Years ago, when I first read The Hot Zone, I thought it was the scariest thing I'd ever read. The author's newest book on the continuing Ebola crisis earns a spot right next to that one.
Most of us probably don't think about Ebola and other level 4 viruses very often. Why would we, after all? We are safely ensconced in our little cocooned worlds, far removed from these diseases. But we're really not. One sick person undetected on an airline, going into a semi major city, still undetected, and before you know it there's a full blown epidemic right at your door.
Sure, it got kinda scary several years ago when there were a few cases in the US. But they were quickly contained so all is well, right? Not really...
Read it, and be very concerned...

I read The Hot Zone when it came out and enjoyed it a lot, and so I assumed I'd like this by the same author. Unfortunately, it's slow and pedantic, and reads like it's written for 8-year-olds to understand. The information is fascinating, but the delivery is unsophisticated. It needs a developmental edit for audience, repetition, and flow.

Thank to Random House and Netgalley for sharing the ARC of Richard Preston’s upcoming Ebola book. I appreciated hearing the details of the 2014 outbreak that were not covered in detail at the time. I didn’t find this book as compelling as The Hot Zone which, at the time, I could not believe wasn’t fiction. So maybe missing that feeling of total shock made me appreciate the book a tiny bit less. Still fascinating and it was good that there seems to be a bit of hope for finding drugs to treat such a terrible and scary illness. I would recommend this to anyone who likes thrillers, non-fiction, or science. However, a warning: if you have a weak stomach when it comes to medical procedures, blood and gore and bodily fluids, you may want to give this a pass.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

Having read Preston’s Hot Zone book many years ago, I was eager to delve into his Crisis in the Red Zone about the Ebola crisis. This book appeared to be a well researched history of the discovery of and progression of the emerging virus, Ebola. It follows the lives of health care works that literally were willing to give their lives caring for victims of this hideous disease. It starts out with the initial emergence of this scary filovirus in the 1970s. It goes through the time when several Americans were infected and brought home for treatment. The use of experimental treatments were discussed. At this point in time, Ebola is still endemic in parts of Africa and there is no readily available cure or vaccine.
After reading this book, I found myself viewing things like food handlers and public washrooms more critically. The book leaves us with the thought that it is not ‘if’ but ‘when’ there will be an emerging virus or bacteria that threatens the entire human race.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced reader's copy.
I believe I've read all of Richard Preston's books, and didn't think he could improve on the Hot Zone, but he has!

This is a truly frightening book, and if it were fiction, I would have thought that it came from the mind of Stephen King. It is much scarier because it is true. The monster in this case is the improved (?!) version of Ebola virus, the Makona Ebola. The Hot Zone gave us a "primer" on what Ebola is and does. Now imagine that the virus has mutated in just one letter of its genetic code to allow it to be MORE infectious. How do health care givers deal with something even more virulent? How does a community?

This book, while explaining the how, also looks at the personal impact to people. We see what life is like for the unfortunate people who have been infected, the families of these people and how social customs help the virus to propagate itself. As Preston said, "The virus, a true monster, followed the bonds of fealty and love that joined the hospital's caregivers to one another and ultimately to every other person on earth". We are given the stories of the ambulance driver who was infected, the many nurses who had direct patient care and the doctors who were also infected. Each story is more heartbreaking than the last, with very few happy endings, one or two of which you may remember from the news. As you read this, you’ll realize who the real superheroes are, more than the Avengers or Superman, they are the people who rushed to give aid to people who so easily could kill them just by an accidental transference of bodily fluids. I yelled at the caregivers more than once.

There were issues that I was unaware of at the time, such as the controversy and ramifications of using the untried in humans drug, ZMapp. This part made truly angry. Without spoiling the book I’ll leave that for you to discover and have your own reactions. Days after finishing it, I’m still shocked by this section.
I work in a non-clinical position in a hospital and I remember this unfolding in 2014 and discussions of how our hospital would deal with Ebola if it showed up here. At the time, I found it an intriguing, disturbing thought, but considered it outside of the realm of possibility. Now I know how close a call the whole world had with this outbreak.

The book is fascinating and hard to put down. It will make you a bit paranoid in public with everyone who coughs or sneezes, or even hiccups!

If I could change anything, I would have a map and photos of the main people in the book. I had to constantly google this information.

