“When the Ebola outbreak in West Africa began to escalate a few months ago, the writer Richard Preston was working on a children’s fantasy novel. He dropped that and called David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker. “I said, ‘I’ve got to get back to Ebola,’ ” Mr. Preston said. “I’ve got to cover this.”

Mr. Preston first incited public fears about Ebola 20 years ago with “The Hot Zone,” his thrillerlike narrative that details the virus’s origins and scientists’ struggle to understand and stop it. The book, which has sold 3.5 million copies, could perhaps be classified as dystopian nonfiction.”

via Updating a Chronicle of Suffering: Author of ‘The Hot Zone’ Tracks Ebola’s Evolution – NYTimes.com.