Rating: 
Summary: Intense!
Review: One of the most intense books I ever read. Wait... the most. This book starts getting intense around page 8 and starts getting creepy on page 1. What does this mean. You get hundreds of intense, creepy pages. This book documents the years when the Ebola virus was around. It is one of the best reads around. Buy it, read it, experience it.
Rating:
Summary: For Africa: Go Ebola, Go Aids
Review: I'd recommend this book to anyone. The author did like to spend time describing what some of the main characters cooked for breaksfast on a given day, and what they were thinking, which was totally irrelevant to the story. Aside from that, this piece of work is a quick-read true story of how a group of civilian and military individuals safely removed the deadly Ebola virus from Suburban Washington, D.C. The author presented the possible origins, background and horrifying affects of this virus. Ebola is so malicious, that one would be better off taking their own life before succumbing to this filovirus which turns organs into liquid. Blood from internal hemorrhaging emanates from every orifice of the body. The virus attacks the brain, and liquefies it into jelly like other parts of the body causing dementia and psychotic episodes. The fatality rate is usually 90%. Ebola has the ability wipe out huge amounts of human population, and in nations which don't have high-tech medical facilities and resources, Ebola's outbreak is something we may likely hear of again in the Zaire region or other parts of the world. the fact of whether or not it can be transmitted through the air was a serious question at the end of the book. There are different strains of Ebola and it has a keen ability to mutate and adapt to hosts of different species. The author's note of how nature was possibly responding, or avenging the massive human population explosion was intriguing and made me think. Is it nature's means of defense against the constant and unending onslaught of Human population and so-called growth? As of now, Ebola has retreated to the Jungle, where the strain of this filovirus is residing, waiting to amplify. And it likely will again. One serious although morbid note. Nations in Africa and other parts of the world have high birth rates, combined with higher life expectancies due to Western medical technology. Disease, hunger and poverty punish the people in many parts throughout their lives. Yet, they can't contain their population growth. Ebola, like Aids in Africa, may be looked at, as nature's way to a degree of leveling off the population explosion. If these people don't have the intelligence or common-sense to control themselves with contraception, let Ebola do it for them. Go Ebola, Go AIDS.
Rating: 
Summary: Defines "The Creeps"
Review: After I read this book, I was afraid to touch anything or even breathe. It totally freaked me out. It was like an intense Robin Cook plot that was happening in real life... There was no escape for the tragic victims of the deadly Ebola virus. At the severe stages of the disease they began to puke their own insides as they were transformed to gunk. It really opened my eyes to the world of infectious diseases and made me more aware of lurking dangers. I read this book in the seventh grade and was engrossed. My friends begged to read it and it had a long waiting list. Even my English teacher proclaimed it amazing. And amazing it was...both as a reference book and as a medical thriller...
Rating:
Summary: Shocking true story
Review: After I had read this book for only 20 min. I was already hooked. This book is shocking and very informative. I never knew how potent and lethal the filovirae are. It gave me a terrifying glimpse into the world of 'hot' viruses like ebola and marburg. Anyone who is interested in epidemilogy, virology, or forensic pathology, this is a must read!
Rating:
Summary: Terrifying, True Story
Review: I hate viruses. I hate bacteria. I don't even to think about them. But for some reason, This "book", This "masterpiece", This "heart-stopper", "thriller", "artwork", and "two thumbs up non-fiction"--It's made me fond of medical viruses. I couldn't put it down, and one day after buying it I did a web search for "EBOLA ZAIRE," which may become today's black plauge. I'd reccomend this book to those of you who don't have a sick stumich :-O Due to its graphic nature. --The Fish
Rating:
Summary: One of My Favorite Books
Review: I loved this book it also scared the living daylights out of me.I did find it very disgusting in some parts-made me want to throw up.I was amazed at how I could understand everything and not get bored,this must be the only non-fiction book I don't fall asleep with. Definatly a must-read
Rating: 
Summary: PLEASE!
