of orbit and falls to Earth. Twelve miles from the crash site, an inexplicable and deadly phenomenon terrorizes the residents of a sleepy desert town in Arizona, leaving only two survivors: an elderly addict and a newborn infant.

The United States government is forced to mobilize Project Wildfire, a top-secret emergency response protocol. Four of the nation’s most elite biophysicists are summoned to a clandestine underground laboratory located five stories beneath the desert and fitted with an automated atomic self-destruction mechanism for cases of irremediable contamination. Under conditions of total news blackout and the utmost urgency, the scientists race to understand and contain the crisis. But the Andromeda Strain proves different from anything they’ve ever seen - and what they don’t know could not only hurt them, but lead to unprecedented worldwide catastrophe.

©1969 Constant c Productions, Inc.; Copyright renewed 1996 by CrichtonSun LLC (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Older book still a good read.

Still a very good read even after having read the paperback many years ago. Classic Crichton

Listen to the sample first!

I simply cannot listen to this reader. I cannot finish this book. I'm going to return this audiobook and go find a print copy.

Crichton is to SF what Einstein is to Mathematics

Any additional comments?

Andromeda Strain is science fiction in the purest sense of the term—real world science manipulated in such a way that you can't help but believe something like this could really happen. The casual fan of modern sci-fi might be overwhelmed by Crichton's painstaking attention to scientific detail. When I was growing up, the only people I knew reading Crichton were hardcore techies and Popular Mechanics geeks. This audio version of Andromeda Strain makes the story accessible in a whole new way. Instead of trying to read through all of the technical jargon Crichton employs to great effect, you can hear it performed by an equally talented narrator. Crichton doesn't miss a single opportunity to challenge the imagination through scientific fact and fictional supposition. In my opinion, this story remains one of the greatest sci-fi stories ever written. I highly recommended it!
(Lasers not included)

1969 holds up well

I was nine years old when this book was written, and remember watching on TV the first man, Neil Armstrong, walk on the moon.

A lot has changed since that time. We here often that the computing power of our cell phones is greater than the computing power they had at the time.

So, it is remarkable how well this story hold up, all these years later. I picked up this book because a sequel he is going to be released soon. I hope it is as good.

Enjoyable, but abrupt ending.

I really enjoyed the book, but the ending was a little abrupt and anticlimactic. Almost like he gave up on the story and moved on. Still, well narrated and an enjoyable experience.