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| View Larger Image | Ebola | Mass Market Paperbackby Dr. William Close (Author)
| List Price: | $5.99 | |
| | Binding: | Mass Market Paperback | | Publisher: | Ivy Books | | Page Count: | 404 Pages | | Publication Date: | June 27, 1995 | | Sales Rank: | 567,522th |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
IT STRIKES WITHOUT WARNING--A HORRIFYING, LETHAL DISEASE WITH NO NAME. AND NO CURE. . . . Now, from the molten center of the "hot zone," comes a terrifying, completely authentic novel of medical suspense by William T. Close, M.D., the American physician who lived in Zaire for sixteen years, and who worked desperately to contain the first outbreak of the virus in 1976. Haunted by the images from this wrenching time, and unable to forget the people he knew and lost, Dr. Close was compelled to tell their story. EBOLA, inspired by his personal experience and based upon extensive research, is an unforgettable portrait of this devastating drama, which all began with an invisible, unknown killer . . . .EBOLAAt a Catholic mission in Yambuku, a remote area of Zaire, Mabalo Lokela, a local teacher, visits the clinic with a raging fever. Sister Lucie, a Flemish nun and nurse, gives him a shot of an anti-malarial drug, wipes off the syringe, and awaits her next patient. Within days, Mabolo is dead. Soon after, others become ill and die. Less than three weeks later, Sister Lucie, too, is dead. As panic erupts and the villagers flee from the sickness . . . as the roads leading out of Yambuku are blocked and the dying are turned away . . . as the single radio connecting the village to the outside world brings only bad news, the valiant nuns and medical personnel left behind at the mission can only pray and wonder: will the world ever hear their plea for help?And always there is the virus, from which there is no escape . . . . |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 23 reviews)
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Not what I expected by ewoh46 (Upstate NY, USA)  3 Stars
July 14, 2008
Found this on the shelf of a second hand store for a very cheap price. I was expecting a lot more science in this book and it wasn't there. It's mostly written from the standpoint of the nuns of the Yambuku mission that witnessed this first outbreak. Although the characters claim to be terrified, that feeling never really came across to me- the reader. I also found some of the writing strange- the attraction to Veronica (a nun) by Dr. Aaron Hoffman was just weird. You knew nothing was going to happen because she was a nun and he was married. It came across as a lame attempt to make nonfiction spicy. Also, although he never says it directly, Dr. Close clearly does not like the French.
Regardless, the book did give me interest in the subject and I just picked up "The Hot Zone." I also learned a lot about African culture from the book as well. Readers may be interested to head over to the CDC's public health image library (google it) and search for "Ebola." There are several interesting pictures related to the book there including pictures of the mission at the time and some of the subjects of the book.
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Excellent Documentary style Book by Kev (Bolivar, Mo USA)  4 Stars
December 22, 2006
One of the most educational and eye opening books that I have ever read. I love this book and it is the reason i started buying other virus books. It really opened my eyes up to the terror that is truely out in the world that is put there by mother nature. Sometimes difficult to follow, but a facinating subject from a Dr. who was in the thick of the outbreak. Very good book with an objective for everyone to think about viruses like this.
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Great Book! by R. Jensen (Ebola, CA USA)  5 Stars
September 24, 2006
Even Victor eats roaches yearly, so, I needed goats loving ewes doing almost yelling come here under caves kiting every lowly beast. Enough limits took all kin, even sewing artwork lesson almost reaching gave each boy limits. All candy kiting carries over coming knife in niches. Harold inside safe, almost stuck silly.
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More about the people than the virus by Ryan Grove (Hillsboro, OR USA) 3 Stars
June 03, 2006
Ebola, by William T. Close, M.D., is a moderately dramatized account of the first outbreak of the Ebola virus in Zaire in 1976. The book's cover and introduction make it a point to inform you that Dr. Close was there to witness the outbreak firsthand and "worked desperately to contain the first outbreak of the virus", but the book is written in the third person and Dr. Close never makes an appearance. It's clear that he changed the names of the other people involved, but why change his own name in a book he's writing? Strange.
Also somewhat strange is the fact that the word "Ebola" never appears in the main narrative. This is understandable given the book's focus on the characters rather than on the virus, but since the book's title is Ebola, I was expecting a little more information on the virus itself. Close's choice to focus on the characters rather than the virus is at times a good thing and at times perplexing.
The story begins slowly, establishing the look and feel of the village of Yambuku, its people, and the Flemish nuns running the mission there. As the first victims of the virus begin to appear, the foreshadowing gets a little ham-fisted. It almost feels like Close is intentionally portraying the nuns as unconcerned and even careless merely for the sake of adding to the suspense.
After the first hundred pages or so, things finally start to pick up and the really interesting stuff begins. The dedication of the nuns in caring for the victims under some of the harshest conditions imaginable, even as they themselves begin to contract the virus, is touching, and it's what makes the book worth reading.
Unfortunately, while the middle of the book is gripping and generally well written, the last third goes completely off track. When two doctors from the WHO finally arrive at Yambuku, the virus has already killed hundreds of villagers and is beginning to burn itself out. Without the constant influx of Ebola victims, the author seems to lose his bearing, and the story inexplicably shifts its focus to a schoolboy crush one of the doctors (who is married) has developed on one of the nuns. It's so awkward it's almost creepy at parts. After this confusing twist is resolved, the book just keeps on going for no discernable reason, following the nun as she flees Yambuku when it seems like the virus might reappear. Nothing interesting happens to the nun, the virus doesn't return, and the book just ends, having strung you along for the last hundred pages or so for no real reason.
There's another creepy thing about this book, and that's the author's apparent fascination with breasts. He describes them at every possible opportunity, often in unnecessary detail. The reader is kept constantly aware of the statuses of the breasts of nearly every female character, villagers and nuns alike. At one point we're even forced to read a description of the teats of one of the village's mangy dogs. I like breasts as much as the next man, but Close seems to think (and write) about them far more than is warranted, especially for a story primarily about Flemish nuns.
On the whole, while I wasn't crazy about it, the book did tell a compelling story. I think a better author could have made it even more compelling, but since Dr. Close was apparently there, he'll have to do. However, if you're looking for technical descriptions of Ebola, its effects, and its treatment, look somewhere else. This is a book about villagers and nuns and how they dealt with an outbreak; it's not a book about Ebola.
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Ebola! by Nyle haha (USA) 5 Stars
March 14, 2006
I loved this book! It was a brilliant mix of emotion and a medical thriller-I really liked all of the characters, and it was very interesting. Definitley one of my favorites.
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