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A review by cinchona
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
4.0
I'm rereading this as an adult to help a student I'm tutoring with summer homework. I gotta say, I approve of interesting and engaging summer reading, but it's a little intense for students to process the sheer amount of guts and gore and disgustingness described in this book. Then again, I remember vividly reading it when I was a kid, and eagerly watching documentaries about it, so who am I to talk.
The details are annoying at points, and overall the pacing is herky-jerky, but overall Preston provides a very effective narrative. The science isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be upon re-reading. It's not quite as informative as I'd like, and some pretty significant scientific ideas are glossed over (uh, how are these viruses "retreating into the forest exactly?!), but he does hit a lot of fine points about epidemiology and biology.
I wanted to give this book 3 stars, but it really did have that quality of a thriller: I had to read it all at once, to the end.
The details are annoying at points, and overall the pacing is herky-jerky, but overall Preston provides a very effective narrative. The science isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be upon re-reading. It's not quite as informative as I'd like, and some pretty significant scientific ideas are glossed over (uh, how are these viruses "retreating into the forest exactly?!), but he does hit a lot of fine points about epidemiology and biology.
I wanted to give this book 3 stars, but it really did have that quality of a thriller: I had to read it all at once, to the end.