The Hot Zone review

This month i read the nonfiction book titled The Hot Zone by Richard Preston with Jacob and Tim. Thee book revolves around Richard Preston's research and interviews on viruses in the ebola family. Preston tells seemingly fictitious encounters with this predator like virus. Tracing it's roots up until an out break IN THE U.S! East coast so us Californians are relatively safe... for now. Although the book comes out with a fantastic hook, it only got me for so long. It soon became a dull read for me. I will be covering the following topics: What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?, How would you describe the author's style of writing? What's your opinion of the style?, and What are the weaknesses of this book, in your opinion?
I believe when Preston first found out about Ebola and it's devastating effects on the human body he felt compelled to hunt down information on such a deadly virus. In my mind's eye this sort of "side project" of his turned into a fixation and as Preston received more and more information he decided to write a book. Receiving many interviews with people who had first hand contact with the Ebola and it's relatives really gave him the ability to piece together everyone's story and make good documentation. I believe Preston's first target for his book was other virus enthusiasts. If not those people then the kind of people who love reading about modern day events that could strike the population, adrenaline junkies with the passion of reading? The book often retells how "if only Ebola were able to spread through the air in an easier way the human race would be a splinter of what it is now." Ebola can only be transmitted through droplets, although droplets may become airborne. Preston wants to stress how incredibly contagious and life threatening viruses are still capable oh attacking the modern age. Just because we are more advanced, doesn't mean that viruses have stayed the same. Viruses change faster then the human can change, making it a terrifying threat. Preston displays this by explaining, " A virus is normally not dangerous to it's original host. Once the virus hops the species border is when it becomes deadly." The ability for a virus to adapt to spread its information is constantly changing which makes cures hard to make. Preston showed achieved this goal in my eyes. It certainly puts a fear inside of you and makes you more conscious about the things you touch, and how you clean your self after such encounters. I come across the feeling, "Wow this can actually happen to me tomorrow by a monkey sneezing, and those sneeze droplets landing in the wrong place." I see a valid reason for those people in Japan and China wearing the face masks now after becoming paranoid from this book.
I really did not like Preston's way of writing, at all. It was a bit too "jumpy" for me. Here is an example, a part where a house wife, Nancy Jaax, is saying" Monkeys throw and spit stuff up. It is dangerous to work around contaminated animals without proper protection."...(one paragraph later) Preston is speaking of a time ten years earlier about people who are searching for the first cases of Ebola in Africa. I mean come on in my opinion he really should have talked about the doctors searching for the epicenter of the virus in the beginning or save it all for the end. It would have been perfectly fine if Preston never mentioned Nacny Jaax again, but sadly he does. He brings up Nancy's family again in a much later point in the book. Such a point that i barely remembered Nancy, her family, or her significance to the story. I strongly believe Preston should have kept related sections closer together, rather then jump around to and frough. Although i do see one benefit of writing in this manner. It could be a break for the reader to take from all of the gruesome scenes Preston is so skilled at writing. Most of the time he leaves you in a cliffhanger of a subject then brings you back when it's already too late and the information lost. The way a book is written is very important to me. It needs to be smooth flowing and interlocking for me to fully enjoy the book without pausing and questioning what just happened. The intervals between his subject jumps are very difficult to adjust to in my reading experience. I'm the type of person who gets really involved with the progression of the current topic and for it to just suddenly change is rather annoying.
The main weakness that really dug into my brain was the way the author went about writing his information. I already ranted about that in my second paragraph though so obla di obla dah. Another fatal flaw in the book is its audience target. The wording seems rather sophisticated for an average high schooler to just pick up. Although if you read on a average basis it shouldn't be a problem. If he simplified his word usage or at least briefly explained complex scientific terms (that completely went over my head) his reader range would have been higher. Kind of speaks a lot about what i think of the average highschooler... Although it is a top seller so i might be completely spewing bs, i surely hope not. The content was very limited, in a way that it followed a structure, Present day story, background, intense descriptions of what the specific virus does to you and other creatures, repeat. The way i pick a nice book to read (for my self, not school) is to go to a random page plus the inside cover sneak peak. If nothing on either page pops out at me or has an interesting concept i won't read it unless i get an outstanding review from a friend of mine who i know share the same interests as me. Ahem Ahem i would love to try and tempt you to join the fictitious side of books very tastey and lets your mind really say ," WOW i wonder how my students or the world would react to that if that were real?!?!" think about that as you smugly sip your coffee/tea in your little wifi-hotspot little haven. Enjoy your Saturday~