It’s January 1980, and a Frenchman by the name of Charles Monet (a pseudonym) decides to visit Kitum Cave on Mount Elgon in Western Kenya, on the border with Uganda.

Part One: The Shadow of Mount Elgon 1980: The Marburg Virus and One Unlucky Frenchmen Its subtitle-a terrifying true story-more than suits it: enthralling, fast-paced and exceptionally well-written, the book would have been an incomparable thriller even if it hadn’t been based on factual events. The first major non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood, may be dealing with gory quadruple murder, but, in terms of sheer horror, it has nothing on Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone, his 1994 account of the first emergence on US soil of one of the deadliest viruses known to men: Ebola. In addition, he has also received an award from the American Institute of Physics. Preston is the only nondoctor to have received the Centers for Disease Control’s Champion of Prevention Award. He was also chosen to edit and complete the unfinished manuscript of Micro, Richard Crichton’s final novel. He has written seven exceptional nonfiction books- First Light, American Steel, The Hot Zone, The Demon in the Freezer, The Wild Trees, Panic in Level 4, and Crisis in the Red Zone-and a well-received novel, The Cobra Event. He has also won the AAAS-Westinghouse Award and the McDermott Award in the Arts from MIT.Richard Preston is an American journalist and bestselling scientific author, a contributor to The New Yorker ever since 1985. He is a regular contribuot to The New Yorker. What a remarkable piece of work.' -Stephen King 'Popular science writing at its best and the year's most infectious page-turner.' - People 'A top-drawer horror story.the best literary roller coaster of the fall.' - NewsweekĪbout the Author Richard Preston is the author of several books, most recently The Cobra Event.

'One of the most horrifying things I've ever read.

Shocking, frightening, and impossible to ignore, The Hot Zone proves that truth really is scarier than fiction. 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. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic 'hot' virus. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. 'This work of nonfiction is more terrifying than any sci-fi nightmare.' - USA TODAY Also a mini-series drama starring Julianna Margulies, Topher Grace, Liam Cunningham, James D'Arcy, and Noah Emmerich on National Geographic. Book Synopsis NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The bestselling landmark account of the first emergence of the Ebola virus.

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston