Rating: 
Summary: The suspense is REAL!
Review: After having read Preston's frightening 'The Hot Zone' I felt that he could only scare me witless if he ever tried a fictional story along similar lines...and 'The Cobra Event' is exactly that: very frightening. Could it happen? It sure seems like it could, which makes it even more horrific. It should be no surprise that Richard Preston has it within himself the ability to write a hum-dinger of a yarn because his brother is Douglas Preston, one-half of the duo that gave us 'Relic', 'Thunderhead' and 'The Ice Limit' (among other great thrillers). Richard takes us on a journey that is both scary and entertaining as well. In several instances the story made me feel as though I were witness to something truly horrible, as though I should turn away but couldn't.In one respect we've got a straight 'Bio-Thriller' of the 1st order...in another vein (sorry) we've got a classic 'whodunnit'. Preston combines the two seamlessly and the tension mounts from beginning to its satisfying climax. What more can I say? I enjoyed 'The Cobra Event' VERY MUCH. I have to give a warning though: some of the scenes described in the story are every bit as horrific as can be in written form. A few almost made me gag. The detail is stunning, realistic and written so well you feel as though you are really THERE...all that was missing was the smell (for which I was profoundly thankful they COULDN'T re-create). This is a thriller as good as most out there, and maybe even more so because the stuff in THIS book isn't just fantasy, it COULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN. I pray it doesn't.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Medical Thriller
Review: Richard Preston, who wrote the terrifying nonfiction bestseller The Hot Zone, has written another medical thriller, although this one is only fictional. A biological agent is found in the body of an Upper East Side high school student, and Alice Austen, a scientist from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is brought in to help. Working with the FBI, they find that this agent is slowly making its way through New York City, and must find a way to stop it before it inflicts more gruesome deaths and causes a global catastrophe. Gruesome is a key word, since Preston describes the deaths of the agent's victims with incredible, gory detail. This does not take anything away from the story, but in fact adds to it. The characters and story are well written, (although there is a trace of a romance storyline that doesn't fit), and the suspense moves quickly towards a terrific climax. Preston has obviously researched this subject very well, and writes a satisfying thriller.
Rating: 
Summary: This is the Best Book I have ever Read in my entire Life!
Review: Me and two of my friends started this book and at first I thought it would be just a boring novel. I am only 14 years old and now I cant put the book down. This is such a good book. I am almost done and cant wait to finish it. This book makes me want to get into the field of biological warefare!
Rating:
Summary: A very exciting and entertaining novel
Review: I normally avoid these novels where some kind of plague or ebola-like viruses threatens to wipe out humanity, but I found this one to be extremely well written and interesting to read. I'm now going to order "Hot Zone" from the same author to see if that can cure me, but I'm afraid that Richard Preston is too contagious...
Rating:
Summary: Give yourself the heebee-jeebees
Review: I was recently admonished in an email from an Amazon customer for the negativity of my book reviews. Well, O.K., I have nothing but good things to say about The Cobra Event. The scary thing about this book is that as you read it, people in white coats are puttering about in labs all over the world trying to make it a reality. This point is made clear by the semi-documentary style in which some parts of the book are written - - Preston has the ability to make you see the truth behind the fiction. The recent history of germ warfare is put together in an extremely well-written page-turner that is part science fiction, part detective story. I hope the F.B.I. bought a copy.
Rating:
Summary: The Cobra Event
Review: The Cobra event was a great book I would recommend it to anyone who likes in-depth bloody descriptions. I couldn't keep my eyes off the page. I also read The Hot Zone which was great too but The Cobra Event was much better!
Rating:
Summary: Gripping and suspenseful but weirdly written
Review: I read Preston's "Hot Zone" a year before this book. In fact, I *HAD* to read "Cobra Event" for a school project and thought, "Oh, yuck! Another bloddy virus story!" However, it turned out to be very exciting and captivating. If you can make it past the first 50 pages where a gruesome death and even more gruesome autopsy are described in ways that... well, don't eat anything first! Then you find yourself in a story of international intrigue. I liked the way he injected chapters about the real state of bioweapons in the world...that is the scariest part of the book! However, one thing I find strange is his Hemingway-esque writing style. Present often has a paragraph of about 25 sentences, each 3 or 4 words long. Why? It doesn't add anything and rather it detracts. I always found *MANY* instances where he repeated himself. It seemed like he wrote the same paragraph twice and couldn't figure which version to keep, so he put them both in the book. This sort of thing is OK for the Bible but not modern fiction. It makes Preston's books appear to be very poorly edited. Maybe they are!
Rating: 
Summary: Exciting page turner but not for the squeamish!
Review: This is an absolutely thrilling novel, but way too graphic for my liking (hence the 3 star rating). The scariest thing about this book is the realization that this could actually happen. As a rider of the NY subway, I've often wondered what kind of germs could be lurking in those tunnels, and now I have to worry about bioweapons!
Rating:
Summary: A novel that should be a wakeup call to the U.S.
Review: Preston has managed to write a novel that is quite disturbing. When you look at the world today, you see countries like North Korea, Iraq, Iran, or even terrorists like Osuma bin Laden that have the ability to create biological weapons that could devestate populated regions around the world. The novel is so true to life that I can now see why CNN and the New York Times ran pieces that said the book was dangerous. People need to understand that a biological attack will probably happen in the near future somewhere in the United States. "The Cobra Event" describes one scenario that could very well happen. Hopefully, people will now begin to take notice of this possible danger.
Rating:
Summary: I Absolutely Loved It
Review: Preston's novel is engrossing. I haven't had such a hook on a scientific novel since Sphere. It's scary, amazingly realistic and detailed. It seems very possible that Cobra and similar viruses, such as Aids, smallpox, and other epidemics can be used as potent weopons of depopulation. As soon as you turn page one you will think it is real. I was well into the book by the first night, keeping my head propped up by my elbow while in bed--staying up till 3 in the morning. Many novels of this type are too hard to understand for a casual reader. Such novels contain too much jargon that keep your dictionary open. But this contains a glossary of terms to help you speed through the novel. What makes this novel so scary, is that such events as Cobra event are extremely plausible. The novel has the audacity to delve into topics that many think absurd or impossible. But through Preston's research I have come to see we have been grossly uninformed. My suggestion this book is too important to pass up.
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