Richard Preston
Paperback | Pages: 240 pages Rating: 4.13 | 13006 Users | 990 Reviews
Particularize Books As The Demon in the Freezer
| Original Title: | The Demon in the Freezer |
| ISBN: | 075531218X (ISBN13: 9780755312184) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Representaion Supposing Books The Demon in the Freezer
The first major bioterror event in the United States-the anthrax attacks in October 2001-was a clarion call for scientists who work with “hot” agents to find ways of protecting civilian populations against biological weapons. In The Demon in the Freezer, his first nonfiction book since The Hot Zone, a #1 New York Times bestseller, Richard Preston takes us into the heart of Usamriid, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, once the headquarters of the U.S. biological weapons program and now the epicenter of national biodefense.Peter Jahrling, the top scientist at Usamriid, a wry virologist who cut his teeth on Ebola, one of the world’s most lethal emerging viruses, has ORCON security clearance that gives him access to top secret information on bioweapons. His most urgent priority is to develop a drug that will take on smallpox-and win. Eradicated from the planet in 1979 in one of the great triumphs of modern science, the smallpox virus now resides, officially, in only two high-security freezers-at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and in Siberia, at a Russian virology institute called Vector. But the demon in the freezer has been set loose. It is almost certain that illegal stocks are in the possession of hostile states, including Iraq and North Korea. Jahrling is haunted by the thought that biologists in secret labs are using genetic engineering to create a new superpox virus, a smallpox resistant to all vaccines.
Usamriid went into a state of Delta Alert on September 11 and activated its emergency response teams when the first anthrax letters were opened in New York and Washington, D.C. Preston reports, in unprecedented detail, on the government’s response to the attacks and takes us into the ongoing FBI investigation. His story is based on interviews with top-level FBI agents and with Dr. Steven Hatfill.
Jahrling is leading a team of scientists doing controversial experiments with live smallpox virus at CDC. Preston takes us into the lab where Jahrling is reawakening smallpox and explains, with cool and devastating precision, what may be at stake if his last bold experiment fails.
Be Specific About About Books The Demon in the Freezer
| Title | : | The Demon in the Freezer |
| Author | : | Richard Preston |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 240 pages |
| Published | : | 2002 by Headline |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. Science. History. Medical. Health. Medicine |
Rating About Books The Demon in the Freezer
Ratings: 4.13 From 13006 Users | 990 ReviewsNotice About Books The Demon in the Freezer
As much as I loved/was terrified of The Hot Zone, I did not feel the same about this book. The book jumps around quite a bit and is a little hard to follow along, so I kept waiting to see how the author would connect all the dots, and was left a little disappointed in the story-telling overall.It starts out discussing smallpox and its supposed eradication in the 70s. Then it switches to the various poxes that exist (seriously, there's one for practically every creature roaming the planet), andWarning: Do not read this during cough and flu season or if you think you might be coming down with a cold! Do you remember the first ever bio-terror attack on U.S. soil when envelops full of anthrax were sent through the U.S. mail system to various places in the U.S.? It was in October 2001, a few months after the 9-11 attacks. If Smallpox had been used instead of Anthrax, we might not being around today to talk about it. The author gives the reader a brief history of smallpox. Although
Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. I expect the end of the world, the people part of it in any case, is likeliest to be the result of loose pathogens. In Demon in the Freezer, published in 2002, Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone and The Cobra Event takes a look at two of the top candidates for the job, smallpox and anthrax. Richard Preston - image from NY TimesIn October 2001, a photo-retoucher for the National Enquirer died as a result of a deliberate attack with
Not quite as heart-pounding as Preston's The Hot Zonewhich had me seeing the world differently for a few weeks, but not a bad book at all. For fans of The Hot Zone, we get to revisit some of our familiar characters and settings. Notably USAMRIID, the government virus research facility, and the scientists Peter Jahrling and Nancy Jaax, both stationed there. The book seems like it's going to be about anthrax, based on the opening chapter, but in fact anthrax is but a tiny part of this book, which
Super interesting!! I really didn't know much about smallpox, and this book was very eye opening. I wish I had a different "star" rating system for books that I am really glad I read, but that weren't quite up there among my favs. I guess three stars will have to do.
Had Preston focused solely on smallpox, this story could have been on the level with HOT ZONE. By trying to weave the anthrax attacks of 2001, Preston fractured the narrative and lost momentum with the larger story (the history, eradication, and bio-warfare threat of a resurrected smallpox virus). I felt he tried to connect the two to the detriment of the story. Bummed to say the least. THE DEMON IN THE FREEZER had real potential. It just wasn't met. With that said, I am looking forward to
3.5not as good as the hot zone, was kind of difficult to follow for the first half. still terrifying
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