The Andromeda Strain: Techno-Thriller Meets Commentary on Human Nature The thrill begins as soon as the reader opens the book: the small, quaint town of Piedmont, Arizona seems to be showing no signs of life after a military satellite landed there just a few hours before. The retrieval team, composed of Lieutenant Roger Shawn and Private Lewis Crane, is just as confused as the reader, and decides to investigate. Upon entering the town, their initial observation is confirmed; all residents are dead. Bodies lay spread across the streets, suggesting their deaths were instantaneous and unexpected. The question remained: why would an innocent satellite’s landfall kill the residents of an ordinary town? Before the reader even has time to ponder such a question, the action intensifies. Shawn and Crane radio the operation headquarters at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, saying that a man dressed in white robes, apparently …show more content…
After lighting phosphorus flares to get a clear, bright shot of Piedmont, Wilson returns to headquarters, where he and his pictures are rushed into a briefing room. While switching between several of the rapid-fire frames, it becomes apparent that the white-robed man is, in fact, alive. Manchek promptly declares a state of emergency. Although it doesn’t yet know it, the world is about to face its biggest biological crisis to date. The Andromeda Strain will make the Black Plague seem like child’s play. In an era of sophisticated technology, science-fiction disasters are at an all-time level of relevance. The Andromeda Strain, though 47 years old, remains a thrilling and gripping story. Although the story revolves around a technically and scientifically-based plot, Crichton does a great job making the story understandable to all audiences. Because of this, his writing style has proven to be timeless, attracting readers of all ages and