Rating: 
Summary: Very Good Combo of Suspense and Science, Ending is Suspect
Review: I would actually rate this as 4.5 stars. What makes this story so good is the mystery that comes with this virus that you have read so much about. You never know what it is going to do next. This creates lots of suspense, which makes this a FUN novel to read. I didnt really like the ending, though. I would have liked to see something different happen, but I'm sure a lot of people would like it. I highly reccommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Hmmmm... I wonder why everyone else gave good reviews
Review: I give it a 2 star rather than a star because the idea was good. Unknown bacteria causing disease on Earth. It was really too bad that I read Sphere first because I saw too many similarities in the two books. For example, the suspense scenes with the doctor climbing through the underground 5 level lab was just too similar to the main character in Sphere climbing up the submarine to get away from the squid. Maybe its just me, but I would not recommend this book. Go read "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card or "The Golden Globe" by John Varley because they will give you your money's worth. Don't waste your time on Crichton.
Rating:
Summary: The Andromeda Strain
Review: The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton is an interesting look into the world of science. Under the code name Scoop the government sends a satallite into outer space to collect unknown organisms. The government thinks while in orbit the satallite hit a meteor, and crashed land in Piedmont, Arizona. When they send a team to recover the capsule they find everyone dead except an infant and a sixty-seven year old man. The government created a high tech lab for such things as Scoop called Wildfire. They also got together the best scientists and doctors in the U.S. Once the team isolated the organism they gave it the name the andromeda strain. One day during testing one of the doctors became contaminated when his rubber suit was eaten throught by the virus. The team found out that the virus had mutated and that is why the doctor hadn't instantly died. But the government had installed a self-detonating bomb to go off three minutes after contamination, which meant the one team memeber with the key had to stop the bomb. I would definintely recomend this book because it is great for all people, and is easy to understand because the author details everything perfectly. This book is a classic and will be popular for a long time, READ IT.
Rating:
Summary: The Andromeda Strain
Review: The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton is an interesting look into the world of science. Under the code name Scoop the govern ment sends a satallite into outer space to collect unknown organisms. The government thinks while in orbit the satallite hit a meteor, and crashed land in Piedmont, Arizona. When they send a team to recover the capsule they find everyone dead except an infant and a sixty-seven year old man. The government created a high tech lab for such things as Scoop called Wildfire. They also got together the best scientists and doctors in the U.S. Once the team isolated the organism they gave it the name the andromeda strain. One day during testing one of the doctors became contaminated when his rubber suit was eaten throught by the virus. The team found out that the virus had mutated and that is why the doctor hadn't instantly died. But the government had installed a self-detonating bomb to go off three minutes after contamination, which meant the one team memeber with the key had to stop the bomb. I would definintely recomend this book because it is great for all people, and is easy to understand because the author details everything perfectly. This book is a classic and will be popular for a long time, READ IT.
Rating: 
Summary: Suspenseful, but very scientific
Review: Since this is one of Crichton's early books, I have to say first that this is one of the better ones. In books like this one or 'Sphere' he didn't seem to write for the film that will be made. Here seems to write a book. This one has a lot of suspense and an interesting style. It doesn't seem like a real novel, more like a report. This results from the scientific facts he not only throws in, but explains everything and after a while you feel like reading a schoolbook. I know, he does this with every book, but sometimes it's just too much. The ending is weird somehow, it's so easy and 'happy ending'-like you feel strange after reading it. But on the other side it's realistic. It's a good book, but 'Sphere' is much more better. Most of his other books are more worse, so...
Rating:
Summary: Andromeda Strain - Oldie but Goodie
Review: Although this was one of Crichton's best works, it is not the best. There are several reasons why. First, there was too much foreshadowing on the plot twists, which took out some of the suspense. Secondly, the ending was, in my opinion, a bit of a letdown. The book is inevitably dated, yet it is still a compelling bio-terror novel, but if you want Crichton's best, pick up a copy of Sphere.
