The Hot Zone Review

Richard Peterson’s The Hot Zone is a non-fiction bio-thriller that was first published in 1994. This book is mainly about the occurrence of Ebola, a deadly infectious disease with no vaccine or treatment. Peterson tells the story of the disease and different individuals that have the disease. The first half of the book is mainly based on the first outbreak, which happened in 1976 in N’zara, a town in southern Sudan; it shows individuals involved in the initial Ebola outbreaks. These stories are extremely vivid and descriptive, which made it very captivating. The story tells how the disease is carried from place to place, from a remote African cave filled with Ebola, to an airplane over Africa that is carrying a sick passenger who dissolves into a human virus bomb, and then to the confines of a Biosafety Level 4 military lab. This is where scientists risk their lives studying lethal substances that could kill them quickly and horribly. The Hot Zone describes situations that a few years ago would have been taken for science fiction; that is how gruesome and vivid this novel is.
I wasn’t too excited to read this novel at first, but once I got started it really fascinated me. It was definitely an easy read because of Peterson’s writing. The effectiveness of his style lies in his ability to pinpoint his reader’s fears and apprehensions of disease, as he describes the horrific effects on the various organs of the body on page 106. I think that is his biggest advantage is the horror of this story. There is so much fear and he continues to remind his readers how fatal and dangerous the disease is that they can’t stop reading. When Peterson starts to talk about how this virus starts to threaten the United States of America, the level of tension and anticipation increases drastically as opposed to it threatening a small village in Africa.
The Hot Zone by Richard Peterson is an excellent read. If you are looking for entertainment and thrilling non-fiction book, this is it. It tells a very real story that is devastating but mesmerizing. The stories are amazing and the facts are unreal, definitely worth your time to read.