Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Cobra Event

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 5,459 ratings · 281 reviews

The Cobra Event is a petrifying, fictional account of a very real threat: biological terrorism.

Seventeen-year-old Kate Moran wakes one morning to the beginnings of a head cold but shrugs it off and goes to school anyway. By her midmorning art class, Kate's runny nose gives way to violent seizures and a hideous scene of self-cannibalization. She dies soon after. When a home

...more

Hardcover, 337 pages

Published October 27th 1997 by Random House (first published October 1st 1997)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston

Best Books on Flu and Other Devastating Outbreaks

2nd out of 61 books — 41 voters

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Medicine and Literature

101st out of 709 books — 720 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Oct 04, 2007 Violet_violence rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone

This book was amazing! Richard Preston, the author of "The Hot Zone," (the true story of the Ebola outbreak of a monkey research facility in Virginia) knows his stuff! This man is brilliant! Honestly, I can't say it enough. He knows diseases, virology, epidemiology, criminology and suspense. He KNOWS his stuff. Seriously if you haven't read any of his books, shame on you, get to it! NOW!

like 6 likes · see review

Apr 20, 2007 Toby rated it 4 of 5 stars

It is another great book, fast-pacing read. In New York City, it started with a homeless guy who died within no more than 2 days, I believe, 5 days earlier from some kind of deadly disease, and then a young girl died as well later. They started with a cold then developed something worse and out of control. The woman at CDC saw two possible connections, and then later realized it could be a terror attack in New York City by using some kind of virus that can be easily unnoticable. They were tracki...more

like 1 like · see review

Dec 22, 2012 Anand rated it 3 of 5 stars

It is apparent the author is better at writing non-fiction. His others works of non-fiction on similar topics have been received well, but this novel is average when judged in the context of entertainment thrillers. This novel has unnecessarily detailed narratives around the science and history of bio-terrorism, which not only adds bulk to the novel, but frustratingly diverts the attention of the reader from the flow of the story. Suddenly, paragraphs start reading like a non-fictional account,...more

like · see review

Nov 18, 2012 Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars

The story-line in this novel is obviously fiction; the research that Richard Preston has done in the area of the creation of biological weapons using genetic engineering and biotechnology is NOT ! What he has done is to take his research and construct an account of what can happen when rogue, evil men decide to combine the discoveries in genetic engineering and biotechnology with their intent to kill ... thus creating the bioweapons that could take out whole populations of people.
He includes...more The story-line in this novel is obviously fiction; the research that Richard Preston has done in the area of the creation of biological weapons using genetic engineering and biotechnology is NOT ! What he has done is to take his research and construct an account of what can happen when rogue, evil men decide to combine the discoveries in genetic engineering and biotechnology with their intent to kill ... thus creating the bioweapons that could take out whole populations of people.
He includes the historical background of America's own bioweapons program that was halted by President Nixon back in 1969.
Interestingly he includes the history of Iraq's bio weapons program going back to the first Gulf War. Folowing the first Gulf War Preston writes, "Inspectors have noticed that Iraqis seem to be switching to small, portable bioreactors that roll around on wheels..." Meanwhile, an Iraqi bioweapons plant was discovered that the Iraqis themselves admitted was a virus and toxin weapons biocontainment facility. It was left intact b/c the U.N.rules did not allow for its dismantlement. While much of its equipment at the time was destroyed, the plant reportedly could go "hot" in a matter of days. (Preston's book was written in 1997.) The discovery made re: Al Manal, the bioweapons plant, was that the Iraqis had made approximately 9000 cubic yards of weapons-grade bot tox there. Preston writes that the amount of bot tox manufactured at Al Manal, in theory, was "enough bioweapon to kill every person on earth a thousand times over. ... not a single drop of the 9000 cubic yards of bot tox made at Al Manal has been found." Much of the information re: Iraq's bio weapons program was gleaned after the defection in 1995 of one of the heads of Iraq's biological-weapons program.
Although U.N. teams continued to monitor Iraq following the Gulf War, some of the team members felt that their efforts were a "charade". Some had found that there were indications that Iraq's bioweapons program was still very active, with the focus on viruses, genetic engineering, and miniaturization of research using tiny bioreactors that could be hidden more easily in small rooms. In spite of this, the senior French inspectors appeared to be no longer interested in discovering any more biological-weapons installations in Iraq. After all, the French had gotten the contract to build the Al Manal facility in Iraq, having been told that it was an animal vaccine plant. They perhaps did not want to make a former customer and friend mad.
I found the history of Iraq's bio weapons program extremely interesting in light of the fact that the world again held their breath following 9/11's terrorist attacks. Iraq, by all outward appearances again appeared to be advancing bio weapons ... most of the world agreed. The U.N. came to a concensus that something needed to be done about it. After all, if terrorists would use planes to crash into buildings to kill thousands, why wouldn't a terrorist regime like Iraq use their bio weapons to kill thousands. Weeks and months went by in which those small portable lethal laboratories could be easily transported out of the country, and when the U.S. and her allies went into Iraq, the weapons program looked sanitized. Chemical weapons labs and thousands of cubic yards of lethal toxins don't just disappear ... will they re-appear when the world least expects? I pray that I won't be around to experience it, because the story told by Preston in The Cobra Event is one which none of us wants to be around for !! (less)

