Rating: 
Summary: Poor science, but a good page-turner.
Review: Preston knows how to write, and he does so in a style that keeps you into the story and makes you feel for the characters. With that, he's got the makings of an excellent work of fiction. But since the book is non-fiction, he ought to get some facts straight. First, Ebola causes hemorragic fever. This is to say that vessels of the bloodstream leak resulting in loss of blood and body fluids. The internal organs do NOT melt! A survivor of the infection will thus recover just as quickly as he became ill. For more info, read the tale as told by someone who has seen Ebola face to face, such as Joseph McCormick or C.J. Peters
Rating: 
Summary: A Chilling tale of a Chilling Virus
Review: Richard Preston delivers a spine-chilling account of the Ebola Virus in his best selling nonfiction novel The Hot Zone. Preston tells the tale of the hunt for the Ebola in a novel like form making the book much more interesting and frightening. The book starts with cases in Africa then reverting the US as the virus comes in America. The book's main component is the arrival of the virus in Virginia and the health authorities attempts to clear it up. This quotation sums up the petrifyingness of The Hot Zone: "They had Ebola. [They] were dying of Ebola Zaire. His stomach lurched and turned over, and he sat frozen in the dark closet, with only the sound of his air and the thud of his heart." The man being described is the scientist Peter Jahrling who helped to identify Ebola in Virginia; as "his stomach lurched and turned over" one can feel the same as the test results confirm that the killer virus is indeed in America. Adding to the whole suspense is the narration style of thebook as a novel making it seem as if though one was there. For myself the only disappointing thing in the novel was its culmination, as the source for the virus is not discovered making one still on the edge of one's seat even though the book is closed. For readers who enjoyed the book Preston has written another medical-detective thriller (this one a true novel) about a terrorist who creates a virus with which he plans to destroy New York. It is entitled The Cobra Event.
Rating: 
Summary: The Hot Zone And Other Monkey-business
Review: I am a 13 year old book-reviewer. The Hot Zone was a compelling novel about a terrifying, potential epidemic that killed a numerous amount of innocent people. In this exciting yet horrifying book, Richard Preston displays incredible facts and grusome tales of how the Ebola virus spread to its victims non-stop. I would definitly recommend this book to anybody that knows how to read.
Rating:
Summary: Chiiiilling!
Review: I was shocked, scared, surprised you name it, when I read this book..I will never forget the description of the virus at a certain point in the book that says "If you put a monkey in a bag, the next day you'll have a bag of soup.." It was perhaps the best book i have read so far, in describing viruses this kind...Too bad that during my moving back to greece the book was lost and cannot be found here..and no one ships COD in greece...Mr Preston congratulations, and I truly hope none of these possibilities of what would happen will ever come true.. P.S. Is there ANY way I can get hold of this book?
Rating:
Summary: Lotsa Fun with Biohazard!
Review: Robert Preston really nails some subject matter that is both terrifying current and fathomable. He draws close to the real heartbeat of how close the United States general population came to a potentially cataclysmic epidemic. He makes all aware of the fragility our society is to the forces of nature and disease. With all our percautions and technology, the safety to our health and well being can still easily be compromised. I enjoyed all aspects of the book, except the ending, where the don's the biohazard protective suit and enters the cave, trying to fetch a hot Marburg sample. It undermines much of his credibility, and makes the reader realize that he is playing into our fear to sell his book. It also states that he ran out of material for his subject. Perhaps, he should of waited a little longer for another outbreak in Kikwit? I believe that most of this book is highly accurate, but I kept reminding myself that it is also a highly, sensationalistic story.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome BOOK!
Review: I think this book captures the fear and constant threat but at the same time unreal threat of a worldwide outbreak of a deadly 7 protein virus that lurkes deep it the African jungle. While at the same time telling stories of peolple who fought and worked to stop this disease. This book was by far the best virus/outbrak bookI have every read. And anyone who enjoys these types of books will certainly love this.
Rating:
Summary: A great book
Review: This was a great book. I couldn't put it down for a second! It had a few gory parts here and there. It was a very good book describing the Ebola virus. It is one off the best books I've read. I would recommend this book to anyone who is mature enough to read it!
Rating:
Summary: Scarier than any science fiction
Review: Despite a fascinating subject matter, I found this narrative a little tedious in parts, especially the details of various participants in the Reston monkey outbreak. Much more interesting were the African segments and Preston's speculation about the origins (locations and host species) of the horrifying filoviruses. I also enjoyed his broader perspective in presenting these not just as 'medical conditions' afflicting humans, but as fellow organisms competing for survival in the biosphere. The very real metaphor of virulent diseases as immune responses of the rainforest against the human 'infection' is very thought-provoking.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling story not well told
Review: Richard Preston has a terrifying story to tell, but his pedestrian, sometimes awkward, writing makes it difficult to read. Thanks to his choppy sentences and frequent digressions into irrelevant or repetitious detail, I found it hard to stay interested -- even though the story happened ten miles from where I live.
Rating:
Summary: The Hot Zone
Review: "The Hot Zone", by Richard Preston, is based on a true story and is a chilling account of the Ebola virus as it is tracked from a small cave in Africa to a monkey house in Virginia. The cast of characters consists of higher ops in the military to a group of scientists trying not only to find where the virus started, but also a way to get rid of it. Preston tells of how the virus literally feeds off the victim's flesh as they perish within days. He also tells of the fight between the CDC, (Center for Disease Control), and the military. Therein lies the problem of who has the right to contain the disease as it slowly spreads with no end in sight. I feel this is a good book because it tells of brave people in a frantic struggle to cure a disease that could wipe out an entire population. If you like sci-fi/horror books, i suggest you read "The Hot Zone".
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