Reviews

This book really does read like a modern day thriller.. as every person is introduced, I immediately start worrying for their safety and wellbeing and am sure they are doomed for a horrible, gruesome death. Which, in some cases, does happen. It’s always amazing to me how much we think that we as humans have conquered nature and dominated it, when there’s such a vast network of microscopic viruses tinkering around and laying in wait for the right opportunity to turn everything upside down. And there’s still so much we don’t know about how to most effectively combat them.

rebesaurusrex's review against another edition

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3.0

Really interesting story but too much editorializing for my taste - too much description of mundane details that don't really add to the story (like the hobbies of the Jaax's children)

book_concierge's review against another edition

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5.0

WOW - Ebola and other killer viruses and the scientists who study them. Did you know there was an outbreak of Ebola virus among monkeys kept in a suburban Washington DC laboratory? Neither did I, until I read this book. Nonfiction that reads like the best medical thriller.

libraryam's review against another edition

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4.0

Just came across a reference to this book, which reminded me how affecting it was when I read it years ago. Scary, engrossing, fascinating good read!

lisettemarie's review against another edition

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challenging informative sad tense medium-paced

4.75

Content Warnings

bababookmatt's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

4.0

Ebola is so bad. I’ve always “known” that, but wasn’t quite sure why, aside from bleeding out of orifices. That happens but it’s also worse. This whole book is about a crisis averted, which is less entertaining than a crisis, but it’s a good trade off for non-bloody orifices. To provide tension and urgency, Preston often zooms out of specific events related to Ebola, like a contaminated building, to show how close society is, and how terrifyingly easy it is for a contagion to get out of hand. While this is very well told, he concludes with a morale of environmental sustainability, which is very lightly explored throughout the book. Seemed out of place when held up against the whole story.

ALSO! Cool fact: The outbreak of Ebola Zaire, probably the deadliest, was contained, in part, to the efforts of Dr. William Close. Actress Glenn Close’s father. Neato

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