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The Hot Zone
Richard Preston Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Hot Zone
"Richard Preston is the master of Bio-Medical novels because he incorporates a large element of fact in with his fiction. Everything in this story is based on actual events, though the story is false. He takes real information and creates a "historical fiction" of the hunt for the Ebola virus. Nothing about this book seems like fiction though. Reading this book, one gets the feeling that this story is true. When I was finished with this book, I had to remind myself that Preston created this story, that it wasn't true. It's a very scary topic, and this book makes you think about the possibilities of a viral outbreak."
Steve Schmitz, Resident Scholar

"The Hot Zone is about a mutated form of the Ebola virus called Marburg virus. The book vividly describes symptoms, and is mainly about attempting where Marburg came from, and how it should be diagnosed/treated/cured"
Danny Swift, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Hot Zone
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of story - depressing/sad - scarey (primal ax-wielding fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues - Very obvious
Time/era of story: - 1980's-1999
Medical Thriller Yes
Medical Plotlets: - story of bio weapon/virus - cure/disease
Exploring into the wild Yes
Plotlets: - searching for treasure/artifacts
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - scientist - doctor
Age: - 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - natural phenomena
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Southeast
Africa Yes
Part of Africa: - Black Africa
Jungles? Yes
Small town? Yes
Misc setting - scientific labs

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey references to deaths/dead bodies and torture
How many deaths? - hundreds or more
A lot of techno jargon? Yes
Kind of jargon? - biology/medical
Unusual forms of death - biohazard/virus
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to The Hot Zone
Death Rounds by Peter Clement
Mutant by Peter Clement
The Cobra Event by Richard Preston
The Stand by Stephen King
Bloodstream by Tess Gerritsen


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Richard Preston Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Steve Schmitz  

SCHOLARS:
Jerry Naradzay  Danny Swift  


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