like · see review

Sep 24, 2012 Martin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary, fiction, adventure

Several people become violently ill in a short span of time, randomly scattered throughout New York City. It marks the beginning of a feverish hunt to track down the cause and causers of a bio-engineered virus ready to be deployed. CDC representative Alice Austen blows the whistle on what had been labeled unusual natural causes of death. In rapid succession the novel bounces around both New York and Iraq, trailblazing after an unknown force set to release a deadly amount of viruses into the Big...more Several people become violently ill in a short span of time, randomly scattered throughout New York City. It marks the beginning of a feverish hunt to track down the cause and causers of a bio-engineered virus ready to be deployed. CDC representative Alice Austen blows the whistle on what had been labeled unusual natural causes of death. In rapid succession the novel bounces around both New York and Iraq, trailblazing after an unknown force set to release a deadly amount of viruses into the Big Apple.

Most of the novel thrives on installing a strong sense of paranoia in the reader, and does so successfully. If the information provided in the book is accurate, then the details in the novel are to be taken as mostly true and viable, generating an even stronger sense of paranoia. Some of the parts of the book read more like a documentary than a work of fiction. It is very understandable if the author got caught up in the facts behind the fiction and to a large extend the background information does help to raise tension. However, the background information sometimes detracts from the assumed purpose of the book, which is to be a high paced thriller.

One thing that suffers in this novel is a sense of character development. Even though the victims are rendered very realistically and their suffering comes across as quite genuine, the main characters remain full of undeveloped potential. Not much information is provided for the main character of Alice Austen and those bits and pieces that are given are more hinted at than fully developed. Even if the book had been much longer, it would have provided yet more human depth to the paranoia than is already the case.

It is remarkable that Richard Preston can keep up the high pace of publication output while at the same time doing thorough research on the background of his novels. Sometimes the content feels a bit like a Michael Crichton novel, with the difference that Preston goes into much more technical detail and does not dumb down the wording. In other novels, notably those that were written in collaboration with Lincoln Child, the science takes more of a backseat and atmosphere comes to the foot light. It would be quite interesting to see what would happen if Richard Preston applied the same kind of research depth to the Pendergast series.(less)

like · see review

Jul 11, 2012 Tony rated it 3 of 5 stars

Richard Preston- The Cobra Event 3.5 Stars

Dr. Alice Austen of the Centers for Disease Control is on the trail of a new strain of virus. A man is releasing bits of this virus into the New York City population. A homeless man dies and is quickly followed by a young girl. Now they must locate this man before he causes a widespread epidemic. He has no intention of being caught though and will not go down without a fight.

It took me a bit to get into this book. That being said, it had some really inte...more

like · see review

Mar 19, 2011 Lori L (She Treads Softly) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Richard Preston is best known for his nonfiction book The Hot Zone, a horrifying account of the Ebola virus, and other research based books. I was interested in reading his fiction book The Cobra Event. It is a chilling story about what a bioterrorist attack could look like today. Preston also has included in the story some of the history of bioweapons and information regarding bioengineering. If you want to be scared to death by a fiction book that is solidly grounded in fact and almost reads l...more

like 1 like · see review

Dec 29, 2010 Liz rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller-adult

