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Summary: If you only read one terrifying book this year....
Review: Not everyone will want to read this book. I choose to ignore most news shows about nuclear or bio-terrorism so that I can sleep better. Others seek to improve their understanding the threats we all face. For those who are selective about the information they choose to absorb, this is a well-researched, well-told history of the effort to fight smallpox and bioterrorism.Preston tells the story of several individuals who have dedicated their lives in different ways to the fight against smallpox and bio-terrorism. Preston is very good at describing the incredibly dangerous missions that these people have chosen for themselves, and the diverse set of motives and beliefs that compel them. One example is the hippie who interprets a Pakistani mystic's garbled chant as a command to join the world-wide smallpox irradication effort. Another is the gripping story of a single woman just out of college who thinks the researchers who work in the "blue suits" are insane, only to find herself in a Level 4 unit working with Ebola and smallpox a few weeks later. The other aspect of the book that is as interesting in the way it is told, as it is frightening is the almost unlimited potential for bioterrorists to make even more virulent strains of these diseases. Today, everyone is aware of the threat of bioterrorism, but Preston succeeds in explaining just how dangerous the threat is. Because the Fall 2001 anthrax attacks occured as the book was being written, it seems Preston felt obligated to weave these events into the book. As a result, the story is at times slightly disjointed, but overall, I think the anthrax angle added more than it detracted to the book.
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Summary: Anthing you need to know about smallbox and more
Review: Bioterrorism. Biowarfare. This book makes you want to crawl into a pressurized suit and stay there. Richard Preston opens eyes and spins heads in this excellent book. We certainly are in deep trouble if smallbox is used as a weapon. Preston takes you to the edge and leaves you alone with your fears. Scary stuff.
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Summary: Scary as hell
Review: This book should scare the hell out of you. If everything had gone perfectly after the official eradication of smallpox in 1979, the last two stashes of the virus at the CDC and in Russia would have been destroyed long ago. However, scientific curiosity, threats of bioterrorism, and most importantly, the irresponsibility of the Russian political and scientific establishments have prevented the destruction of the deadly virus. Preston recounts the courageous and well-organized international smallpox eradication effort of the 60's and 70's in the first part of the book and introduces us to the characters who transformed the dream of ridding the planet of the horrible disease into a reality. The meat of the book, however, deals with one of the most pressing issues of our time, bioterrorism. Although the smallpox virus was to be kept only at the CDC and in a Russian institute after eradication, ample evidence exists that the Russians continued experimenting with the virus as a potential weapon and distributed it to several different research centers. If that's not scary enough, imagine the possibility of the virus getting into the wrong hands after the post-Communist degeneration of the Russian political and scientific establishments. Preston suggests that the virus quite possibly exists outside of the CDC and Russia bioterrorist research facilities, and it is potentially being reengineered into an even deadlier form. Any reasonably intelligent scientist with a small budget could easily experiment with the virus using techniques published in manuals available to everyone. The threat of bioterrorism is very real as the anthrax attacks of 2001 have shown us. Not only was the anthrax easily spread through the mail, but it was of professional grade. Preston describes the potential destruction the smallpox virus could wreak on all of us if bioterrorists figured out a way to deliver it surrepitiously. Smallpox is far deadlier than anthrax and very contagious. This book is similar to Hot Zone in style in that Preston attempts to humanize all his characters although at times, he can get a bit melodramatic. That being my only criticism, this book deserves to be read as a solemn reminder of the danger that still lurks both within and outside our borders.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book
Review: This books is Richard Preston's second best, the first being The Hot Zone. It describes not only the threat of smallpox and history of smallpox in detail, but also the different types of smallpox that are possible. He obviously did some research over a long period of time in order to come up with the facts that he did. Originally, I think the book was meant to be written to describe smallpox, but during the writing of the book, 9-11 occurred and he goes on to talk about the anthrax threats that occurred after 9-11 as well as other biological threats received after 9-11. I recommend this book to anyone who's ever been interested in learning more about biological warfare.
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Summary: Sobering
Review: This is the first of Preston's books that I have read. I found it to be informative and sobering. I look forward to reading Preston's other offerings. I only wish that the audio version was unabridged and that is the reason for the 4 stars rather than 5.
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Summary: Gripping Medical Non-Fiction
Review: What Preston did for Ebola virus in "The Hot Zone" he's done again here for biological warfare. "The Demon in the Freezer" weaves together two linked stories: that of smallpox, eliminated from nature in 1979 but still a threat because covert samples of super-strains remain in labs around the world; and anthrax, the weapon used in a real bio-attack in the US in 2001. The account of how smallpox can be engineered to be impervious to vaccination or treatment is chilling. The detailed account of how anthrax was be used as a bio-weapon, possibly deployed by a malicious dishonest US government scientist is eye-opening. Preston's prose makes the complicated medical details sensible for the layperson. A gripping non-fiction story.
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Summary: Boat of Dreams
Review: If you like Richard Preston's books you will love!!!! Boat of Dreams that he wrote last year. He wrote it for a very special friend that was dying of breast cancer and made several copies for some of his other friends and it is an exellent book. This year it got published and was a big hit. If you buy this book you will not be dissapointed!!
Sherry Sigler
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Summary: Excellent description of the threats from Anthrax & Smallpox
Review: This is the 3rd book of what Richard Preston now refers to as his Dark Biology trilogy. He is undoubtedly one of the most informative writers on this topic, which certainly should be giving great cause for concern.
I would strongly recommend the other 2 books : The Hot Zone is a non-fictional account about Ebola; the 2nd the Cobra Event is a novel, all the more effective for the background knowledge he had acquired.
In this book Preston reverts back to the non-fiction genre to tell an upto date story about Anthrax (following the as yet unsolved incidents in the USA) and Smallpox (and the activities of the Russians in violation of International Treaty).
There are other books available that had already discussed Anthrax or and/or Smallpox, so some of the material I already knew, but the section that was news to me, and thus more fascinating, was the description about the Smallpox outbreak at Meschede Hospital in Germany in 1970.
If I have one criticism about Preston, it is that whilst he tries to show you the human side of what the participants were thinking at the time, he sometimes plays it to excess giving out superfluous information. This may be of use in a novel to create a sense of character, but in a non-fictional account, it isn't necessary. For example, instead of just saying he has lunch with one of his interviewees, you get the brand name of the beer that they drank (Molson). Elsewhere he describes meetings with others that they were drinking Glenmorangie & Linkwood Malt Whisky - at least he saved us from saying how old the Whisky was, or whether or not they had water with it.
Despite these Product Placement issues, he is an author to follow.
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Summary: microscopic terror
Review: It's what you don't see that can hurt you. Preston does a great job as usual in presenting the history of some of the most deadliest germs and viruses known to man. In this book the focus is on antrax and smallpox. If you are interested in a novel form I highly recommend THE COBRA EVENT.
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Summary: Gripping Like the Hot Zone, But All About Smallpox
Review: Written in the gripping style of "The Hot Zone," Demon in the Freezer is mostly a story about smallpox, and what has happened to it. Toward the end of the book, anthrax is also explored. An alternate title for the book could have been, "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Smallpox-Its Hisory, Present, and Future." Except that the book is so interesting that it's difficult to put down.
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