The Demon in the Freezer | 
|  | | | Title: | The Demon in the Freezer | | Author: | Richard Preston | | Publisher: | Fawcett | | Type: | Book / Mass Market Paperback | | Publication Date: | 26 August, 2003 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0345466632 / 9780345466631 | | List Price: | $7.99 | | Amazon Price: | $7.99 | |
 This book is also available, brand-new, from 3rd-party marketplace sellers at Amazon.com, from $3.89. |
The HTML code below can be pasted onto your web-site, your MySpace page, or blog - or any number of similar places - to create a link to this page: If, instead of a text link, you'd like to create a link to this page which will display the book cover, if it's available, then the code below will do exactly that:
Check for the same book at these other US book sites:
• [ Abebooks ] • [ Alibris ] • [ Barnes & Noble ] • [ Half.com ] • [ Powells ] … or check UK bookstores
| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
“The bard of biological weapons captures
the drama of the front lines.”
-Richard Danzig, former secretary of the navy
The first major bioterror event in the United States-the anthrax attacks in October 2001-was a clarion call for scientists who work with “hot” agents to find ways of protecting civilian populations against biological weapons. In The Demon in the Freezer, his first nonfiction book since The Hot Zone, a #1 New York Times bestseller, Richard Preston takes us into the heart of Usamriid, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, once the headquarters of the U.S. biological weapons program and now the epicenter of national biodefense.
Peter Jahrling, the top scientist at Usamriid, a wry virologist who cut his teeth on Ebola, one of the world’s most lethal emerging viruses, has ORCON security clearance that gives him access to top secret information on bioweapons. His most urgent priority is to develop a drug that will take on smallpox-and win. Eradicated from the planet in 1979 in one of the great triumphs of modern science, the smallpox virus now resides, officially, in only two high-security freezers-at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and in Siberia, at a Russian virology institute called Vector. But the demon in the freezer has been set loose. It is almost certain that illegal stocks are in the possession of hostile states, including Iraq and North Korea. Jahrling is haunted by the thought that biologists in secret labs are using genetic engineering to create a new superpox virus, a smallpox resistant to all vaccines.
Usamriid went into a state of Delta Alert on September 11 and activated its emergency response teams when the first anthrax letters were opened in New York and Washington, D.C. Preston reports, in unprecedented detail, on the government’s response to the attacks and takes us into the ongoing FBI investigation. His story is based on interviews with top-level FBI agents and with Dr. Steven Hatfill.
Jahrling is leading a team of scientists doing controversial experiments with live smallpox virus at CDC. Preston takes us into the lab where Jahrling is reawakening smallpox and explains, with cool and devastating precision, what may be at stake if his last bold experiment fails.
From the Hardcover edition.
Amazon.com Review
On December 9, 1979, smallpox, the most deadly human virus, ceased to exist in nature. After eradication, it was confined to freezers located in just two places on earth: the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and the Maximum Containment Laboratory in Siberia. But these final samples were not destroyed at that time, and now secret stockpiles of smallpox surely exist. For example, since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the subsequent end of its biological weapons program, a sizeable amount of the former Soviet Union's smallpox stockpile remains unaccounted for, leading to fears that the virus has fallen into the hands of nations or terrorist groups willing to use it as a weapon. Scarier yet, some may even be trying to develop a strain that is resistant to vaccines. This disturbing reality is the focus of this fascinating, terrifying, and important book. A longtime contributor to The New Yorker and author of the bestseller The Hot Zone, Preston is a skillful journalist whose work flows like a science fiction thriller. Based on extensive interviews with smallpox experts, health workers, and members of the U.S. intelligence community, The Demon in the Freezer details the history and behavior of the virus and how it was eventually isolated and eradicated by the heroic individuals of the World Health Organization. Preston also explains why a battle still rages between those who want to destroy all known stocks of the virus and those who want to keep some samples alive until a cure is found. This is a bitterly contentious point between scientists. Some worry that further testing will trigger a biological arms race, while others argue that more research is necessary since there are currently too few available doses of the vaccine to deal with a major outbreak. The anthrax scare of October, 2001, which Preston also writes about in this book, has served to reinforce the present dangers of biological warfare. As Preston eloquently states in this powerful book, this scourge, once contained, was let loose again due to human weakness: "The virus's last strategy for survival was to bewitch its host and become a source of power. We could eradicate smallpox from nature, but we could not uproot the virus from the human heart." --Shawn Carkonen
| Other Items You May Enjoy:
Browse Books From These Related Subjects:
Customer Reviews:
• An Interesting Shadow Of The Hot Zone 08 January, 2009
The Demon in the Freezer is another true story written by Richard Preston that brings mystery, anxiety, and relief to its readers. The book begins in the 1970s with a glimpse at the life of an anthrax victim named Robert Stevens, and then moves to the life of a smallpox victim named Peter Los in Germany during 1969. These two stories are eventually linked together with the explanation of anthrax and smallpox, the histories of each, and the threat of bioterrorism.