This book I discovered by chance--and I am glad I did. It was a real page turner. Published in 1997 it is the horrifying story of "black biology" and the possibilities of biological weapons. The CDC, New York City police and fire department, and the FBI form "Reachdeep" -- a criminal investigation team working together to solve biological weapons mystery before a deadly "brainpox" virus is released worldwide.
A great deal of the book is based on facts that we should all be aware of now. It is a t...more

like 2 likes · see review

Nov 03, 2009 Tiana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ir-8th-grade

The Cobra Event, by Richard Preston, is about a doctor named Alice Austen. She works at the CDCA(Centers for Disease Control of Atlanta). One day a man died in pain on the subway, and the next day and girl started having spasms in class and died a couple of minutes after. The police calls Alice to find out what has happend to these people, and why it was happening. All Alice knows is that the two deaths are connected. During the book Alice tries to find out what it is, and how to stop it.

While r...more

like · see review

Jan 24, 2013 George Fisher rated it 1 of 5 stars

I thoroughly disliked this book.

It started by introducing a little girl and savagely killing her with a horrible nervous system destroying virus. Unfortunately I was eating lunch when I started the book and lost my appetite (which has never actually happened to me).

I'm 200 pages into the book and the characters, setting, and descriptions are weak. It's like Preston followed a simple book writing formula, first introduce character, then describe character, describe setting, add something unique...more

like · see review

Apr 11, 2009 Zhao added it

I chose this book because I read the book call The Hot Zone. And the title seemed to be really interesting. But to tell the truth this book is not as good as The Hot Zone. Maybe I dont like the topic or something but the book didn't really grab me in as much as when I read The Hot Zone. However, this book still has some parts that is good. I still remember the moment that i found out that the mad scientist was trying to get revenge on the e government. That part was so interesting that I made me...more

like · see review

Dec 23, 2009 Victoria rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller

Ehhh... the idea behind this book was solid and interesting but poorly executed. Quite simply, the writing broke the book with its overuse of passive verbs, verb tense and overall repetition of words. From the technical aspect, this book seemed like it originated from someone who had neither read a novel nor took a writing class. Despite its gore, the book talked down to its audience in an insulting fashion (perhaps Richard Preston secretly agrees with his villain?). The characters lacked person...more

like · see review

Feb 17, 2009 Scotty Buthker rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Cobra Event... It was a great book, equally chilling and at the same time believeable. It's the reality that gets you, knowing this could happen in the USA at any time. Following up on what my last comment said, the investigators eventually do find the identity of the terrorist. A scientist, who is employed by a mysterious company of sweedish and iraqi decent. The attacks get more and more bold though, and time seems to be running out. In Washington DC, he infects 10 people with the Newly na...more

like 1 like · see review

Jan 21, 2009 Patrick Gibson rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: the_apocalypse, lasciate-ogne-speranza-voi-ch-intra

The author is one of the best one note melodist’s I know of. The creatures that are going to get us are not monstrous with fangs, claws, and intentions of eliminating humans. They will be microbe critters and that last part may be true. “Coba Event” is a novel follow up to his essay-like polemic on the Ebola virus “The Hot Zone.” Will the hero(ine) save us from a bioterrorism? Who cares? The novel is grisly, realistic and infused with enough sense of panic to qualify as a ‘page turner.’ In keepi...more

like · see review

Jun 09, 2012 Samantha Schumann rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, suspense, scientific

I loved this book. It is a great medical mystery. You will love it if you're into that kind of thing. The suspense is incredible. And the mystery. Oh. I never knew what was coming next. I loved all the twists and turns. And I must admit, I loved the gory parts too. I would not recommend this book if you are in any way squeemish. There are some intense passages in which a lot of gory images are presented. Richard Preston does an amazing job of presenting the story. The imagery is incredible. I co...more

like 1 like · see review

Jul 03, 2011 Lindsey Brewer rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: YA, Adults

I could not put this book down. I read until probably 4:00 am this morning until I finished the book.

I was 14 when I read my first Richard Preston book, "The Hot Zone". It really stuck with me and still scares the bejeezus out of me. I knew "The Cobra Event" wouldn't let me down.

