The Hot Zone
by Richard Preston, Preston, Richard · first published 1994
66% recommend28% neutral7% critical
Why HN recommends it
Page-turning nonfiction thriller on the origins of Ebola and the Reston, Virginia outbreak at a primate facility, with a harrowing opening chapter; suits readers who want science told as suspense.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
This interesting books talks about the author doing an investigation about several viruses in africa, including ebola. He explains the different strains and tells us their stories.
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Have you read this book? http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Zone-Terrifying-True-Story/dp/0385...
on “Hacking goes squishy” ↗The Hot Zone is another great book about biological warfare. The first chapter detailing the life of Ebola's Patient 0 from the moment he contracted the disease to when he dies is blood-curdling.
on “Demon in the Freezer” ↗The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. It's not actually a "tech book" but it is a true story about the highly technical science of how a deadly virus spread.
on “Ask HN: Favorite true story tech book?” ↗Read my favorite book (Richard Preston's The Hot Zone) while barricading myself in my apartment for awhile and waiting for things to blow over.
on “Ask HN: What would you do in case of a large Ebola outbreak?” ↗A great non-fiction book about Ebola http://www.amazon.com/The-Hot-Zone-Terrifying-Origins/dp/038...
on “Ebola is a 'global emergency' as bodies litter streets” ↗Micro, his last novel, was utterly, truly dreadful. But it was posthumously completed by another author (Richard Preston, who wrote The Hot Zone, which I really enjoyed, in a freaked-out way), so I don't know where the blame should lie.
on “Michael Crichton and Computers” ↗As always when an Ebola discussion happens, I want to recommend people interested in the origins of the disease read Richard Preston's 'The Hot Zone.' It details the history of the disease (as well as some related filoviruses, like Marburg), specifically following several doctors and researchers as they track outbreaks and treat victims. It was…
on “Ebola cases pass 2k as crisis escalates” ↗Read “The Hot Zone” by Richard Preston. Great book about the origins of Ebola that culminates in an outbreak in Reston, VA that was primarily handled by the military. (The only reason you haven’t heard more about his particular…
on “P3: Pandemic Prevention Platform (2017)” ↗People might find the story in The Hot Zone interesting. I read it years ago. I googled it recently and it was available online for free in PDF form. It's mostly about Ebola. The pertinent detail here is that tribal elders told people to stop…
on “Italy’s Covid-19 deaths are staggering. They may be more preview than anomaly” ↗You like thrillers? You like non-fiction? You like absolute page-turning non-fiction thrillers? Check out "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston - it's about the Ebola virus and a strain that wound up in a primate facility just outside of Washington, D.C. Stephen King called the first chapter "one of the most horrifying things…
on “Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?” ↗I read The Hot Zone by Richard Preston and Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Enjoyed both. Think I preferred Into Thin Air.
on “Ask HN: Best non-fiction book you read in 2024?” ↗I just finished Hot Zone by Richard Preston, which is about some of the origins of Ebola and an example case of potential disaster being thwarted by the hair of our chin. Fun read.
on “Ask HN: Times the world has dodged a bullet” ↗By Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone. Both are recommended.
on “Demon in the Freezer” ↗So this has happened before. If anyone here has read “The Hot Zone”, which is one of the great ‘techno-thrillers” of the 90’s (but still nonfiction), the virus spreads to Kinshasa. It’s the capital of Zaire and a major city. But then...it disappears. Ebola is a weird…
on “Fears of Larger Contagion as Ebola Spreads to Major Congo City” ↗I'm tempted to flag this for sensationalist, overly dumbed down presentation of ordinary biology of viruses, but okay evidently some people found it valuable. As I remember it, the author's novel "The Hot Zone" (1994) was better writing and far better science around Ebola and other filoviruses.
on “Is Ebola Evolving into a Deadlier Virus?” ↗