The Hot Zone

A Terrifying True Story

By: Richard Preston

Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson

Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days, 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic "hot" virus.

The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their "crashes" into the human race. Shocking, frightening, and impossible to ignore, The Hot Zone proves that truth really is scarier than fiction.

©1999 Richard Preston (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

A reread

I read the book when it came out and thought it might be interesting to listen to all these years and events later. Was the perfect book to listen to while working on outdoor projects. Some common medical terms mispronounced which was a bit jarring- otherwise makes you feel like you were there

Ebola in my audiobook

The first part of the book was really interesting but felt it drag towards the end as well as being pretty anticlimactic (though that was probably a good thing for us).

Overall it was still a good book and introduced me to a very interesting topic.

Yikes

This book was frightening when I read when it first came out. Relevant today in how negligent our government is with infectious diseases. As government officials have not been held to account for their nefarious and negligence misdeeds with respect to COVID19, expect more deadly pandemics to come.

this is scary non-fiction

i love reading the backstory on disease hunters.. the fact that we humans have not been wiped out is amazing.. it may only be a matter of time before

Bone chilling and humbling!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, this is an excellent book about the Malburg/Ebola virus. Truly eye opening and relevant to this day. Richard M. Davidson has the perfect voice to tell you about the horrors of this virus!

Any additional comments?

You will not regret this purchase. If you do buy the audiobook, I do not recommend reading it while you eat or right before bed!!

What a Voice!

Do I say "Research?" It is due to the fact that I am writing a fictional 'zombie' book for NaNoWriMo that I picked up the Kindle and Audible versions of this book. My zombies are merely sick people. I am not a medical person so I needed some input on how it all starts and how contagious it all is. As it turns out it isn't as bad as Ebola, but the gore of my book might evolve due to this book.

Meanwhile, this is a book I put off for decades. I remember a guy named Jason at the school I worked at that came up to me with the paperback. He was so excited about it. But the more he talked the squirmier I got. "And it's a true story!" He exclaimed. I started watching shows like Outbreak. We saw it in the theater. Remember that sneeze? I nearly ran out of there when someone coughed.

I grew--good or bad, I guess that's for others to judge. But lately, I can watch a disaster movie, or The Walking Dead and notice only the social reaction to the monsters or the disease or the overwhelming snow. So I thought I could now face this book.

Reading happens at bedtime. Bet you can guess how this book blended into dreams. And since I listened as I read the Kindle with the Audible, that voice! Richard M. Davidson's voice. What a deep bass and excellent for the genre! Creepy and authoritative! Wow!

What I learned is that my characters in my book were dressed properly to deal with their strains of disease. And I learned I never want to be anywhere near someone coughing! If I was a germaphobe before... well, let's just say there isn't enough hand sanitizer in the world for me!

Knowing this is nonfiction made this even more frightening. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago there was an Ebola scare. What a horrid disease! And this author did a poetic job of helping the reader to see it and feel it. If you haven't read it yet, climb out of your hiding place and give it a try. Forewarned is forearmed as they say. Might as well get the Audible version to make it even more real. I will try to read more of his books now. Time for more vitamin C and Airborne!

Ebola?!?... In Washington DC?!?...

For people who love to read (to listen) about science or medicine, this is an amazing tale. The author does a great job of introducing the horror that is Ebola, taking us through the search for its origins, and then relates the unbelievable near miss that was the Reston Monkey House. The narration is solid. The only suggestion is a possible update that would need to be performed by the author for more recent events. Perhaps an anniversay edition??? The book is well worth one of your valuable credits.

A killer among us....

Mr. Preston succeeded in grabbing my interest, quite a feat considering I was never a science student. Thanks to his ability to tell a lively story complete with colorful characters and exotic settings, he taught me that science does not have to be boring. Rather, he opened my eyes to the fact that the study of nature's living, mutating organisms may very well save the human race. As for the scientists, medical doctors, nurses, and the nuns who lost their own lives in the effort to save patients, they are our true heroes.

Remember this is a true story

This book will definitely keep you listening through every detail, learning the history of our understanding was amazing (especially knowing what has happened since it was written). It does slow down quite a bit in Part 4, and was almost unnecessary entirely.
Would recommend both reading - and avoiding these viruses.

Timely again in the age of Covid-19

I highly recommend this whole book and the audio performance. Even tho the book has been around for a while now, it feels extremely up-to-date.

But it is particularly useful to compare and contrast, within a compelling drama, of how the viruses Ebola and COVID-19 behave and can take hold. I believe readers will have a much deeper understanding of the importance of preventive precautions as well as the concept of a virus as a natural predator surviving on abundant host.

In particular, the book really gets across how destruction of the natural world is basically taking these viruses that were hidden for millennia and enabling them to exploit the human population as new prey who have few natural defenses against them.