While not big on secondary, more personal stories, Preston gives the reader plenty to think about. Secondary romance stories are not needed. "The Cobra Event" is about biological weapons. The book was extremely well res...more

like · see review

May 16, 2010 Punk rated it 3 of 5 stars

Fiction. Written very much in the style of Preston's The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story, except this is fiction and some of the things that worked well for Hot Zone didn't quite work here.

The Cobra Event tells the story of a genetically engineered biological weapon and the government task force put together to stop it. There's a lot of detail. Most of it blends right in, but there are times when information is just dumped into the narrative instead of gently stirred in, and at least one of t...more Fiction. Written very much in the style of Preston's The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story, except this is fiction and some of the things that worked well for Hot Zone didn't quite work here.

The Cobra Event tells the story of a genetically engineered biological weapon and the government task force put together to stop it. There's a lot of detail. Most of it blends right in, but there are times when information is just dumped into the narrative instead of gently stirred in, and at least one of the characters seemed to be an expert in EVERYTHING.

It works as a thriller. It's exciting, gross, and if it occasionally stretched my disbelief, at least it kept me reading. The pacing is a little uneven and as the focus zooms in and out on different plots it would sometimes neglect to return to something I thought was important.

As a cautionary tale against biological weapons...I don't know. It's impossible to tell just from reading the book which parts are true and which are made up to serve the story. I wish Preston had just written a non-fiction piece on the subject, though maybe there aren't enough verifiable accounts to do so.

Let's talk about ladies now. Preston's characters are a diverse bunch. There are a lot of characters of color and women (and women of color) in the task force and, for the most part, the women are professional and competent, just like the men, but, let's be honest, Preston just cannot write the ladies. These characters would be doing their jobs, you know, autopsying someone or whatnot, and suddenly they would have the most ridiculously gendered thought pop into their head. It felt forced and unnatural and as a consequence the first chapter of this book is just awful because it's about a seventeen-year-old girl who does not sound at all like a seventeen-year-old girl.

And, unfortunately, it also suffers from CRAYZEE VILLAIN disorder. Twice over. By which I mean the villain's pov was overdone, as it usually is in thrillers, and he seemed to identify as schizophrenic. It's not hammered into the narrative, but it's there.

Three stars. I liked the stuff about biological weapons. I liked the mystery component. I liked the suspense. The characters are not so hot, but the thriller part did its job.

Warning: Don't read this if you can't handle graphic descriptions of self-harm, illness, or death. I did okay with Hot Zone, but this book skeeved me out a couple times; self-harm is a major component of the story.(less)

like 1 like · see review

Mar 20, 2013 Vivienne Neal rated it 5 of 5 stars

A shocking read!

Bringing his knowledge of biological warfare, the author knows how to write a riveting tale that is terrifying; the story exposes the testing of biological weapons carried out in the 1960s, which have devastating and deadly effects thirty years later. The characters are compelling yet vulnerable. It is a page-turning thriller with startling and scary revelations. It makes you wonder if these precarious types of experiments are still going on today, and how these dangerous agents...more

like · see review

Dec 02, 2011 Kari rated it 5 of 5 stars

I just recently finished reading this about a week and a half ago, right before Thanksgiving. I loved it! I know I say this about a lot of books on my list, but I usually only review books that are at least somewhat worth my while.
I enjoy science fiction, but I also enjoy books about disease. This is both of those things, but it is also an action-packed thriller, along with a mystery/suspense type story. I enjoyed the tone, the writing style, the historical references, and that chilling feeling...more

like 1 like · see review

May 28, 2009 Jeff rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is Richard Preston's (the author of "The Hot Zone") first work of fiction. It is, as one might expect, an entertaining, if terrifying and occasionally disgusting portrayal of a fictional bio-terror attack on NYC. The appeal is that Preston, a former science writer for several publications, including Newsweek, knows the finer, grosser details of disease and hot agent behavior when they interact with the human body. Every paragraph of this novel drips with frightening authenticity. The only t...more

like · see review

Apr 11, 2007 Kathy rated it 1 of 5 stars

This author kind of reminds me of Michael Crichton and Dan Brown, in that it's written like a screen play. I read this book and still got a C in my bioterrorism course. LAME.

like 1 like · see review

Apr 08, 2010 Alan Marchant rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi, science

Three stars is a bit harsh. There's not much to dislike about Richard Preston's sci-fi medical thriller. The epidemic strikes with plenty of anticipation and gore. And the good guys win in the end. (Is that a plot-spoiler?)

