The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story

This book was required summer reading for me, and at first I was a little bit hesitant to pick up a non-ficiton book. I usually gravitate more towardes horror novels. However, this book suprised and delighted me. It read like a cohesive fiction novel, it didn't throw too many facts or figures or scientific jargan at you. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in viruses or any type of science field.

Fascinated by anything related to virology, I love this book. As a account of true events, it is a page turner. It does not read like the stereotypical stuffy non-fiction book. I could not put it down. I felt I was right there in the labs with the protagonists. I almost felt as though I would come down with the virus just by reading about it.

"The Hot Zone" was recommended to me by my A & P teacher, & I bought it right away because I am fascinated by viruses. This book reads like a thriller, yet the story is complete fact. Richard Preston is not a scientist himself but has a PhD in English, so he is able to make this esoteric subject (the Marburg & Ebola viruses) accessible to the masses. Along the way, he created a book that I could not put down.

Preston went just deep enough into the science of viruses to scare me, yet everything he says is certainly plausible. This book may read like a thriller, but the story is not sensationalist. Besides exposing the 1989 Ebola Reston outbreak in Maryland, Preston gives the reader interesting background on a few of the more well known cases of Marburg & Ebola Sudan & Zaire. Unexpectedly, this book offers a very real picture of the cruelties of animal testing & the can of worms we humans have opened up as a result of our constant meddling with the ecosystem. Preston ponders that viruses (HIV included) could be nature's way of fighting back against humans who insist on poaching & bulldozing rain forests. He has a valid point.

This book is incredible and I highly recommend it to anyone, especially if you are a fan of virology, epidemiology, or just a book that you don't want to put down! I found myself unable to stop reading as the beginning really grabs you and pulls you in. It's incredibly interesting and the best part is it is based on true events, which I believe makes it much scarier/better. Overall, I believe this book to be very well written and is a great read that you won't want to set down!

This is a gripping story about the spread of emerging deadly viruses - specifically Ebola. Now we can add to our worries thoughts of deadly Ebola viruses hopping the globe via jet travel. Author Robert Preston keeps readers glued to these pages with his description of Ebola outbreaks in Africa. Victims arrived at hospitals vomiting blood, then convulsing, losing consciousness, and in most cases soon expiring - though about 20 percent recovered fully. We see how one strain of Ebola ended up in Virginia (USA) via jet travel, where it was discovered and quarantined. Perhaps nervous readers should remember that HIV/AIDS has to this date been more destructive, as was influenza to Native populations in the Caribbean region shortly after Columbus arrived.

This book is readable, gripping, and sensational; it leaves many readers wanting more complex scientific information about viruses. A compelling read, but hardly for the squeamish.