The Cobra Event - by Richard Preston (Paperback)

About the Book

First, a homeless man on a subway platform died in agony as startled commuters looked on. Then, a teenager started having violent, uncontrollable spasms in art class. Within minutes, she too was dead. Dr. Alice Austen is a medical pathologist at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. What she knows is that the two deaths are connected. What she fears is that they are only the beginning.

Book Synopsis

"One of those books you literally can't put down . . . makes The Hot Zone virus--far away in a rainforest--look like no big deal."--Detroit Free Press

Five days ago, a homeless man on a subway platform died in agony as startled commuters looked on. Yesterday, a teenager started having violent, uncontrollable spasms in art class. Within minutes, she too was dead.

Dr. Alice Austen is a medical pathologist at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. What she knows is that the two deaths are connected. What she fears is that they are only the beginning. . . .

"Manages to grab you with the authenticity of its scientific detective work and haunt you with its sheer plausibility."--Entertainment Weekly

Review Quotes

"Enormously entertaining."--The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Richard Preston is the author of three nonfiction books, The Hot Zone (about the Ebola virus), American Steel (about a revolutionary steel mill), and First Light (about modern astronomy). He is a contributor to The New Yorker and has won numerous awards, including the McDermott Award in the Arts from MIT, the American Institute of Physics Award in science writing, and the Overseas Press Club of America Whitman Basso Award for best reporting in any medium on environmental issues.

The Cobra Event is Richard Preston's first novel.