, is a techno-thriller
novel documenting the efforts of a team of scientists investigating a deadly extraterrestrial
microorganism that rapidly and fatally clots human blood, while in other people inducing insanity. The Andromeda Strain appeared in the The New York Times Best Seller list, establishing Michael Crichton as a genre
writer.
When a military satellite
returns to Earth, a recovery team is dispatched to retrieve it; during a live radio communication with their base, the team members suddenly die.
On the cover of the file was stenciled WILDFIRE, and underneath, an ominous note:
:: THIS FILE IS CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET.
:: Examination by unauthorized access is a criminal offense punishable by fines and imprisonment up to 20 years and $20,000.
: When Leavitt gave him the file, Hall had read the note and whistled.
: "Don't you believe it," Leavitt said.
: "Just a scare?"
He [Stone] often argued that human intelligence was more trouble than it was worth. It was more destructive than creative, more confusing than revealing, more discouraging than satisfying, more spiteful than charitable.