“The Hot Zone,” by Richard Preston presents a thriller filled and gut wrenching tale of the origins of a deadly disease, how it ravages through Africa. and nearly does the same to the United States. The worst part? It’s all real.
Yes. That is correct. The time frame is the 90’s. A man named Charles Monet goes to a cave and in only a few weeks later to carry an unknown disease later named Ebola. Shortly after, it spreads throughout Africa, killing people in one of the most inhumane and horrifying ways I could even imagine. As it slowly creeps across the ocean into American borders, scientists, military personnel, and doctors must stop the virus before it becomes a full blown threat to the American people.
To be quite honest, I wouldn’t have picked up this book if it wasn’t required for one of my literature classes, but I’m glad I did. Preston presents the facts and intricate details of how a small virus can escalate to a worldwide threat. Defeating this villain without a brain is a large team of various characters from various organizations, such as the United States military, CDC, and plenty more. Although the sheer amount of characters can get confusing at times, luckily Preston provided a character list in the back of the book, and certain characters tend to group up a lot. Preston also did this with a list of certain terms describing Ebola, but in regards to medical knowledge, you don’t need to know much to understand what is going on.
Preston’s writing style although detailed was also very thrilling to read. I never really sat down and felt that any of the parts of the book needed to be taken out or were in any way boring. This to me is important, seeing as I get distracted very easily, and struggle with reading books at times for this precise reason.
He also described the people well enough in the sense that I could relate to them, even though I didn’t personally know them, which made it all the more terrifying to read. I mean it’s hard enough to read fictional characters go through traumatizing events, but these characters are very much real people going through very real trauma. Every single death especially is still etched in my mind very clearly. And I finished reading this book in January.
It’s very uncommon for me to remember much of anything, and yet this is one book I definitely will not forget anytime soon. Preston has quickly become one of my favorite authors not only due to the sheer amount of research he did for this book, but also by the way he crafts the Ebola virus into a sinister villain unlike anything I have ever seen. He manages to make real life events into a carefully crafted thriller filled with real everyday heroes working together against time. It’s not common for me to give a book 5 stars, but Preston has definitely wowed me with this and it is very much deserved.
rachel hall 