Knowing this is nonfiction made this even more frightening, I enjoyed this book immensely. Mr. Preston has employed the style of literary nonfiction to make this a very readable book. It has you sitting at the edge of your seat with suspense and action. But it's absolutely terrifying also. There isn't any graphic violence in this , but there are graphic descriptions of sickness, disease and death. We should really pay closer attention, because it is happening now in Africa. I know some people don't read or see the news much so I really advise you to read this book and also his other books. You will learn some truly scary facts. After I read it I pulled up the word Ebola on the internet and this was front page news, The second-deadliest Ebola outbreak in history has now spread to Uganda -- claiming the life of a 5-year-old boy Wednesday after the virus killed nearly 1400 in Democratic Republic of Congo. ... June 12, 2019 |

I’m exhausted from grimacing as I read this book, but it’s a very important account. Preston has brought to life the dedicated doctors and nurses who were on the front lines of the deadliest Ebola outbreak ever. His book highlights both how much committed people can do in the face of the horrors of a deadly disease and how wholly unprepared our society is for the next outbreak.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the advanced digital copy of Crisis in the Red Zone by Richard Preston. This book tells about the 2014 Ebola Crisis and how our society is not prepared for an outbreak such as this one, should it occur. The book was very interesting but difficult to read. It was heartbreaking to read how many people died and how desperately the nurses, doctors, and scientists tried to put an end to the outbreak while endangering their own lives. We would like to think this could never happen to us; but it can.

Crisis in the Red Zone is Richard Preston's thorough documentation of the 2014 Ebola crisis. It reads as the best long form journalism, and is told in four parts alternating between Yambuku Mission (1976, the first Ebola outbreak) and West Africa (2014, the latest). Preston intersperses the human story of Ebola outbreaks with his thorough research regarding the history of the disease. He focuses on the interaction between humans and Ebola and, in the final part of the book, looks forward to what may need to be done to prevent and treat Ebola and any other diseases that find humans a perfect host. It is, ultimately, a book about human perseverance, resilience, and hope.

I read this book in one sitting, from start to finish. Preston makes a compelling case that the global community needs to work together to prepare now for the next Ebola, whatever it may be and wherever it may occur.

I received an ARC of this title via NetGalley for an honest review.

Crisis in the Red Zone by Richard Preston grabbed my interest from the beginning, and it was very hard to put the book down. It reads like a fast paced medical thriller but is the factual account of the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history. Terrifying that it could happen again.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

What would you do if a loved one came down with Ebola? Do you remember when if you went to a doctor's office they asked if you had traveled outside the U.S. within a certain time period and where?

That is what Richard Preston's forthcoming book, Crisis in the Red Zone is about. It is the account of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and other countries in West Africa that started with one boy and then traveling through the Makong Triangle and spreading outwards until it reached Dallas, Texas and New York. Ebola killed thousands as it spread like wildfire until finally villagers began taking the fight to Ebola through implementing the Ancient Rule -- understanding that Ebola is not a white man's myth but a deadly wet virus that is spread through contact with bodily fluids, recognizing the symptoms of Ebola, isolating of and removal from contact with those infected with Ebola, and destruction through fire or protected burial of the deceased and everything that the deceased may have come in contact with. It is the story of giving (or protecting) life through temporarily changing practices, habits, and deeply ingrained customs and a way of life so that those who are not already infected with Ebola do not break with it and succumb. 

Crisis in the Red Zone is also the story of the intersection of modern medicine and ways with ancient tribal medicine, folk healing, and culture and the clash between the two as seen in the struggle of Doctors of Without Borders in their "moon suits" to locate and then isolate and treat those infected with Ebola. To be clear, there were other similar conflicts elsewhere that rose to the level of near war between villagers and those who fought Ebola. 

Preston's account also delves into the conflict that developed between the World Health Organization, Doctors with Borders, and governmental agencies, in Africa and outward including the U.S. and how this clash led to the death of the doctor of the of the Kenema Government Hospital's Ebola ward, Humarr Khan. It is the story of how adherence to inflexible practices and procedures can kill through ignorance of and the overriding local traditions that in turn creates conflict with local populations who have had limited contact with outsiders. This conflict and misunderstanding then creates myths and superstition in the minds of the villagers that eventually leads into war between the villagers and outsiders.

