Hot Zone - Richard Preston
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TV ClubHouse: archive: Library - Miscellaneous thru May 2003: Hot Zone - Richard Preston

Rissa

Thursday, September 27, 2001 - 08:02 am EditMoveDeleteIP
This is a non-fiction but reads like the best horror you can imagine. It is the true account of an Ebola breakout in Reston, Washington that happened in the late 1980's. The book follows the initial infection from a cave in Africa and narrates how it travelled so quickly to our shores. Will scare the #$^% of you thinking how close we came to an epidemic. Although I have never seen them give credit, the book very closely mirrors the movie Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman. It will give you a whole perspective on world travel and just how easy it would be to bring down our little planet.

Preston also wrote The Cobra Event which is a fictional account of a biological terrorist using Ebola as his weapon of choice. I enjoyed it, but The Hot Zone being true made it so much more terrifying. Especially with what happened in New York and some of the powers-that-be raising concerns about Biological weapon being a possibility I think everyone should read this book.

Grooch

Friday, December 14, 2001 - 05:53 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
That book gave me nightmares. It was a good book, but scary. And I really get scared when I read news articles like this one, in todays paper.

Ebola spreading rapidly in Gabon: Red Cross

An outbreak of Ebola fever has claimed 11 lives in northeast Gabon and is spreading rapidly and unpredictably, the international Red Cross warned in Geneva.

Fourteen cases of the deadly haemorrhagic viral disease have been confirmed in Gabon's Ogooue Ivindo Province and 11 of those people have died, according to the latest figures released by the UN World Health Organization here Friday.

The fever first appeared in Ekata village, eight kilometres (five miles) from the border with the Congo Republic, in a region inhabited by pygmies and hunting peoples, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.

"It then rapidly spread to three other villages: Meddamba, Ntolo and Elaonene. The risk that an epidemic could spread are high, since these villages are linked by road to bigger towns such as Mekambo and Makoku", the federation said in a statement.

Fifty Gabonese Red Cross volunteers with specialist knowledge in handling cases of the highly contagious disease were working alongside other health officials, the statement added.

"These volunteers are currently helping authorities to try to track down an infected woman who went to neighbouring Congo in search of a traditional healer," the federation said, quoting emergency aid coordinator Hakan Sandbladh.

There is known no medical cure for Ebola, which is fatal in 50 to 90 percent of cases, depending on the precise strain involved and the treatment available for side-effects.

The WHO on Wednesday said it had identified two sources for Ebola in a village and a nearby forest in Ogooue Ivindo, where some 95 people died in three outbreaks of the virus between 1994 and 1997.

Urgrace

Saturday, January 12, 2002 - 08:06 am EditMoveDeleteIP
This book is sitting on my book shelf half unread. There are very few books I can say I never finished reading, and this one tops the list! Grooch, I agree about the nightmares! It is frightening, and I live very close to where they are trying to find a cure. Sometimes I'm glad I had a few naive years in my life and didn't know what was going on in the world.

Jazzcat

Tuesday, August 27, 2002 - 03:49 am EditMoveDeleteIP
i read that book when it first came out. right before the ebola outbreaks in africa hit the front page again. it was a fascinating and a scary book.

Rissa

Tuesday, August 27, 2002 - 06:18 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Hey Jazzhot, thanks for bumping my thread. LOL This book really gives you a great global perspective on how these things can so easily jump continents. You have good timing because just Friday, I was listening to a local (Calgary)call-in radio talk show and some *idiot* called in to speak to the guest (who was the head of one of our national political parties). He wanted to know when our gov't was going to take action, both economic and MILITARY, against Egypt for allowing and encouraging the spread of the West Nile Virus {sigh}. Just about drove off the road, I was laughing so hard. The radio host hung up on him but I wish he hadn't, would have been an entertaining call. :)

Seamonkey

Tuesday, August 27, 2002 - 10:21 am EditMoveDeleteIP
The Hot Zone was chilling and well-done. So often real life is WAY more gripping than fiction.
I tend to read more non-fiction than fiction, not that I don't like a good novel.

OMG.. I just checked www.bn.com and he has a new one coming out in October, called "The Demon in the Freezer" about smallpox.. review says it could well be called "Hot Zone II".

Put it on my wishlist!!

So thanks for the thread bump today.. caught my eye.

Rissa

Friday, August 30, 2002 - 04:54 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Seamonkey, thanks for the heads up!! Will definately be going on my wish list too.

Rissa

Friday, August 30, 2002 - 05:16 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Hey, if anyone is interested.. I went hunting for a synopis of Preston's upcoming book and found the article he wrote in 1999 which apparently was the basis for "The Devil in the Freezer".

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/598296/posts

Jazzcat

Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 01:43 am EditMoveDeleteIP
rissa, i will check out 'demon in the freezer'.

in 1992, when i started volunteering for our local AIDS project, i read 'and the band played on' by randy shilts. from there i started a small library of aids related books. if you havent read this book, i highly recommend it as it starts with 'patient zero' and tracks how the virus spread. amazing to find out just how global we are.

Seamonkey

Thursday, October 24, 2002 - 01:34 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
The "Demon" is out!! I'm going to start reading it today!!

Seamonkey

Monday, October 28, 2002 - 09:17 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Well, I finished and I definitely recommend it.

Twinkie

Monday, November 11, 2002 - 09:49 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
One of the best and scariest books I ever read because its true. I recommend it to everyone I meet.

Seamonkey

Tuesday, November 12, 2002 - 12:17 am EditMoveDeleteIP
He was on TV the other day; I suspect we'll see more of him on various news pieces about smallpox and other threats, since it is timely AND he has this new book out.

Rissa

Tuesday, November 12, 2002 - 07:19 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks for the remind Seamonkey, will pick it up today!! He certainly has a 'knack' (LOL, gotta love Orson Scott Card) for making his topics come alive.

Jazz, sorry I must have missed your post. I catalogued my dad's library into a computer database so I know that he has The Band Played On. I will definately ask him for a loan of it.

Dahli

Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 08:52 am EditMoveDeleteIP
This book stayed with me all these years, I still think about it when I see a bus or get on a plane, truly terrifying.

Seamonkey

Thursday, November 21, 2002 - 11:55 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Dahli.. be sure to read Demon in the Freezer... should be required reading these days.