Review: The most frieghtning thing about this book is that people believe its true! How this book found its way into the non-fiction section of my local bookstore speaks of just how easy it is for people to pass off fiction as real. This is science fiction. Just because it is based on a real event doesn't mean that it is true. The problem is people without a solid background in the sciences don't realize this. While scientist are laughing aloud at this books absurdity, the laymen is being scared to death. The only thing this work of science fiction does is widen the gap between the science literate and the science illiterate. Richard Preston is a great author. To someone with little background in virology it would be easy to mistaken this for the Bible. This book was written to scare the public and make some money for Mr. Preston. There is nothing wrong with that, but it should come with a disclaimer that reads: This book is not an accurate depiction of the Ebola virus (or it could just be put on the shelf next to Star Trek and Dungons and Dragons where it belongs). If you want to read a more accurate depiction of the Ebola virus read a work by a scientist in the field of virology or microbiology. There are scores of books out there. Many written by some of the top people in the field. Read these, they are not hard to find. If your looking for an entertaining non factual account of a "killer" virus that reads well and is taken to the absurd extreme of reality, The Hot Zone is certainly what your looking for.
Rating: 
Summary: WAY Over-the-top!
Review: I kept putting off reading "The Hot Zone", even though I study single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses, and continued to hear references to it. I finally bought a copy and was rather shocked. Ebola haemorrhagic fever is a very frightening disease, and the hundreds of people who have died from it since it was identified in 1976 (along with its sister virus Marburg which was identified in 1967) suffered horribly. Preston does these victims and their families a disservice by discussing Ebola haemorrhagic fever in sensationalistic and cartoonish prose. The story the book tells is both tragic and fascinating, but from most of the reviews here, one would gather that it is just a gruesome shock-fest. Just because Ebola virus is native to the forests of Africa does not mean that its victims should also be treated as distant, exotic characters in a horror picture. I'm not trying to be politcally correct by saying this. Even Preston's descriptions of the scientists involved in the study BL-4 agents feel as though they were written by Ayn Rand on steroids. I give this book 2 stars because I do think it has helped inform a number of readers about the continuing threat of infectious diseases and has probably led some of them to more detailed and down-to-earth works like Laurie Garrett's or William Close's. If you have read these works, though, you'll have trouble wading through "The Hot Zone".
Rating:
Summary: Well it certainly isn't hot. What is it?
Review: I had a problem reading this book. It's about the Ebola virus in Reston, which is a town very close to Washington D.C. It's an action/horror, and it's non-fiction. I live only a few minutes away from Reston and have heard this particular story numerous times. I also know that the virus did not spread to D.C. and cause chaos to the human race (a possibility mentioned in the book). As a matter of fact, I bet you know that as well. That's the problem with non-fiction horror novels. If the story is widely known or has consequences too great (such as The Nation's Capitol being wiped out by an African plague), then the reader already knows the ending. That's usually a bad thing in stories, but with the horror genre, it's ALWAYS a bad thing because the ending is supposed to surprise the reader. That fact alone was what kept it from being the edge of my seat novel that I hoped it would be. But the writing style also confused me. It makes numerous references to AIDs even though that particular virus has nothing to do with the story or Ebola itself besides the fact that they are both well-known viruses. The book also jumps subjects multiple times. It will spend over 100 pages telling about the decon going on in Reston, then leave you hanging, while it jumps to another story about the researchers going on a trip to Africa to find the origin of the virus. Neither of these stories have proper endings. What endings they do have don't belong in any novel. They are very short and restate things the author mentioned many times before. He dedicates an entire chapter to this closing when all he really uses is two pages to sum up his views. To its advantage however, descriptions were written very well and you get a good picture as to what the virus can do to a body. But even this gets boring when he repeats it four more times. All facts written about the virus (and all other members of its family) and extremely colorful. By the end it felt like I had actually contracted the virus and suffered the result. The book is filled with facts, which makes me think of it as more of a gory reference book, than an actual novel. Read it if you want to learn about the disease, but choose another book if you want a good story.
Rating:
Summary: The first, perhaps most terrifying of epidemic books.
Review: As I said in my title, this was the first or one of the first books on viruses written for the laymen, not for the old stogies who are in epidemiology departments across the country. Unlike most science writers, Preston makes sure you understand the human and nonhuman results of our carelessness with our environment. This is not a dry textbook...I've read those in Neuroscience. This book scared the daylights out of me and though I don't recommend it to anyone who is a hypochondriac, I do recommend it for anyone else. It is only through science literacy and medical literacy of the public that we can possibly hope of preventing serious outbreaks that put all of us at risk. All it takes is one stupid animal handler forgetting to wear protective gloves, or a hotel neglecting to keep its vents clean because they don't want to spend the money, or turning our heads the other way when druggies who have TB don't take their full course of medicine. This was just my first foray into this fascinating area...but because of Preston's writing and his knowledge of his topic, it won't be my last. Karen L. Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh, klsst23@pitt.edu
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