Category: Book recommendations

The Andromeda Strain was my gateway to technothrillers. I’m not sure how I heard of it or whether I just found it browsing the books at the library, but it left such an impression on me that I have a vivid memories of reading it during the summer between sixth and seventh grade, including turning the pages of the worn paperback poolside at the local community pool we spent time at every summer. I was fascinated by the science that was not only the foundation of the book, but that integrated tightly into the plot and the characters. I also have noted how it has served as the template for many technothriller stories since, with its group of scientists called together to apply brainpower to avert an imminent disaster, a government cover-up, its  warning that  tampering with nature is perilous, and the lesson that the human race isn’t as invulnerable as it believes.

The Andromeda Strain is also the book that kicked off Michael Crichton’s career, making his name synonymous with technothriller and introducing the world to the genre. The book was written in 1969, making it over forty years old, but like The Cuckoo’s Egg, it also holds up well. The world then wasn’t as computer-centric or connected, so there was no tweeting, posting toFacebook or uploading videos on YouTube to let the world watch the catastrophe that befalls the small town hit by the Andromeda virus at the opening of the book. Nevertheless, the science in the book still comes  across as authentic and it’s not hard to imagine the story in today’s world (and there have been many books and movies since based on the same premise). The Andromeda Strain was also made into a movie, but it’s been so long since I saw it that I can’t recommend it.

You should definitely put this book on your to-read list if you haven’t (and even if you have, it’s fun to revisit) because it’s a great read and arguably the founding book of the modern age of the genre.

My reading is technothriller heavy and has been since I was a teenager. Technothriller is a classification I give  to books with plots driven by current or near future technology and that tightly integrate teaching the reader about the technology or its implications into their story lines. Technothrillers have been my go-to genre because books that entertain me while leaving me feeling smarter are my favorite kind. It’s often said that authors write at least their first novels for themselves, and that’s certainly the case with me and the technothrillers I’m writing.

This post is the first in a series that shares the technothrillers that I consider the best in terms of their use of technology in an engaging story. Each post recommends one book with a few comments about why I liked it. Hopefully you see at least one you haven’t read and can add to your reading list. Let me know what technothrillers you’ve enjoyed by posting a comment.

My first recommendation, The Cuckoo’s Egg by Cliff Stoll, actually isn’t fiction, but the plot is so captivating and well-paced that only the best authors craft stories as good. He published it in 1989 and it’s the first-hand account of how he investigated a $0.75 computer usage accounting discrepancy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he worked at the time. That small clue opened a detective case that lead him on a 10-month hunt of a complex cyber espionage scheme aimed at the lab’s government projects and eventually led to the arrest of the criminals. The digital trails lead around the world and only someone with Stoll’s persistence and ingenuity could have cracked the case. We’re lucky that he took the time to document it.

The book is over 20 years old so obviously technologically dated, but that doesn’t detract from the entertainment, and the fundamentals of hacking, malware and cybercrime he presents are the same today as they were then. The Cuckoo’s Egg is a required book for technothriller fans.

After you’ve read The Cuckoo’s Egg, be sure to check out this 1989 Booknotes interview with Stoll about his experience.