Katie Ziegler (Life Between Words)'s Reviews > The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus

About the time this book was published, I was in elementary school and first learning about Ebola. I have no memory of *where* I heard about Ebola. Was it a science textbook? The news? Who knows. All I know is that it left an impression. Mostly the impression that Ebola is probably one of the most unpleasant ways to die. An incurable virus that basically liquifies you from the inside out...ugh. Anyway, I read this book for a readathon, and the prompt was read a book about a childhood fear. CHECK.

Well, I'm glad I didn't read this when I was a kid, because Ebola is even more horrifying than my little 12 year old mind could have conceived. It's awful. And this book gets graphic. It's also informative, engaging, and most of all chilling. It didn't help that I was burning up with a fever the majority of the time I was reading the book, but EVEN STILL. You can't help but contemplate the very thin line we tread between the perception of our impenetrable safety and a viral outbreak that has the potential to wipe out humanity.

Written narratively, this book maps the first known outbreaks of filoviruses (Ebola and its sisters and cousins). The climax is an outbreak of Ebola on American soil - an occurrence I had no idea ever happened. Either because I was still very young, or because it was kept fairly quiet, I'm not sure? In any event, I know about it now. The last 1/4 of the book slows down significantly, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as that's when you really start to contemplate the implications of what we've learned in the book. However, that does mean it ended a little anticlimactically.

If you're really sensitive about animals (the treatment of them, etc.) maybe give this book a pass. Or you're sensitive about really gruesome things in general, be they animal or human. But, if you have a strong stomach (because you'll need it), then this book was great.