The problem is that Preston just couldn't shed the science-writer persona long enough to become a bona-fide sci-fi writer. He repeatedly slows down the story to show off a lot of research that isn't creative enough as fiction or accurate enough as science. Then exactly half w...more

like · see review

Jul 02, 2012 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this book when I was in high school and remember staying up late to finish it. I found it in my parents basement, and brought it home with me so Andy could read it. I was flipping through it and found myself re-reading it with the same intensity I read through the first time. This book was written before 9/11 (and I read it originally before 9/11 too), so I feel it had a whole new impact this time. The story was even better than I remembered, and even though I knew what was going to happe...more

like · see review

Jun 30, 2007 Gretchen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: travelreading, newfiction

This was a great thriller with just enough science to keep me satisfied. Great travel reading.

like 1 like · see review

Nov 02, 2007 Dorianne Laux rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: booksread

Frightening. A "novel" filled with true facts about
the secret of biological warfare.

like 1 like · see review

Jul 31, 2011 Tracy Walters rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was so INTENSE!....It had some gruesome aspects to it that were absolutely fascinating in the fact that one does not usually read about the procedures done in an autopsy or the detailed results of a biochemical virus as it destroys a human being. There were parts that were a bit dry that had to do with government information and such.....but for the most part this book was really good and hard to put down......the ending subway tunnels scenario was so intense I was just squirming and h...more

like · see review

Jun 18, 2012 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is an eye opening look into the genetic engineering of a virus. Interesting science. Thought it was a well told story. Some very graphic _____ scenes. Can see why authorities were concerned and continue to be concerned. There are many ways terrorists can harm a country and I am surprised the obvious methods have not been tried. Perhaps they have, have been stopped and governments have not released news stories that could cause great discomfort among their citizens.

The author's "The Ho...more

like · see review

Apr 15, 2012 Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is absolutely terrifying. The very real possibility of a bioweapons attack and the potentially massive lethality of an event like this is more frightening than any boogeyman that King or Koontz could conjure up. The book is well-researched, educational, and at times incredibly graphic in its descriptions of the horrific effects of bioweapons on the human body. With the spectre of another terrorist attack in the back of most (if not all) Americans' minds, Preston's pre-9/11 fictional ac...more

like 1 like · see review

Apr 07, 2013 Lady Alexandra rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Future scientists/doctors

Recommended to Lady Alexandra by: Had to read for school

Shelves: for-school

Never, ever, ever read this book unless you want to be scared, scarred, and paranoid for the rest of your life. I am and I'm still not halfway done. This book contains detailed descriptions of gruesome deaths and autopsies. The descriptions include parts for all the human senses, except taste, thankfully.

Edit 1: Okay, I'll admit that the plot is interesting. It's not really all that bad, but still a tad bit disturbing.

Edit 2: Just finished it. Other than the rather graphic descriptions of deaths...more

like · see review

Mar 27, 2012 Kim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: action, conspiracy, crime, detective, drama, horror, mystery, scientific, thriller, male-author, 1990s

Once again Richard Preston sets out to scare us about the (very real) threat of diseases and viruses that could wipe out a significant portion of the world population. Unlike The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story this book is fiction and about what if a virus was altered and used as a weapon, rather than about a natural virus.

The first half of this book is great. The slow buildup as the virus starts to be found, the uncertainty of the source or nature of it, the small snippets of real-life backg...more

like 3 likes · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
What's The Name o...: Some kind of crazy super bug or maybe chemical, a lot of FBI activity in Quantico. [s]	5	20	05 avr. 07:27

combine
Other Editions (21)

More editions...

Genres

Thriller

72 users

Suspense

40 users

Science Fiction

25 users

Mystery

23 users

Medical

18 users

Horror

13 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

13 users

Adult Fiction

8 users

War > Terrorism

6 users

Health > Medicine

5 users

See top shelves...

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Cobra Event

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: The Cobra Event
avg rating	preview: The Cobra Event Goodreads rating: 3.95 (5459 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/376613.The_Cobra_Event?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1223665252l/376613.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/376613.The_Cobra_Event?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Cobra Event by Richard Preston[/url]

The Cobra Event

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (21)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Richard Preston

Books by Richard Preston

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About The Cobra Event