2002 non-fiction about biological weapon agents smallpox and anthrax, and the American governmental defensive measures toward them. The book is mostly an account of the Smallpox Eradication Program, a discussion about smallpox’s status as a potential bioterrorism agent, and the controversy about the remaining samples. Demon in the Freezer is very much a product of its time, having been published in 2002, just after the anthrax attacks. I really thought this book was going to be about anthrax. In fact, the first few chapters and last couple chapters were about the post-9/11 anthrax attacks. But what this book was actually about was small pox. Having been born in the eighties, I never knew just how terrifying smallpox really could be -- I mean, it’s one of the most virulent diseases on the planet, so lots of people got it, right? Holy crap, smallpox make ebola look like small potatoes. Consider me educated.
( )

Talk about horror - the thought of biological warfare is a truly terrifying idea. Richard Preston does a wonderful job of breaking down both the science and the facts, reconstructing scenes from the past to immerse the reader in the climate in which events occurred and decisions were made. It's impressive that doctors were able to eradicate a worldwide disease as deadly as smallpox. Unfortunately, in today's politically volatile climate, with a modern population having no immunity to the disease, very few vaccines on hand, and so many samples of the disease remaining in unfriendly hands around the world, it seems that this 'dead' disease is still very much of a threat. Although it is harder to sleep at night having read this book, I'm glad that I did so. ( )

Reading these kind of books makes you always question the humanity.

Besides this basic fact this book is a true page turner. Fascinating from the first to the last page. Slight nitpicking I do have on parts where "Character X wears Y and her/his hair is Z" stuff is really not something I need to have in this kind of book.
Second nitpick is that it feels too short and with some unanswered or open questions. ( )

In the same manner of The Hot Zone, Richard Preston's The Demon in the Freezer tells a massively interesting story of smallpox - how the deadliest disease that ever existed on the planet becomes the only disease that humanity is able to completely eradicate. Very informative look, especially now, its a great retrospective into disease and the history of weaponization of diseases. The history of smallpox and its defeat is only the first half of the book, the rest are events related to the development of biological weapons based on smallpox (mainly in the USSR and Russia), the stockpile of smallpox vaccine of the World Health Organization and storage of still existing deep-frozen smallpox samples.

Sounds a lot more interesting than it actually manages to be. Also the second half of the book reads more like a novelization which is interesting but also sort of jarring combination. Not terrible but different for sure.

The audio book read by Paul Boehmer is also massively entertaining. He is a great performer to injects a lot of life into the book with accents and differentiation between history, the to date journalistic parts, and the last half to 3/4 of the book that reads more like a story.

Great read - superb audiobook. Highly recommend. ( )

Scary. I read this during COVID-19 (June 2020) and it puts into perspective (perhaps) how prepared we are as a Nation to handle a large-scale biological event. To make it worse, this was written in 2002...a lot has changed in 18 years, but is it all for the better? Hard to say, we almost need a Demon in the Freezer #2 to update us on the current state of affairs post-COVID. I can't recommend this book enough to someone interested in this topic. If you haven't read about Smallpox or Anthrax - read this! ( )