Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Hot Zone by Preston, Richard Preston

20 reviews

lisettemarie's review against another edition

challenging informative sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Pandemic/Epidemic, Miscarriage, Animal death, Blood, and Medical content

mmadill227's review

informative tense fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Animal death, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Excrement and Medical content

paulken's review against another edition

dark informative tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Terminal illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Animal death, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

westcoast_pizzaghost's review against another edition

dark informative tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Animal death, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Gore

caro6408's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Animal death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Medical trauma, Death, and Excrement

maddypat's review against another edition

informative tense medium-paced

4.0

The Hot Zone pulled me in basically immediately. I am probably in the minority with this, but I actually didn't know anything about Ebola other than it is very dangerous. Now I know in detail what it does and how it does it, and have a great respect for it to boot.

Preston does a great job of setting up the origin story of the virus, and the book really reads more like a fiction thriller as opposed to non-fiction -- and I mean this very much as a compliment! I plowed through the first 3/4ths of the book very quickly. I will say that after that the book kind of fell off for me. It didn't get bad, but the mystery/tension had kind of dissipated and then it began to be less exciting but still interesting. I think most of that comes from the fact that I kind of "spoiled" the ending of the monkey house debacle by looking up Ebola on wikipedia (if you could say learning about historical events is considered soiling). 

All in all though it was a great read and I really enjoyed it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

There is a SUBSTANTIAL amount of animal death in this book, particularly monkeys. Monkeys getting violently sick, monkeys used in lab testing, monkeys getting caught and sold, monkeys getting hunted and butchered, and

monkeys getting euthanized

. I will say though that it is generally dealt with empathetically -- there is never joy in this. Something about that makes it more manageable to read about, and even as someone who is extremely sensitive to animal cruelty in any media, I was able to get through it without too much discomfort. Still, proceed with caution if you find reading this kind of content challenging.

sonygaystation's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.5

I have a longer review writing itself in my brain but for now what I have to say is this: as an epidemiologist, this book felt much more sensational and trying to use ebola to generate attention via scare tactics. Preston is a very sensationalist and exaggerated writer, plus his viewpoints, word choices, and assumptions of character feel pretty Old-Ass White Man even for the early 90s

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Vomit, Death, Animal cruelty, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Sexism, Child death, Excrement, and Misogyny

Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

ekcd_'s review against another edition

informative tense fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Blood, Terminal illness, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Vomit

buer's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

4.0

Hot Zone is not always easy to read but it is a fascinating, detailed, and graphic history of the Ebola virus. 

Preston traces the virus in specific people, which are surprisingly gory, as well as its eventual discovery at a facility that houses monkeys that are sold for medical purposes. 

This book is a fast read due to Preston’s charismatic prose, but is also a book I had to put down multiple times due to the gore of an Ebola case and the violence enacted against the monkeys infected with the virus. 

Very informative for those who are curious about the spread of viruses and the protocols surrounding emerging viruses. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Vomit, and Medical content

grimmauxillatrix's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

2.5

An outdated book in the post-Covid world. This book should be considered a relic, not a classic, and forgotten by the average reader. It is colonialist, sexist, and fear-mongering, and the only value it retains is it's window into the perspective of the world towards epidemiology in the early 90s.

The good: the writing is still dramatic and interesting. It's a gripping, well-paced book that compelled me to finish it even though a lot of the information contained within is at best exaggerated, and at worst completely incorrect thanks to continuing advances in medical science. 

The bad: this book did for epidemiology what Jaws did for sharks; that is, incited panic and fear about disease that has done far more harm than good to society. The 2014 Ebola outbreak surprised many of us who'd grown up in terror of the supernatural powers of the disease: it turns out that the disease didn't turn people into exploding blood zombies. The outbreak wasn't the end of the world. Ebola is a virulent and deadly disease, but understanding it is key to fighting it, and understanding, rather than treating it as a mysterious unknown, reduces fear and allows for action. 

The ugly: this book singlehandedly turned Africa into a disease ridden dark continent for an entire generation. The colonialist tones are unmistakable, with the various African peoples treated more like part of the backdrop than people with agency. Disease is around every corner, and so dangerous to the civilized white man that they can only journey there in a "level four space suit". Calling the Kinshasa highway the AIDS highway and blaming the spread of the disease on the people who live and travel there is disingenuous and counterproductive to both helping the people of Africa rise up, and to continuing disease research. 

The portions taking place in America are steeped in 90s typical sexism, even though it primarily discusses Army personnel. Though not nearly as egregious as the white man's burden colonial mindset in the African portions, it still rubs the wrong way. 

Overall, this is a well written but bad book that should be forgotten. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Medical content, Vomit, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Blood, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Murder, Cursing, Sexism, Violence, and Excrement