The Cobra Event

Rating:
Summary: MORE AN EARTH WORM THAN A COBRA!!
Review: Not as striking as a Cobra! Preston is one of the best describers of technical material I've read but I'm not convinced (yet) that he's a novelist. Great theme and fascinating detail, but held back not so much by shallow characterisation (as other readers have complained) as by boring characters. Some of the descriptive passages are also boring, for example the interminalble passage covering the set up of Governor's Island. The shoot out in the tunnels is cliched to hell (hasn't even Patricia Cornwell done a subway shoot 'em up?)but I didn't mind it so much. Having said all that, I'll still give it a 7 because the subject was fascinating and the author believable

Rating:
Summary: Dominion Review: Cobra Event
Review: Richard Preston, in this sequel of sorts to The Hot Zone, has outdone himself. The Hot Zone, which dealt with the deadly disease Ebola, and how close we came to having Ebola strike the U.S. in the form of Ebola Reston (Reston, Virginia), was a near perfect mix of fact and fiction. Now, with The Cobra Event, dealing with biological warfare, Preston has outdone himself again. The book starts off with a death of mind-numbing brutality, caused by an unknown disease. Alice Austen, an epidemiologist from the Centers of Disease Control is sent to investigate. The implications of this new agent, a biological weapon, result in federal agencies scrambling to contain it, and the man (who calls himself Archimedes) spreading it. O.K., in all truth, the fiction of this novel is really a slightly predictable mystery thriller. But that, of course, isn't the draw of the novel. Preston has researched his material extensively, and the result is a highly-enjoyable, fascinating story. Preston complements his storyline with three sections entitled "Invisible History", which take a detour from the plot to explain the real life facts of the events taking place. These sections are well-written and informative. Also, to Preston's credit, he has resolved his problems in placing the climax in this novel. In The Hot Zone Preston climaxed in spectacular format and then let the book slide for entirely too long. In this novel, he climaxes and then ties up loose ends quickly and efficiently. One of Preston's best works, this receives a 9 out of 10 on the Dominion scale. If you liked The Hot Zone you'll love this book!

Rating:
Summary: Technically perfect but artistically flawed
Review: Considering Mr. Preston's past efforts with "The Hot Zone" I was expecting a can't-put-it-down techno-thriller ala Tom Clancy. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Mr. Preston's journalistic background, which he has put to good use in his previous three books, proved to be a hinderence in this novel. In the first 112 pages(which is as far as I got) I learned more than I ever wanted to know about biological weapons, chemical weapons and the myriad ways to deliver these instruments of mass destruction. What I didn't learn about (and I think this is what kept me from continuing) was enough about the characters to make me care about them. Characterization was, at best, minimal. As much as I respect the gargantuan effort it takes to complete a book, any book, perhaps Mr. Preston's forte is journalism/non-fiction and not novels.

Rating:
Summary: En"grossing" read
Review: I have been anticipating this book for months and was not disappointed. Great job on the technical/medical details and descriptions. I only wish there was more substance to the characters.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely terrifying
Review: Accurate, realistic, and all together to much like recent headlines. A real page turner from begining to end. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Great book!!!!!!!! (but a strong stomach needed)
Review: i recevied this book for x-mas. By dec. 30 i had read it twice. it was a page-turner. the goryness of the autopsies and victims dying got to me though. characters needed to be a bit more developed. i needed to read it three times to get the plot down.

Rating:
Summary: Technically accurate. Masterful.
Review: I deal with this subject for a living, so I was ready to throw darts at the smallest technical indiscretion. I must say Mr. Preston is right on target. This book, in my opinion, is his best "research" effort yet. The line between fact and speculation is so sufficiently blurred, I'd advise the government to keep a watchful eye on his sources. His best effort to date. Well done.

Rating:
Summary: Close to perfection
Review: This book was intense (not as intense as the Hot Zone) and came out at the right time. I learned a lot about biological warfare. I scares me knowing that this could really happen.

Rating:
Summary: Frightening. Educational. Thrilling. A must for everyone.
Review: If the well informed reader who understands that the potential for the next world crisis could be the use of chemical-biological weaponry and if that person is up to speed on the Defense Department's $50M on-going crisis training aimed initially at improving the skills of fire, police, hospital and ambulance workers on crisis management in handling a disaster caused by chemical and biological agents, they will find this book very informative and devour it in a very short time as I did. It is an education. The media quotes Robert Walker, Army Undersecretary, on this subject as saying, "The bottom line is this: We don't know when or if this (A chemical-biological weapon attack - or CBW as it is called by the military) will happen, but we believe it will."

Rating:
Summary: Very scary
Review: The Cobra event is a scary, exiting read. The Cobra Event is too close to the bone for comfort. The facts are scary and a pathologist friend of mine only confirmed the plausibility of the entire scenario. Having said that, why introduce such stereotype characters as the mad scientist (without explaining why he has such a hatred for mankind) and the obnoxious White House secretary... I have a feeling this novel may have been edited down to a movie script ...