The Andromeda Strain (Andromeda, #1)
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. Even tho such organisms wouldn't likely be able to harm humans, the possibility exists that 1st contact might be last. That's the scientific supposition that Michael Crichton formulates & follows to its conclusion in his excellent debut novel, The Andromeda Strain. A Nobel-Prize-winning bacteriologist, Jeremy Stone, urges the president to approve a decontamination facility to sterilize returning astronauts, satellites & spacecraft that might carry unknown biologic agents. The government agrees, almost too quickly, to build the top-secret Wildfire Lab in the desert of Nevada. Shortly thereafter, unbeknownst to Stone, the 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. The Andromeda Strainfollows Stone & rest of the scientific team mobilized to react to the Scoop crash as they scramble to understand & contain a deadly outbreak. Crichton's 1st book written under his own name may be his best. It has an earnestness that is missing from his later, more calculated thrillers.--Paul Hughes (edited)