A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic "hot" virus. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their "crashes" into the human race. Shocking, frightening, and impossible to ignore, The Hot Zone proves that truth really is scarier than fiction.

Amazon.com Review
The dramatic and chilling story of an Ebola virus outbreak in a surburban Washington, D.C. laboratory, with descriptions of frightening historical epidemics of rare and lethal viruses. More hair-raising than anything Hollywood could think of, because it's all true.

From Publishers Weekly
Preston's account of an outbreak of a strain of the Ebola virus among monkeys in a Virginia laboratory has spent more than 30 weeks on PW's bestseller list.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA?Warning?not for faint hearts or weak stomachs! In 1989, an obscure filovirus travels from the African rain forest to a lab near Washington, D.C., where the monkeys quickly sicken and die. Preston traces the history of the Warburg and Ebola filoviruses in minute, horrific detail that is as fascinating to read as it is alarming to contemplate?these filoviruses have the capability to mutate and possibly cross species. There are extraneous descriptions of scenery and of the characters' lives, but these passages serve to relieve the mounting tension and terror as the virus spreads and the CDC, the Army, and a private firm work out a containment plan to prevent a mass epidemic. YAs interested in science or fans of Stephen King or Michael Crichton will find this a fast-paced medical chiller right to the last disturbing page.?Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Expanded from Preston's 1992 New Yorker article, this account of a lethal virus run amok is Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain come true. In the fall of 1989, imported monkeys at a Reston, Virginia, facility began dying of a mysterious illness. Was it simian hemorrhagic fever (fatal to monkeys but harmless to humans) or was it Ebola, an extremely deadly tropical virus that had devasted villages in Zaire and the Sudan in 1976? Writing in a breathless novelistic style, Preston (American Steel, LJ 4/15/91) follows a military SWAT team as they don biohazard space suits to enter the "hot zone" and contain the alien virus. While this is thrilling reading (there are plenty of gruesome descriptions of Ebola's effects on human victims), one does wonder how much Preston sensationalized events for the sake of a good story. He also only sketchily discusses the possiblity that the destruction of the rainforests are releasing unknown viruses into the human population. Still, with a forthcoming movie starring Robert Redford and Jodie Foster, there will be