Crisis in the Red Zone

The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come

By: Richard Preston

Narrated by: Ray Porter

New York Times Best Seller

An urgent wake-up call about the future of emerging viruses and a gripping account of the doctors and scientists fighting to protect us, told through the story of the deadly 2013-2014 Ebola epidemic

“Crisis in the Red Zone reads like a thriller. That the story it tells is all true makes it all more terrifying.” (Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction)

From the number-one best-selling author of The Hot Zone, now a National Geographic original miniseries....

This time, Ebola started with a two-year-old child who likely had contact with a wild creature and whose entire family quickly fell ill and died. The ensuing global drama activated health professionals in North America, Europe, and Africa in a desperate race against time to contain the viral wildfire. By the end - as the virus mutated into its deadliest form, and spread farther and faster than ever before - 30,000 people would be infected, and the dead would be spread across eight countries on three continents.

In this taut and suspenseful medical drama, Richard Preston deeply chronicles the pandemic, in which we saw for the first time the specter of Ebola jumping continents, crossing the Atlantic, and infecting people in America. Rich in characters and conflict - physical, emotional, and ethical - Crisis in the Red Zone is an immersion in one of the great public health calamities of our time.

Preston writes of doctors and nurses in the field putting their own lives on the line, of government bureaucrats and NGO administrators moving, often fitfully, to try to contain the outbreak, and of pharmaceutical companies racing to develop drugs to combat the virus. He also explores the charged ethical dilemma over who should and did receive the rare doses of an experimental treatment when they became available at the peak of the disaster.

Crisis in the Red Zone makes clear that the outbreak of 2013-2014 is a harbinger of further, more severe outbreaks, and of emerging viruses heretofore unimagined - in any country, on any continent. In our ever more interconnected world, with roads and towns cut deep into the jungles of equatorial Africa, viruses both familiar and undiscovered are being unleashed into more densely populated areas than ever before.

The more we discover about the virosphere, the more we realize its deadly potential. Crisis in the Red Zone is an exquisitely timely book, a stark warning of viral outbreaks to come.

©2019 Richard Preston (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Richard Preston’s red zone - beset by ethical, medical, and epidemiological quandaries—shows us at our worst and at our best. This is a story about people, not pathogens, but, even as Preston focuses on one group of clinicians, nurses, and scientists at an underresourced hospital in West Africa, he makes devastatingly clear the worldwide fragility of our public-health systems. Global inequities have epidemiological consequences. This chronicle is haunting, yet not without hope. In spare, gripping prose, he illuminates how our interlinked age can make for enormous vulnerability - but also resilience.” (Kwame Anthony Appiah, professor of philosophy and law, New York University)

“Crisis in the Red Zone reads like a thriller. That the story it tells is all true makes it all more terrifying, and there’s no one who could tell it better than Richard Preston.” (Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History)

riveting

I get so much insight into various entities, both medical and political. I am enthralled with the story.

Outstanding

Absolutely riveting!!! Preston traces the history of Ebola & examines its origins through the telling of personal stories, most specifically the latest outbreak that occurred in 2013-14. It’s such a powerful first hand account especially given the past 2.5 years we’ve just lived through. Once again I’m awed by the medical workers, specifically nurses & doctors who risk their lives in order to save, treat & care for others. Outstanding audio. Excellent narrative. Would make for excellent bookclub discussion!

Excellent Deep Dive

Having heard of Ebola in movies like Outbreak, and of course living through COVID 19, this is a fascinating nonfiction tale of what a truly deadly disease epidemic is like. There are a few brief moments of “storytelling,” when accounts of individuals’ lives outside of the outbreak are shared, but otherwise this is definitively nonfiction. Yet, it is in no way a dry read/listen. Preston’s accounting of the Ebola tragedies is accurate and compelling.
Ray Porter is one of the best narrators in any genre, and I am thankful that his work on this book drew me to purchase it

May not be for those with a weak stomach but absolutely a must read

If the beginning is tough for you with all the gory details of Ebola just hold on it will get better and less gory (or you get more used it). Covid 19 was a level 4 (prior to vaccines) so VERY relevant to 2020+. Should be required reading/listening as we all need to understand what the current pandemic could still become as we allow it to run in the wild and start thing about what the next one could potentially look like if we are not careful.

so epic,

but way to much focus on zmapp and cure crap circlejerking. I was happy to learn more about zmapp, but over all needs more Ebola

Good luck, Ebola-chan!

Questions and preparations necessary to avoid extinction event

However, it seems likely there will be a small segment of the human species that has natural immunity and would, in time, repopulate the Earth. Very thought provoking!

Gripping

What an amazingly written and terrifying story. I loved The Hot Zone, it’s been my favorite book for years. But now as I’ve been studying microbiology etc, the gravity of the facts presented in this book (and the hot zone…), are much more interesting and terrifying at the same time. As I’ve watched the US react to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, I’m horrified to imagine what will happen when a level 4 virus breaks ground and begins to burn through our population. We have witnessed blatant disregard for actual scientific facts and we have witnessed first hand that people refuse to isolate themselves if they’re sick because of “rights and freedoms”. I can foresee something of level 4 magnitude having a catastrophic effect on the US… we weren’t medically equipped to handle COVID, let alone something more sinister.

Amazingly well written and an edge of your seat type of read. Or listen if you’re reading this review on audible. 🙂

Great Book

This book was terrifying, but yet interesting. It really gets you thinking about life and how one virus can pose such a threat to humanity.

Wake up and smell the coffee

Good to know. written in a way that engages you and keeps you interested. Kind of weaves back and forth in time which can be confusing but overall an important book to read. Especially now. Wake up and smell the coffee.

As ways, an excellent capture of events

You can't go wrong with Richard Preston telling a riveting story about a terrifying reality.