HOT ZONE

Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Review: After months of stuffy old British classics we read THE HOT ZONE by Richard Preston in my sophomore English class. What a breath of fresh air! The book reads like a novel, but is full of fascinating information about ebola. Whether you're a biology buff or just want a good beach read, this is a great book. I highly recommend this(...)

Rating:
Summary: Good God This Book Is Terrifying!!!!!!
Review: Come now, what could possibly be more terrifying than a deadly virus which kills 9 of 10 people? Nothing, huh? Oh wait, yeah I forgot ... it's just outside Washington DC. And oh yeah ... you throw up blood, your organs liquify while you're still alive and you leak blood from your nose, eyes, mouth, anus, etc, until you fall down, have a few seizures, spraying blood everywhere, and leaving yourself a bag of liquified liver, intestine, and brain, all sitting in a pool of blood. And did I mention this entire book is nonfiction?

Gruesome, horrifying, and absolutly wonderful, this book is!!!!!

It's a quick read, so you have no excuse not to read it. But I would recogmend not reading it in class ... you will make some odd faces at the gory descriptions provided by Preston. The novel takes you through the entire history of the virus, (the plot is not just "Oh my God there's an outbreak!!!!!!!").

You'll read it and be obsessed with Ebola for at least a week ... its an incredibly memorable book, and you'll love it, don't worry.

Rating:
Summary: An intense reality check!
Review: Have you ever pondered the many kinds of microscopic particles that live on this earth? I do even more now that I've read Richard Preston's true story, The Hot Zone. This book takes an extremely graphic dive into the facts within the first three pages. It all begins in Kitum cave deep in the heart of Kenya's wild jungles, where a deadly, unknown virus thrives. Scientific testing on monkeys then brings it to America, relating it to the fast killing Ebola virus, scaring the daylights out of our military. Their suspicions grow even more when they see the flesh eating symptoms of blood coming out of every orifice of the victims bodies. Many individuals get involved throughout this book, revealing their personalities and fears.
This exciting scientific thriller will keep you on edge for the whole read. With The Hot Zone being a true story, Richard Preston puts you in the level 4 biohazard zone easily, sharing the emotions of someone about to enter.
This book is definitely for you if you thrive on the life threatening facts of Ebola, Marburg, and other deadly viruses. With the first electron microscopy photographs ever taken of the virus alone, you won't be able to put it down!

Rating:
Summary: The Hot Zone
Review: The novel The Hot Zone is a true story about the Ebola virus. People in Africa start coming down with a very threatening unknown virus. Doctors cant figure out what it is and people are dieing. This disease soon finds its way to Washington D.C., and they have figured out that it is Ebola. The main characters Nancy Jaxx and Peter Jaxx, they lead the operation and mission to stop the virus. They must find where it is coming from and how to stop it, because it kills nine out of ten people that it encounters, and there is no cure for the virus.

I found this novel very intriguing. It was educational on the subject, and had some action scenes, which kept the novel alive, because some parts could get a little dull. The Novel stayed alive, on how it went into great depth to explain how they managed to fight Ebola, and to contain it. At these points in the novel became very exciting, and very interesting, because it is telling a nonfiction story. If you like bio hazards this is a must read book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in science/biology. I think they would like this novel very much. I wouldn't really recommend it to someone who is not interested in Science/biology. I don't think that I would recommend it to anyone younger than I ( 15 ), for I don't think that they would follow along with the novel at times, or be interested but other wise I would recommend it to someone.

Rating:
Summary: I Can't Believe This Is Non-Fiction!
Review: This was such a great book. The entire time I was reading it I had to keep reminding myself that it was real, that this actually happened. I thought that Richard Preston, the author, did a wonderful job of researching this and did an awesome job with description. This gruesome tale was so realistic it made me want to been in a space suit at times. If you have never read this book its a must. I have never read a book like it before. If you want to see the movie that was based on this book, Outbreak, don't expect it to be the same as the book. The movie is very different, but I still enjoyed it. This horrifying encounter with the Ebola Virus in the book definitely gives a wake up call to readers. The scary part is that you can't see it, smell it, hear it, feel it, or taste it. But if you get it, you have a 90 to 100 percent chance of dying within 12 days. Imagine that! Talk about a horror story, well this isn't, this is real and I learned a lot from this. I learned that these lethal viruses are still with us today and that Mother Nature has a lot more control than we give her credit for.

Rating:
Summary: A Scary Reality
Review: When monkies in a Washington DC area monkey house start dying of Ebola all hell breaks loose. Goverment officals must keep the cleanup out of the public's eyes. Preston gives the readers graffic discriptions of what Ebola can do. These descriptions are so scary the reader will wish the story were fiction, but it's not. This part of the book is terrific. Preston's writing is strong and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.

The second part of this book is Preston's account of his journey to the Kitchum cave. The Kitchum cave is rumored to be the source of of diseases such as Ebola and AIDS. This part of the book is not as enjoyable as the first part. It is filled with details of cave walls, and many other details that make the essay a very slow read. It is also somewhat dated since the Kitchum cave although a one point was considered a hot zone it has shown no evidence of disease.

Overall this book is worth the read. The first part of the book is a great read that rivals fiction horror stories. The second part of the book although not as interesting is still worth a read since Preston did take a chance in visting a hot zone.