The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus

Throughout The Hot Zone, Richard Preston highlights various near misses, in which the circulation of infected individuals or unsafe medical or laboratory practices nearly created the conditions for filoviruses to cause a more widespread human outbreak. Which of these did you experience as most serious and harrowing? What details contribute to this sense?

The Hot Zone has been called a “non-fiction thriller.” Thrillers are usually fast-paced fictional stories with many plot twists and cliff-hanger moments where the author stops the action just at the point of greatest suspense. Choose one of Preston’s cliff-hangers to analyze. Where does the action leave off? What hangs in the balance at this moment? Where does he next pick up the scene, and what is the impact of this technique on you as the reader?

Richard Preston uses the perspective and shares the inner thoughts of various individuals throughout The Hot Zone, including Nancy Jaax, Jerry Jaax, Dan Dalgard and, particularly in the last section, himself. Choose one of these key figures to analyze. What do this character’s background and experience bring to the narrative?