viktoriya 's review for:

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

5.0

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This book scared the s*it out of me, in many ways. First of all, the realization of how easy it is for a virus to get from point A to point B and to start growing and spreading. I mean, I knew that already, before I read this book, but still, reading how Ebola started spreading put it all into a different perspective. Second of all, Richard Preston doesn't shy away from getting a very detailed mental image of what the virus does to a body tattooed in your brain. I mean, holy cow, he spends page after page giving details of how the virus will liquefy the brain, internal organs, and the entire body. I wanted to jump in a bathtub full of bleach after reading this. It is kind of comforting to know that there are people who spend their days working in such a close proximity to such deadly agents (although, I can't help but wonder about their sanity or the lack of it). At the same time, as history has showed us time and time again, most of the outbreaks occurs due to a human error. Let's hope that none of those humans at will make that error. Oh, and let's hope that the next flight I will be on won't have a passenger transporting a sample of Ebola sample in his carry on bag.