Review: Crisis In The Red Zone, by Richard Preston

Crisis in The Red Zone, by Richard Preston

Penguin Random House - 2019
Non-Fiction - Documentary
Audiobook 
Narrated by Ray Porter

13 Hours, 2 Minutes

My Rating (out of 5)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Crisis In The Red Zone is a non-fiction, documentary style book that examines the worst Ebola outbreak in history as told through the stories of some of the people who fought against it.  

The book starts with a brief look at the 1976 outbreak which is the first outbreak of Ebola on record, and when it was named after the nearby Ebola river. 

The book then follows the 2014-2016 outbreak - the worst outbreak ever, from its index case - a 2 year old boy near Méliandou, Guinea late 2013, and its rapid progression within the surrounding areas, until the outbreak is considered over, nearly 2 years and over 28,600 infections and 11,300 deaths later. 

The reader is introduced to a local team of local medical providers, and it is primarily through their stories that we learn about the challenges that were faced as the outbreak spreads. As the scope of the outbreak reaches staggering proportions, we are introduced to some international health care providers, researchers, and charitable health organizations who fought along with the local people until the outbreak ends in 2016. 

Preston has written a book to educate people without a medical/scientific background on not only Ebola, but the types of viruses that threaten us with pandemics. Remember SARS?  H1N1?  How far it spread? How panicked we were? Now imagine a deadlier virus.  What if the Ebola cases that made it to Europe and America were not so effectively contained? In this age of air travel and global business, it probably is only a matter of time before a serious virus does start a global pandemic. This book is not written in a way that should scare people, but rather a way that educates those of us without a medical background on the nature of these viruses and what it takes to fight them. Knowledge being the best offence. 

There are two reasons I think that the writing of this documentary style book was especially good. 

First off, the technical aspect of the book was very well presented for the average person - that is the jargon was kept to a minimum and what was necessary was well explained. I really appreciated the fact that everything was described in a way that I could understand it. 

Secondly, was the way that Preston chose to deliver this information by creating an emotional connection between the reader and the people who he chose to write about in telling the history of the West African outbreak.  By introducing the reader to the personalities of the individuals being followed by the story, I felt engaged  and interested in their outcomes.  I felt a full range of emotions during this book. While it is a non-fiction documentary, this book is as engaging as a well written novel. 

Narration was provided by Ray Porter.  Often for non-fiction books, a narrator with acting skill is not necessary, but in this case it was a perfect choice.  As I said, this true story reads like a novel, and having a skilled voice artist to tell it preserved that effect and kept the audiobook engaging.  

Crisis In The Red Zone a documentary that is not only educational, but every bit as engaging as a novel. It is an excellent and touching tribute to all those who fought in the worst Ebola outbreak in history - many of whom did not survive, and to those who continue to fight against this disease as outbreaks are still being occasionally recorded to this day (as of this writing, the second largest outbreak of Ebola is ongoing in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Currently the toll is over 3,600 cases with over 2,100 deaths).  But there is hope. Lessons learned from the 2014-2016 outbreak are being used to educate people living where Ebola outbreaks occur, thereby reducing transmission; and scientific information developed during that time is being used to increase survival rates for those infected and develop treatments and vaccines. 

Happy Reading,

Christine