Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Absolutly Smashing Review: This is the first Richard Preston book I have read but certainly won't be my last. I read The Cobra Event in my tenth grade biology XL class. I could not put this book down. It is a complete book about biological weapons. Let me say, scary stuff. To be honest, I have not read a book so intense and discriptive in all my life. If you are looking for a page turner, with discriptive imagery this is the book for you. I will not give any parts of the book away, I'll leave that for you to read. The Cobra Event is one thrilling book. One last word... don't read The Cobra Event at night, for you just might NOT get to sleep!
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Richard Preston's The Cobra Event: A Literary Masterpiece! Review: When I bought The Cobra Event, I didn't think I would enjoy it. I assumed it would join the ranks of many other unfinished books that I couldn't bring myself to attempt to read again. Within the first five minutes of reading this book, I was hooked. This book is thrilling and fast-paced. Preston describes every detail with intricate wording and accuracy while not overwording the less important elements. It also raises many questions about the medical profession and diseases throughout the world. The reader also learns while reading this entertaining book. Also, unlike some novels, I glossary of scientific terms can be found in the back of the book to ensure that the reader throughly understands the happenings in the book. The element of this book that makes it impossible to put down is the thrilling suspence throughout the entire book from the first page to the final sentences. I throughly enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to any reader.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Scary as Hell Review: How can I give a book four (and a half) stars but have troubles recommending this book to friends and family? The answer is that I found the whole scenario too real and too damned scary.A generation ago we feared the atomic bomb, nuclear war, and nuclear winter. But the "good thing" was that our fears included only one major enemy, which we believed to be relatively rational and which we could target ourselves (and I am sure they thought the same about us). The costs, infrastructure, and scientific knoweldge necessary to be a major nuclear threat limited our fears. Today the phrase "Weapons of Mass Destruction", or WMD includes not just nuclear, but chemical, and biological weapons (ignoring information warfare). Cobra vividly paints the picture why we should be afraid of the biological WMD. Preston does a wonderful job bringing together so many facts he researched into his story that it gave it a level of realism which added to the fear (how many books have a glossary and several pages dedicated to the research he did). The only reason I did not give it five stars is that some of the plot struck me as being added for purposes of turning it into a made for TV movie. Chases through darkened tunnels, shoot outs, and the romantic feelings distracted from the main story line (IMHO). Great story, but read at your own risk.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: the book is great, it's a book you never want to put down. Review: i am 13 and i bought the book in london, i live in the US. I read this book from maybe 10-3 in the morning london time. the book took me 3 days to read and a couple hours on the plane i never wanted to put it down. Its bone chiller u can never suspect whats going to happen next it was as if it were real. It portrays the way our governemnt would have to handle a situation like that. But i recomend you get this book. You'll love it and you'll nevr want to put it down..thank you
Rating: ![3 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-3-0.gif) Summary: Good forensics; weak structure Review: While finding the story of genetically manufactured viruses fascinating, I couldn't help noticing that the characters seemed cardboard and the author also slips in and out of past and present tense. The story holds interest, but I agree that the romance is weak and almost a sop to current popular publishing practices. The best part is the detailed medical knowledge that the author gives which makes the story seem likely and very frightening. But I do wonder if it is as simple to manufactor that stuff in an apartment as he made out? Wouldn't the landlord notice?
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: The absolute BEST book I've read in my lifetime Review: This book is the most interesting and the overall BEST book I've read in my life. It tells of an action-packed terrorist plan on Manhattan by a man by the name of Thomas Cope. The attack is brought on by home-made viral bombs. The virus is known as "Cobra". He grew it in his own apartment in East Village. I find it amazing how this story unwinds--it is the most imaginable and realistic world event I can comprehend alone in my mind. It is a real page-turner, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in microbiology, biological warfare, or modern terrorism.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: A thriller you cant put down Review: After reading The Hot Zone, I couldnt wait to read something else by Richard Preston. The Cobra Event is a page-turning thriller that I can not put down each time I read it. Great book for reading...just remember..its fiction..i thought it was true until i got to the end when it said it was fiction..hehe
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Mindboggling, fascinating reading!! Review: Richard Preston has done it again! After reading the Hot Zone, I was eager to get my hands on anything else from this author, and I WAS NOT disappointed. You won't be either. If you like suspense, action, thrill, and you aren't afraid of all the gorry details of infectious diseases, this book will become one of your favorites. I can't wait for the next one.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Great story, badly done romantic interest Review: I must admit, I do enjoy reading about pathological diseases and their, ahem, effects. Richard Preston is excellent in that respect. But his "romantic side-plot" stank. I mean, lines like, "And suddenly she realized she wasn't thinking of him in an entirely professional light". Give me a break. The book was interesting, the story was great, I loved Archimedes and the disease, but Richard Preston needs to stop the feeble romance, a failing I've also noticed in "The Hot Zone". Read the book, but ignore the romantic melodrama.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Starts great but slowly bogs down with forensic details Review: I was excited to dive into this book and was not disapointed with its gory and dramatic premise. It soon became too much work, however, and the story bogged down into forensic and scientific details that was outright boring. Furthermore, the way in which the villian is captured is just too coincidental.
|