Rating: 
Summary: A quick read
Review: This is the first Michael Crichton book I read, and I want to read more. From the start, it was a real page turner. The 60's technology didn't seem too outdated, and I liked the style. In all a very exciting book.
Rating:
Summary: The Plague Years
Review: When I read The Andromeda Strain years ago, I found it a clever blend of technological facts and human fiction. I even read it again this week and still think it is one of the better techno-fiction books. So, what happened to Crichton? Since my first reading of Andromeda Strain 15 years ago I've read Congo, Sphere, Jurassic Park, The Lost World and Timeline. They were all a total waste of my time and of paper, except for Timeline - it was no waste of paper only because I read the e-book version. In Andromeda Strain Crichton took a good idea and keeps it going to the conclusion. It gave me faith in his ability. In the others, he sometimes has a good idea, sometimes doesn't have a good idea, sometimes seems to know that he doesn't have a good idea, and just turns it into mush. His rich character development? Only if you mean that he must have characters who are financially rich as a plot device. If you've read any of these other books, still try Andromeda Strain, it is so superior. If you're new to Crichton, read Andromeda Strain but learn from my mistakes and avoid these other books like the plague.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: I just finished the Andromeda Strain this morning and was very impressed. Not just with a good story, but with how a thirty year old book that has a strong scientific theme does not read as outdated. The use of fiber optics, electron microscopes, and clean rooms are just a few examples of his ability to predict what is commonly used in modern times . I've noticed each of Chrichton's books have a theme. With Jurassic Park, it was DNA and the Chaos Theory. In Congo it was Lasers, and in each book, he gives you a breif lesson in them to continue the story. In The Andromeda Strain, the lesson is molecular biology and since it is one of his first, the story suffers for it. Especially toward the end. If your looking for a fast paced thriller, your not going to get it. But as a thinking mans thriller it is outstanding. I wish my biology teacher in high school was more like Chrichton, because he makes it interesting and easy to follow. But again toward the end, it is trying, which is why I'm giving four out or five stars. A great book for Chichton fans. If your just now getting into him, I would suggest Jurrasic Park first.
Rating:
Summary: Where were you on February 8, 1967?
Review: The back cover starts: "Five prominent biophysicists give the US government an urgent warning: sterilisation procedures for returning space probes may be inadequate to guarantee uncontaminated re-entry to the atmosphere." Biophysicists, right? One can hardly find a more appropriate reading to read on the train, when I was travelling to the 3rd European biophysics congress in Munich earlier this month. This novel will teach you that the life on earth was in early February 1967 close to disaster comparable to the impact of Chixculub meteorite 65 million years ago. An US space probe, Scoop VII, brought with it a highly virulent and pathogenous alien life form from the orbit, before it crashed into the Arizona desert. After wreaking havoc in a small Arizona town, the space probe is transferred into the ultra-secret high-security US government lab in Nevada, built just a couple of months before to prevent dispersion of toxic extraterrestrial agents. Here, a group of five scientists led by a Nobel prize winner, bacteriologist Jeremy Stone, starts a race with time. What exactly is this alien life form? By which mechanism does it affect human body? Under what conditions does it multiply? How can we stop it before it wipes away the human population? The novel contains quite a bit of technical details - it's science fiction after all, right? - where Crichton will pause and explain with a patience and persistence of a good-humoured teacher. So in case you didn't know what proteins are and what they are made from; or how electron microscope operates; or what can cause blood acidity in a patient - you will learn it all here. It would be interesting to know how many scientists today were influenced by this novel to pursue a career in science. Because, after all, what Crichton writes is mostly how a scientific experiment is conducted. OK, the method in biosciences have advanced somewhat from the late sixties, but the spirit is still here. So while you are unlikely to encounter the situation when you have a few hours to save the humankind, scientific research never loses its share of excitement, either.
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