Rating: 
Summary: Terrifying
Review: This book scared the hell out of me. It wouldn't have if it weren't a true story. I wouldn't dare reread it now, because as of this writing, there's an outbreak in Uganda, I believe, that is threatening to go beyond the border if it hasn't already, and dwelling on the human suffering taking place there is an unthinkable enterprise.My one reservation: the writer's decision to play scientist/adventurer and go where he perfectly well doesn't belong at the end (and I don't mean linguistically--I mean as a completely unnecessary part of his field work).
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Summary: The Hot Zone
Review: The Hot Zone is an intriguing, hard to put down book. Every page is going to have something new. You never know what's going to happen next. The book is about a virus that cannot be stopped. It demolishes everything in its path, leaving nothing behind. In this book it describes how Marburg, Ebula Sudan, Ebola Zaire, and Ebola Reston can kill its host so fast, that the host will never know what hit him. A filovirus, which is the deadliest virus known to mankind. It kills its host in such a way that no human being could imagine. You have to have a strong stomach to be able to read about Ebola or to watch someone or something that has Ebola die. A filovirus takes all your major organs and cells and builds them up with bricks (crystals) until they explode. For example, when you do an autopsy on a monkey wioth Ebola, the testicles of a male are swollen and black and blue. There is blood pouring out of every hole in your body during the last stage of the virus. All your major organs have either turned to fluid or have swollen up and turned hard. It is proven that only one form of Ebola is airborne. That virus is Ebola Reston. It is only airborne to monkeys. It has no affect on human beings. For some unknown reason that scientist cannot figure out why. Ebola Sudan, Ebola Zaire, and Marburg are spread through blood to blood contact, it is spread the same way that AIDS is spread. There is only one weakness that this book has, and that is that sometimes the book will go off the subject, and the author will start talking about someone's life. Other than that, the book is a great book to read. It will open youeyes to what you do, because you never know where this virus will end up. Without knowing how it happened, the virus jumped from Africa to the Phillipines. The book also will open you eyes to realize that there are other species in the world that believe they are higher on the food chain than us, and they are right. This book can be recommened to anyone who has a strong stomach and likes reading about scientific studies on viruses. This book can also be recommened to anyone who wants to go into the medical field, laboratory work, or military.
Rating: 
Summary: The Hot Zone
Review: The story is about a virus that takes place in Ebola, S. Africa. The virus would overtake a persons organs by liquifying their organs. The virus did alert government scientists, so they went to s. Africa to investigate the causes of deaths in the local villages. The monkeys there had sustained the disease so the scientists flew them back to the United States to do research on them. Col. Jaax of the research laboratory at Fort Detrick ran the monkey testing. The monkeys displayed unusual behavior physically. Some of the monkeys had died.
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Summary: A wonderful book filled with information
Review: OK...I had to read this book for a science requirement so I assumed it would be extremely boring...But as I soon found out the book was one of the best I have read. It gave me a better understanding of the Ebola virus and its effects. It also talked of the spawn of the virus and its sister Marburg. It gave statistics as well as had a plot behind it. This book told true stories about the people who have died from the virus and the mystery behind it...It also spoke of the fortunate ones who have survived the virus. This book was great and learned more from it then I have any textbook. And I would recomend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Too Hot To Handle
Review: Being force to read this in my English class I must say was not my teacher's best choice. I base this only on the fact that there was more in-detail gore than your average horror film, but reflecting back on Hot Zone I know understand that the extreme details were there because this is the cold hard fact. People have died from these natural events and will still die in the furture. Even if the human species considers gaining control we will soon have to relize we can't gain control of the uncontrolable. I enjoyed the cold hard fact about this book, that the "Hot Zone," even outside of a book, is still too hot to handle for the human race.
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Summary: Buyer Beware......
Review: Well, it all depends on what you are looking for. "The Hot Zone" was the first book I read on this subject and like many other readers I was intriged and facinated. But then I started to branch out and read more about the subject and I realized that this book cannot be taken at face value. If you want an accurate description of these viruses I would suggest "Virus Hunters of the CDC" by Joseph B. McCormick M.D. and Susan Fisher-Hoch or "Ebola" by William T. Close. These books are written by the people have actually worked with the viruses and the victims they attack. These two books are first hand expieriences...not second or third hand information. I would compare "The Hot Zone" to the TV show Hard Copy. It does get most of the story across, but it alters it to make it more marketable. My main gripe with it is that countless times Mr. Preston mentions "liquifiying" of bodily organs. This is completely inaccurate. It paints a good picture and had good shock value, but these virus don't need it. They are shocking enough on their own, they don't need to be embelished. Once again, a good story book (although how it's passed off as non-fiction I'll never know), but if you want acuracy I would suggest you look a little further.
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Summary: Awesome book!
Review: My science teacher is reading this book to us right now in our 8th grade classroom. Now, I will tell you here, that I am only on chapter 4, but already I've heard a lot about it. At first the whole Ebola thing scared the heck out of me! It does describe in gruesome detail the symptoms of ebola (4 words -black and red vomit), so this isn't a book for people with queasy stomachs! But, it is great! A book you simply can't put down! ;-) Read it! :-)
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Summary: Cartoonish yes but cartoonish in the Dark sense
Review: If this book was pure fiction my opinion of it would be completely different. It is not great literature, it reads more like a long newspaper article, the villain is too over done, and the blood and gore too extreme. However the fact that this is telling a true tale changes things. It is hard, when faced with a virus like Ebola, not to use sensational terms. It is also hard not tell a macabre tale. This disease, though it may not ever be a world killer, is the poster child for viral violence. Preston's book is a quick, easy to read, glimpse into a world where we are just another part of the food chain; where we are no better prepared to fight this foe than a monkey or guinea pig. If you do not know what Ebola is, you may not want to read this book. When dealing with flivovirus's, at least with current medical technology, ignorance might be bliss. To get to know Ebola or Marburg is not going to make you feel better at night. Unmasking the phantom won't make it go away, it will just reveal the really nasty truth underneath. I read The Hot Zone as I was comming down with a cold...don't read this if you are coming down with a cold. If you like a good decent scare read it. Just remember that, in this case, the boogy man is real.
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Summary: "The Hot Zone"
Review: The "Hot Zone" is a bone chilling true story by Richard Preston. It tells of the events leading to the Ebola Outbreak in Reston, Virginia during the 1980's. Preston does a great job explaining in detail many cases in which people suffered from the virus. After reading this book I felt scared to touch anything around me. The Ebola virus is swift moving and can kill within days. I highly recommend this book to anyone who's up for a thrill.
Rating:
Summary: The Hot Zone
Review: Richard Preston's shockingly true story is about an outbreak of a nasty virus in the suburbs outside of Washington. Is the world ready for a deadly outbreak? Will a deadly virus burn through the streets of our capital? The Hot Zone tells the true story of how this scenario really almost happened, and how it could happen again. The book gives a good idea about what happens with a virus like Ebola, and what the deadly consequences could be. These are frightening truths that in the course of everyday people don't think about. Read The Hot Zone. Open your eyes.
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