Rating: 
Summary: Not great, but decent
Review: Demon in the Freezer is an interesting book about the history of smallpox and other ills of mankind. It does a good job of describing current biocontainment technology and other designs for biological weapons and the history of the U.S. - U.S.S.R. conflict that brought some of these weapons into being. Demon in the Freezer does fall a bit short in having a lot of characters (I began to lose track of them) and also tries unsuccessfully to be a "doomsday" kind of book. I finished reading this pleased with the amount that I had learned about smallpox, biocontainment, etc., but don't especially worry more about a smallpox epidemic than before. Demon in the Freezer paints of picture of a smallpox outbreak being so random and uncontrollable it is like worrying about being hit by an asteroid. There would be nothing that you could do so why worry? Other than that flaw, Demon in the Freezer is a good interesting factual book and I recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating and Terrifying
Review: As a fan of medical mysteries, adventures, and horrors, I find none as terrifying as those based on fact. Richard Preston came through again with one of the most fascinating and thought provoking books I have read in a long time. I was not sure what to expect, as I had bought the book some time ago. When it started with a revisit of 9/11 and the anthrax scare, I was fairly disappointed, as I was looking for something along the lines of Ebola or the other hemmoragic fevers. However, the book quickly did a history of the team charged with erradicating smallpox, their trials, triumphs, and I was just blown away. Call me odd for being fascinated by smallpox, and other books of this sort, but when one realizes that these diseases occurred, real people died, and real people sought and sometimes found a cure, nothing can make for more interesting reading. I recommend all Preston and Preston/Child collaborations as 'intelligent' reading.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Great book by Richard Preston. The information contained is fascinating, frightening and informative. A great book - and a quick read.
Rating:
Summary: The Demonâ?¦
Review: This is the sort of book that you just cannot put down. I started reading it on a long car ride home from Portland and was hooked immediately. After telling a co-worker that I had enjoyed Preston's “THE HOT ZONE†she recommended this book as a follow-up. While I did enjoy it, I found the chapters about Anthrax boring in comparisson to the terror of smallpox and the fascinating story of its eradication. “THE HOT ZONE†and Laurie Garrett's “THE COMING PLAGUE†(which I am currently in the middle of) are better, but this is an enjoyable read that is full of facts ot keep biology/pathology buffs hooked but not bogged down with technical jargon.
Rating:
Summary: Smallpox non-fiction thriller!
Review: A fascinating treatise on smallpox, including its history and recent emergence as the virus of choice for bioterrorists. Smallpox came into existance only as human population densities swelled. In the late 18th century, Edward Jenner made history by performing the first successful smallpox vaccination. In the centuries that followed, humanity waged war against smallpox, and it was ostensibly eradicated from nature in the late seventies. It seems that mankind was too enamored with smallpox to destroy it completely, however, and it lives on in freezers around the world. "The Hot Zone", by the same author, made me paranoid about the ebola virus. Having finished this book, I know now that ebola is child's play compared to smallpox. "Demon" is full of loads of details about the biomedical industry, including a survey of modern practices, tools, techniques, and prominent players. The book is all the more terrifying given its non-fiction status. A must read for anybody interested in infectious diseases, smallpox, or bioweapons programs.
Rating:
Summary: A slight down-grade, but nonetheless incredible
Review: The Demon in the Freezer is the third of Richard Preston's "Black Biology" books. It was his second non-fiction story involving bioterrorism and viruses. Although I have to admit that the Hot Zone was indeed a better book, I applaud Preston for his tremendous effort in writing The Demon in the Freezer. The book has a profusion of information regarding poxviruses and various sub-strains of this sub-microscopic killer. The book effectively intertwined biology, ethics, history, and war. The Demon in the Freezer, in a nutshell, is an interesting piece of work that should be read by all those who are uneducated in the field of global politics regarding bio-warfare.
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