Crisis in the Red Zone also relates the superhuman efforts of Doctors Without Borders, World Health Organization doctors, outside experts and local medical personnel to struggle beyond the point of collapse and utter chaos to combat Ebola in situations that were war-like inside the treating areas.     

Preston also details the evolution of Ebola vaccines and treatments, the Level 4 containment and care that is required to stop an outbreak through in essence creating a fire break in the path of the disease and the history of Ebola including the 1976 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the lessons learned there which became known as the Ancient Rule and was ultimately implemented by the villagers and medical personnel in the 2014 outbreak.

This reader learned a lot through Preston's cogent and in-depth writing and analysis that was easy to understand. At times, in the early part through mid-way, the writing had the annoying quality of like talking to a child. It was not enough to distract this reader. Also, at some point, Preston begins to write part of the time in the first person as he starts to relate to readers his investigation and research for the book. The first time a section appears this reader thought it was an error. It is not as later in the narrative, it becomes clear what the author is doing. Other than that, Preston's account is a fascinating, if chilling, account of how linked this world and how societies and worlds can be destroyed by a microscopic invader.

A great story about unsung heroes but the writing falls short in places

I enjoyed this book. I like science books that read like thrillers and this one certainly did. There was just enough science to explain the story and it was all well-explained. The book was hard to put down, but it had one big weakness and that was too much minutiae about the book’s characters. It reached a point where I started skipping text. The same thing happened with “What the Eyes Don't See” by Mona Hanna-Attisha, and it affected my enjoyment of the book. I also found the writing simplistic and at times repetitive. Nonetheless, this is an important book and I recommend it for anyone interested in science or medicine.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.

Preston had a winner with a previous book, The Hot Zone, and he hits it out of the park with his new entry, Crisis in the Red Zone. He has a talent for personalizing and making complex content comprehensible to readers who are not in the medical or health sciences. Once again, this is edge of the seat reading, much more exciting and engaging than most fiction thrillers. Preston’s warnings about what might present future threats to humanity are not to be taken lightly. Highly recommended.

Crisis in the Red Zone is a engrossing true story of the Ebola breakout in 2013. The writing is incredible and this book will give you a true understanding of how ready and scary this disease is. A must read.

Richard Preston is a truly gifted writer, and his immense talent is on fully display in this book that I believe represents the zenith of his craft. The story of the 2013-14 ebola epidemic is terrifying and fraught with details that one finds horrifying and heart-rending. Yet, Preston's gifts as a writer make this story something the reader is unable to put down, even in spite of the horror of the story. I was amazed that Preston is able to distill the true horror and evil of ebola by writing in what I can only describe as a lyrical manner. Not only is Preston able to describe all the details of ebola and the efforts to find a cure in a way that anyone can understand, he makes a point of also translating the details of the book's main setting in Africa (not just geographically far from most readers but even farther in terms of lifestyle and traditions) into a comparison to everyday American life so the reader can better understand. One of the best books I've read this year and also one of the books I will most recommend.

I couldn’t stop reading this book. Richard Preston has an amazing skill for writing a nonfiction narrative that draws you into the story. It’s like a really good thriller novel, but is scary because it’s real. I remembered some of the players involved in this Ebola epidemic from media coverage at the time, but this book really helped me understand the relationships between all of the different organizations and individuals who were on the front lines of the fight. It is also a warning of how unprepared we are for a global pandemic of a disease like Ebola.

I remember reading The Hot Zone, and by the time I finished it, I was worried about the future of humanity, but Preston wrote that book so beautifully and explained the horrendous diseases wiping out humans as the Earths way of defending itself. Scary, but it made sense, poetic justice. In the two decades since that book was written, humans have treated the environment even worse, so I was prepared. Preston did not disappoint, the man breaks down the science and presents the facts in layman’s terms, and the facts are pretty scary. Bringing in the ethics of who can afford treatment and who cannot, basically, who lives and who dies, based on simple economics, is both shocking and cruel. Makes you wonder if Earth isn’t right trying to rid herself of all us nasty humans

OMG!! I love this book!! Do yourself a favor and read it. If you loved Hot Zone you will love this one. It is one big piece together mystery of Ebola and how it came into the human population.