Rating: 
Summary: Chillingly blase--
Review: consider that he mentions smallpox, tularemia, brucellosis, anthrax, and a half dozen never-get-overs, and off-handedly supposes that there may be some chimera viruses currently in development. Given that we currently consider there to be a risk of the former USSR dealing in nuclear technology, we should be well and truly be concerned about what this man has revealed about the Soviet program--and what he may not have known about other areas where such research was done. Disease, BW/CW is the poor countries' nukes--this is a definite item of notice--a good read also for an insight into the last days of the Soviet Union and a picture of what lengths they would go to in order to cover up this program--the importance of it for military strategy.
Rating: 
Summary: Frightening Picture of Russian Biowarfare Program
Review: You would be a fool not to be frightened by Ken Alibek's chilling depictions of the Russia bioweapons program. Alibek, the former #2 man in Biopreparat--the Russian cover for a large facet of their weapons work--defected to the United States after going there on a weapons inspection program, and his account is detailed and frightening.The United States officially ended their biowarfare programs under Nixon, and for years most of the western world naively believed the Soviet claims that they, too, had done so. Yet under the guise of ostensibly civilian medical entities like Biopreparat, the Soviets and then Russians continued their work toward creating the world's deadliest microbes--as told here by one of those at the very top of the effort. Himself the innovator behind the Russian's weapons-grade anthrax, Alibek saw the makings of bioweapons from his own anthrax to turlaremia (which he himself accidentally contracted), plague, smallpox, and such emerging threats as Ebola and viral encephalitis. The Soviet program became so compartmentalized that with the fall of the Soviet Union, not even those involved know the full extent of what was done or what has become of many of those working on such weapons--many of whom have been courted by North Korea, Iran, and Iraq. Alibek left Russia in the 90's, yet even today there is admission from their government of continued work with smallpox at the viral facility of Vector (to where they illegally moved their WHO-sanctioned smallpox stores). The same individuals from the Communist regime still run a now largely-bankrupt program... who knows what horrors are even now being cooked up in their secret labs? Alibek's true tale leaves one incredibly scared as to the answer.
Rating:
Summary: Good book, good info, some disappointment
Review: This was a good book and a fairly entertaining read if you are into this sort of thing. Unlike the US biological weapons program, there is only one authoritative book on what the Soviets were up to during the Cold War, and this is it. I am fairly fond of this book, because it is factual and not exaggerated. There are some problems with the book, though. First, Alibekov's writing style is a bit choppy. His "contributor" helped with this, but there are still sections where the transition from one point to another leaves you stumbling and rereading the end of the last paragraph. The other problem with the book is, from my point of view, the parts detailing what the Soviets did to hide their weapons programs from us. Granted, it is important information for the government and some people may be interested, but I wasn't. The entire section called "Secrets and Lies" is about this, and it was relatively boring, with the following exception: Alibekov's description of his realizing that the propaganda he was hearing is an interesting digression into the way people respond to state-supported lies, and his moral dilemmas are interesting. All told, a good book and well worth buying, but not flawless, quite.
Harkius
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This book was a joy to read! The book was informative, easy to read, factual, and accurate (I worked in the field). The author is to be commended for writing such a daring book....naming people, places, things, timing, etc. It was a candid, "from-the-heart" book. Nice job!
Rating:
Summary: Chilling and Prescient
Review: To have read Alibek's story when it first came out would have been cautionary and chilling. But in the world since 9/11/01, some of the warnings Alibek presents are downright prescient and on the mark. His talk about the weaponization of Anthrax, as well as the deadly power of it hit home after the anthrax scares and mail attacks the U.S. experienced. I suppose by now much of what he has to relate has been covered at least somewhat in books such as "Demon in the Freezer" and "Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War." But here we have it from the horse's mouth. Alibek's delivery is so matter of fact that it gives increased horror to the work that was done. He seems to have second thoughts about the work he did with developing bioweapons in the Soviet Union, he is not apologetic for the work he's done, which helps what he has to say. This is not a "mea-culpa" book from a penitent scientist. This is a wake up call to say "look at what we did, and continue to do." Until this past year and the increasing amount of attention paid to 'weapons of mass destruction,' bio-weapons were largely put on the back burner - partially because it was hard to know what others were doing, and largely it exists as weapons so varied and of new virulence, that we effectively have little defense against it. So the result was more of putting the head in the sand and ignoring it. But Ken Alibed, and recent events, has proven this to be a bad course of action, and one we are moving away from. This book is, and continues to be, a wake up call of the dangers that are out there in the world, not just among the former Soviet Union, but among many nations today, a good number who are not too friendly towards the U.S. Biohazard is a chilling warning to us all.
Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: This is possibly the best nonfiction book that I have ever read! It has some sort of feeling to it, and that makes it highly addictive to read, even twice. JUST GET IT.
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Summary: Hell Revisited...
