The result is spine-chilling as Peters follows the scientists who solved the intricate mystery of the killer epidemics. Patient Zero brilliantly brings to life the main characters and events to tell the gripping tale of how each of seven diseases spread. As they looked for clues to the origin of a disease, scientists searched for the unknown 'patient zero'-the first person to have contracted it. But they kept hunting for answers, putting the pieces of the epidemic puzzle together. Often they were ignored, laughed at, or even fired from their jobs. The courageous, trail-blazing defenders against these diseases faced a terrifying personal gamble. Throughout history, more people have died in disease epidemics than in wars or other disasters. Overall, very interesting and informative.Engrossing true stories of the pioneers of epidemiology who risked their lives to find the source of deadly diseases. Anyway, this is a minor quibble that most people won't care about. Or the author could even have interviewed these people.' So I believed them more.

It might have been because I was getting used to the style, but I think it was because the analytical part of me was subconsciously thinking, 'Okay, this is a recent epidemic, so there are probably good written records of how this scene played out. The story-like narration in the later chapters didn't bother me so much. The rest of each chapter stepped back and didn't presume to know the thoughts and feelings and exact dialogue of the historical figures, so it felt more reliable. That always bothers me in books and makes it harder to believe the parts stated as fact. I know the author was trying to hook the reader and get them to care about people involved in the epidemics, but those sections had to involve a LOT of speculation on the author's part, so it read like historical fiction instead of nonfiction.

What didn't work for me were the narrations-told like stories-in the first part of the first few chapters. I haven't read the original, but I thought the COVID-19 additions were good, not just in the one COVID chapter but the tie-ins throughout the rest. It went just far enough into the science to be interesting without being dry. It gave me a good grounding without going on for 600 pages about stuff I really didn't care about (like the childhoods and physical descriptions and detailed work history of the 23 most important scientists involved in each epidemic-here's looking at you, John M Barry).

Reading as an adult who just wanted the basics of some of history's most deadly epidemics, I thought this was a really interesting read.

Patient zero by marilee peters