Richard Preston's sensational 422 page thriller, The Hot Zone, begins with a detailed and gruesome description of a human body in the process of a melt-down by a filovirus. The body liquefies and spills out billions of deadly virus cells. A double-stranded Ebola virus is also detected. A laboratory is thrown into chaos as the virus travels from animals to humans. Through out the novel, the author presents us with a detailed and accurate history of epidemics of rare and lethal viruses.

     The US Army quickly took over, and a SWAT team was sent in to halt the spread of the virus. The complicated and hazardous job required the donning of biological space suits, entering the monkey house (the ``hot zone''), killing each monkey, and retrieving tissue samples. A major portion of the book is about this operation, which had to be conducted in secret, since public awareness could easily have meant widespread panic. 
One of the two viruses, Ebola Zaire, was deemed capable to destroy humans and can kill approximately 90% of those who catch the disease dies in a very quick and gruesome manner. 

     Finally, after a massive effort to contain the virus, we find that this form of Ebola does not seem to harm humans. The author leaves the reader with a chilling thought: "Will the next outbreak also be harmless?"