Review: As this review is written, in October 2002, it is well to remember that Ken Alibeck first brought his revelations of the massive Soviet (and now, Russian Federation) bioweapon production to the public in his book BIOHAZARD more than two years ago. His defection to the U.S. occurred almost four years earlier. And yet, as I travel the country to promote my own book --a fiction bioterrorist assault on the U.S. that threatens humanity itself-- I'm dumbfounded to discover that the majority of my audiences have no idea of who Ken is. Worse, they have no conception of the horrors that he, as deputy director of Biopreparat/Vector, the massive organization the Soviet Union created to develop and mass-produce lethal viruses and other bioagents BY THE METRIC TON, has visited on today's world. Today we live with the very real threat of a worldwide pandemic of smallpox --a disease officially eradicated in nature three decades ago-- that could be sparked by any number of rogue nations or their terrorist clients who possess the weaponized form of smallpox that Biopreparat/Vector produced. And because that hideous form of variola virus is likely to have been genetically modified, it is entirely possible that existing smallpox vaccines (such as that being recommended for mass immunization in the U.S., Israel, Australia and elsewhere) simply will not work against it. While I was researching my novel of bioterrorism, Final Epidemic, I met many experts in the field of national security, medicine and government. In private conversations, those who consented to be interviewed all agreed on one point: a staggering volume of bioweapons exist today, and could be released upon mankind at any time by a ruthless ideologue... or a madman. But almost as many agreed on a second point, too: the majority of these weapons are likely to have come from Russian stocks, or to have been newly manufactured by Russian scientists formerly employed by Vector and recruited by nations such as Iraq, Iran, Syria and North Korea. BIOHAZARD is the basic primer for how this all began, as well as a detailed indictment of those in Russia who coldly ignored both international treaties and simple respect for life in their quest for the single-cell killing machines they created. Today, even two years after its initial publication, it remains a horrifying chronicle of cold-blooded preparation for mass murder. By all accounts, Ken Alibeck himself is a charming individual, highly intelligent and possessed of an eloquent manner. Without doubt he is a gifted scientist, as evidenced by his own personal lead role in developing a particularly lethal and persistent variety of anthrax which is still a prized part of the Russian bio-arsenal. Alibeck is reported also to be a man of conscience, as evidenced by his disillusionment and ultimate defection. Would that his crisis of conscience had come far earlier, or at least had been shared by more of his Vector colleagues. Humanity would have been far safer that it has proven now to be. As it is --and as BIOHAZARD so clearly shows us-- we are facing the barrel of a gun, loaded and cocked and aimed at the heart of human society by fanatics and the possibly insane. Buy and read BIOHAZARD; if you already have, re-read it. No other book so clearly underlines the genesis of the threat facing the human species today. Earl Merkel
Rating:
Summary: Gripping and Chilling
Review: Kanatjan Alibekov was in charge of Biopreparat, the Soviet Union's bioweapons factories. The Soviet's system that produced and stored the largest biological weapons stock pile the world has ever known. He had massive stockpiles of Anthrax, Plague, Smallpox, Marburg, Ebola and too many others to list under his supervision. He had a list of first strike areas including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle. His story is engrossing. The health effects that he has suffered because of his work are amazing. He has lost all sense of smell and can't eat butter, cheese, eggs, mayonaise, sausages, chocolate or candy. He takes two or three pills of allergy medicine a day minimum. He must rub ointment on his skin because the natural lubricants have been lost. The numerous vacinations he had to take over the years for work with infectious disease's has caused many complications with his health. This is his story as well as the story of the Soviet government and their deceipt of the world as well as their deceipt of their own citizens. Brainwashing younger generations to believe that the United States would stop at nothing to destroy them. This book is truly engrossing. Kanatjan Alibekov defected to the United States and changed his name to ken Alibek and began helping the United States with information to combat the massive Soviet stockpiles. And his information has proven to the United States how far we are behind but then again, we didn't break the treaty against production of bioweapons. Many of the scientists also fled to Iraq and Iran and continued production there. This book is balanced and informative as well as interesting. It is a bit unnerving but also fascinating. A must read for anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating! MUST-READ if interested in BW
Review: The term "must-read" is overused. That is a shame. This book truly deserves that urging if you are interested in the history (and possibly future) of biological warfare. Nobody alive knows more about the inside of the Soviet BW program, and Alibek comes clean with all there is to tell.
Rating:
Summary: Biohazard
Review: Biohazard will scare the devil out of anyone who knows what bio-weapons can do to man. The plans the Russians had, should they ever use these weapons, would have been devastating. The problem, as Ken Albek tells the reader is that former Soviet scientist are still out there somewhere, working for who knows who, probably producing these weapons as you read this. What a dangerous mess we have with the U.S. and Russia saving such terrible diseases as Smallpox...just in case they may be needed for future study. Yea. Right. This is a great book. Be prepared to have some sleepless nights after you read of Ken's life in Biopreparat!
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