The Hot Zone and The Demon in the Freezer are very similar in format partly due to the fact that Richard Preston wrote both. This similarity detracts from the story line of The Demon in the Freezer if The Hot Zone has been read previously. It detracts from the excitement and mystery of The Demon in the Freezer, and diminishes surprise that comes from the climax, which is the anthrax scare. For instance, the beginning of The Demon in the Freezer begins with the lives of an anthrax victim named Robert Stevens and a smallpox victim named Peter Los, which draws the reader into the book as soon as they start reading it unless The Hot Zone has been read previously. The Hot Zone also starts off with a victim of a virus (anthrax isn't a virus but is still harmful to humanity) named Charles Monet. The virus that Charles Monet is eventually diagnosed with is the Ebola virus which is very deadly. The scene in which Charles Monet crashes and bleeds out, as the army calls it when blood comes out of every opening in the body of a victim of Ebola, adds suspense and gore to the beginning of the novel much more so than The Demon in the Freezer. The first few scenes in The Demon in the Freezer appear boring when compared to the first scene in The Hot Zone. The Hot Zone is also not as dry as The Demon in the Freezer overall: there is always suspense through The Hot Zone unlike in The Demon in the Freezer. When compared, The Hot Zone is a far better read than The Demon in the Freezer.
The Demon in the Freezer, however, is still a great read. The novel provides insight into the production of bio-weapons and the reality of how dangerous they are when nations that have ill will towards others are producing them. The novel also stresses the importance of the eradication or almost eradication of small pox . For instance, when small pox was still a major natural virus, it killed approximately two million people a year, and the eradication of smallpox has saved around fifty-six million lives. The Demon in the Freezer is more of a historical novel than a historical thriller like that of The Hot Zone. Overall, The Demon in the Freezer was a great read despite its close similarity with The Hot Zone.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A18IUSI91MSR42
• Wow! What A Book! 17 September, 2008
Now this is the way to write a technical non-fiction book. It is a thriller, it is interesting, it is educational, and it is very, very frightening. Every human being that can read should buy this book and read it through. Great job, Mr Preston!
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3TRHJMN9CFKUU
• Those Who Forget History Are Doomed To Repeat It 23 October, 2008
This quote inherits a new sense of forboding when considering the history of smallpox, its eradication and the threat it currently presents us today. Richard Preston has managed to write my favorite kind of book with Demon in the Freezer: an informative but fascinating non-fiction page turner that is accessible by anyone with an inherent sense of curiosity.
Definite five stars.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2LM209GDYXTZ3
• Another Must Read From This Author! 12 October, 2008
This book is a bold statement about the state of our world. Smallpox and anthrax are the new weapons of choice for anyone who wants to infect large populations around the world.
It's a great book and everyone should read it just to know what's out there.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1SCJY0BJTPJA5
• Confounding 24 November, 2008
Feel like being angry and disturbed? Give this a read. The Hot Zone was a great read but not nearly as scary as this book which shows just how evil mankind truly is. I keep asking myself why the Soviets would ever think that these viruses and antibiotic resistant bacteriums could be useful in defense of their nation. With modern transporation the entire world is in big trouble when this stuff gets out. Smallpox is bad enough on its own but it takes a very sick mind to weaponize it. What a world we are raising our children in- this is disturbing stuff.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A30TWZTQWXWB8E
|
