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| The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story | 
 enlarge | Author: Richard Preston
Publisher: Anchor
Discount Category: Book
Selling Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $4.78
Potential Savings: $10.17 (68%)
New (51) Used (41) Collectible (4) from $4.78
Customer Ratings:  490 comments
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (pounds): 0.6
Dimensions (inch): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0385495226
Dewey Decimal Number: 614.57
EAN: 9780385495226
Publication Date: June 15, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: hardcover, same edition as paperback -- best price + fast shipping = best deal
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| Customer Comments:
 It's in our midst! Terrifying true! January 26, 1997
This book shows just what happens when a lethal virus is unleashed, especially in what we consider a safe country.It brings to reality that something this deadly can exist in our own backyards and there is absolutly nothing we can do about it!
If you just saw the movie, please read the book!!! January 2, 1997
This book was one of the most enthralling and terrifyingbooks I have ever read. Once I started reading it was very difficult to find a good place to stop. The movie, Outbreak, while being a great movie did not do sufficient justice to Mr. Preston's book. I have read the book twice and I very seldom if ever do that. If you like science fact, do yourself a favor and check this one out; The Hot Zone.
 Chilling, frightening....true. December 30, 1996
1 out of 1 found this comment useful.
This book is absolutely horrifying if you stop to think about it. Why? Simply because it's based in fact...it's not fiction. The writing style gives one a sense of detachment, like you're reading a newspaper, almost, until you get to the descriptions of what these "Super-viruses" can do to not only a single person, but an entire population. The outcome of what happened in Virginia from the outbreak in the monkey house could have been as horrifying as a nuclear war. We got lucky.Why didn't I rate it a ten? Well, the book still sits on the bookshelf after I read it a year ago...I don't think I want to delve back into that world just yet. It's simply too scary.
 A dud December 30, 1996
1 out of 2 found this comment useful.
This is the non-fictional account of the discovery of and the cases involving four viruses - Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Reston, and Marburg. Although The Hot Zone's topic is quite interesting and thought-provoking, it is poorly written. Judging from Preston's credentials (including the American Institute of Physics Award, the AAAS-Westinghouse Award, the McDermott Award in the Arts from M.I.T., and regular contributions to The New Yorker,) it seems that he may very well be a talented author. Perhaps he wished to gain a larger audience with The Hot Zone and so devitalized his writing style to make it more accessible to the abundant mass-market, best-seller crowd. Whatever the case, The Hot Zone, with its simple sentences, detached phrases, and paltry vocabulary, is of mediocre caliber. However, the topic of newly-emerging Biosafety Level Four viruses is well worth investigating. There are plenty of other books to choose from, such as Laurie Garrett's extensive dissertation,The Coming Plague. Even Michael Crichton's prophetic tale of The Andromeda Strain accurately describes the general characterization of a Biosafety Level Four virus and is exceptionally better written than Preston's dud
Buy This Book! December 20, 1996
This is a must buy book, no matter what subject you are interested in. If I were a high school orcollege instructor I would make this book mandatory reading for my classes. Maybe this true storyof the Ebola virus will wake up our future generation's mindset and help guide the world in a better ecological direction.
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