The Demon in the Freezer

A True Story

By: Richard Preston

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

“The bard of biological weapons captures the drama of the front lines.” (Richard Danzig, former secretary of the navy)

The first major bioterror event in the United States - the anthrax attacks in October 2001 - was a clarion call for scientists who work with "hot" agents to find ways of protecting civilian populations against biological weapons. In The Demon in the Freezer, his first nonfiction book since The Hot Zone, a number-one New York Times best seller, Richard Preston takes us into the heart of USAMRIID, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, once the headquarters of the US biological weapons program and now the epicenter of national biodefense.

Peter Jahrling, the top scientist at USAMRIID, a wry virologist who cut his teeth on Ebola, one of the world’s most lethal emerging viruses, has ORCON security clearance that gives him access to top-secret information on bioweapons. His most urgent priority is to develop a drug that will take on smallpox - and win. Eradicated from the planet in 1979, in one of the great triumphs of modern science, the smallpox virus now resides, officially, in only two high-security freezers - at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, and in Siberia, at a Russian virology institute called Vector. But the demon in the freezer has been set loose. It is almost certain that illegal stocks are in the possession of hostile states, including Iraq and North Korea. Jahrling is haunted by the thought that biologists in secret labs are using genetic engineering to create a new superpox virus, a smallpox resistant to all vaccines.

USAMRIID went into a state of Delta Alert on September 11 and activated its emergency response teams when the first anthrax letters were opened in New York and Washington, D.C. Preston reports, in unprecedented detail, on the government's response to the attacks and takes us into the ongoing FBI investigation. His story is based on interviews with top-level FBI agents and with Dr. Steven Hatfill.

Jahrling is leading a team of scientists doing controversial experiments with live smallpox virus at CDC. Preston takes us into the lab where Jahrling is reawakening smallpox and explains, with cool and devastating precision, what may be at stake if his last bold experiment fails.

©2002 Richard Preston (P)2002 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Richard Preston has brought us another book that reads like a top-notch thriller. Would that it were fiction. As the movie unfolds in your mind, remember this: It can happen here.” (Laurie Garrett, author of The Coming Plague)

“The Demon in the Freezer is fascinating, frightening, and important. It reads like a thriller, but the demons are real. Richard Preston has a ‘black patent’ on this kind of reporting and storytelling. He is the only writer on the scene who can make the inside story of biological weapons so darkly entertaining. Read this book and pray that its heroes can lock the demon back in the freezer.” (Jonathan Weiner, author of The Beak of the Finch)

Interesting Title

I stretched this 9 hour book to, easily, 11-12 hours. I had to rewind to rehear a few sections. I felt like I needed to take notes sometimes. LOL I enjoyed it enough to continue listening. worth the read.

Pretty interesting listening in a horrific way

If skin sliding off your body in sheets and merging pustules don't bother you, dive in. This is not for the faint of heart or stomach. It does give a clear picture of the effects of anthrax and smallpox, and the results if they were released as a bioweapon.
If nothing else, do what you're mother told you, wash your hands!
Also have a listen to In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made (Unabridged). One of the interesting points made was that anthrax was present at the time and oftened mistaken for plague. Not that it made a lot of difference to the victim.

Gripping Non-Fiction

I got this thinking it was another thriller but, be clear, you're not buying a thriller, this is NON-fiction about horrible biological weapons (mostly anthrax and smallpox). It revisits the national scare in 2001 and goes on to reveal staggeringly terrible truths about some countries which did "weaponize" bacteria and viruses (including the USA). Truth makes it all the more compelling. This scientist turned writer's style allows comprehension of some heavy duty science. There are a few editing errors, just a FEW passages are re-read (NO reason to avoid this book, it is not poorly produced) Most rewind and relisten to their devices anyway to avoid missing key facts.. so no big deal! Well narrated even with a few regional accents (in non fiction) to flesh out the characters. I'd put this on my "must listen" list if one wishes to be well informed about a threat worse than one nuclear bomb could ever be. Even with the mild let down of no "plot" the book is still riveting.

terrifying

awesome work by preston. been meaning to read for a very long time and definitely worth your time if u r interested in mirco

The Horror Still Exists

The powers that be insist upon keeping small pox in existence, although it was eradicated in the wild. Genetic engineering persists ... in the name of saving mankind from future lethal pandemics.

Scary to know we could be subject to this!

Could not stop listening to this book! It is terrifying to know we could have to face this monster again. It's a must read, at least twice!

A very scary tales

This book informs me how close we are for a nasty bug getting loose in the united states

Wonderful

I have read this twice now, and the fascination still remains. This has made me want to enter into this field of study.

Not as good as The Hot Zone

Beginning went well, but I struggled through the second half. Also a lot of recycled material from The Hot Zone.

Awesome true story about Smallpox

I'm on my 5th time listening to this over the last 2 decades. I have always been interested in virology and microbiology. I learned a lot about the history of variola and other hemorrhagic fevers.