Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Book Reports Critical review of the andromeda strain Critical review of the andromeda strain Imagine walking into a town that normally populates 48 vivacious residents, and discovering 46 non-moving non-living bodies. There are no guns, no bombs, and no visible pre-manufactured weapons of any sort. A few minutes later death strikes, observations can no longer be made, and a black curtain falls. This is what happened to two Army recovery personnel in the town of Piedmont, Arizona (population 48). They set off to retrieve SCOOP VII, a military satellite sent to bring back alien microorganisms. The satellite did its’ job, it brought back a microorganism; something its six predecessors were not able to do. The microorganism SCOOP VII brought back was lethal, killing almost everybody in its’ path, except an old anemic man and a crying infant. Four specialized scientists: Jeremy Stone, Charles Burton, Mark Hall, and Peter Leavitt; are plucked from their everyday lives and placed in the secret building of Project Wildfire, located in Nevada. The five-floored facility was built entirely underground, with each floor more sterile than the one above. Here the four scientists work with the microorganism, now code named “Andromeda strain.” They try to discover how the agent kills, what it is composed of, where it came from, and why those two civilians survived. The scientists conclude their work on the fifth floor, when disaster strikes. A seal is broken which sets off an automatic nuclear explosion, designed to destroy any microscopic threat to society. The scientists have only a few minutes to disable the bomb, and finally attempt to answer all those questions. Attempting to describe this book is analogous to illustrating a first kiss. There are too many feelings and emotions in a melting pot; it is impossible to filter out just one or two. Captivating, exciting, and terrifying lie on the surface skin of the melting pot. The author, Michael Crichton, uses science and technology in such a way that even an avid scientific teenaged skeptic will not be able to identify flaws. The descriptions of the dead bodies in Piedmont were so descriptive and image rendering; that the reader could visualize the broken blood vessels in the eyes of the victims. The reader could smell the stench of death. The Andromeda Strain is the type of novel that will produce audible cheers and jeers as the scientists make discoveries and errors. The essence of this book is in the imperfections of the scientists. Their plight resembles that of a Chutes and Ladders board game. They make brilliant discoveries, so they advance towards the top, the final answer. Then they overlook simple observations, which sends them down a chute towards the bottom, back where they started. Another facet of the novel is the thoughts sparked after reading it. Could this happen? Is our country prepared? What if the Russians had discovered this microbe during the Cold War? One possible answer is yes. This is happening right now in Africa with the Ebola virus. Our country is not prepared, we have neither a vaccine nor a cure. Fortunately, the Russians did not use biological weapons during the Cold War, but the threat is not over. Iraq has been accused of producing biological weapons, and terrorists recently used Anthrax, a deadly microbe, in a Japanese subway. The threat is out there, and quite frankly, Michael Crichton produced paranoia in one reader. The second group of questions are a little more abstract. What if a higher life form sent this microorganism in order to communicate their existence? What does this mean for civilization as it is known today? These are just a few examples of the ability of this novel to generate reader interest. This journey of characters, conundrums, and casualties through a five-day period is certainly worth reading. While reading the novel, the reader will most likely take the role of scientist into his own hands by trying to figure out how this microbe kills. After completing the novel, the reader will begin washing his hands more frequently. Then he will begin to look in the direction of the mid-east for a mist, possibly containing a killer. Insomnia soon follows. Bibliography: Word Count: 722
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