THE COBRA EVENT

'''The Cobra Event''' is a 1998 bio-thriller novel by Richard Preston describing a terror attempt on the United States by a man known only as Archimedes. Archimedes is the creator of a virus that mixes the incurable common cold with one of the world's most deadly diseases, smallpox. The virus is a Biosafety Level 4 hot agent (because it is human lethal).

Contents

Plot summary

Plot summary

The book is divided into six sections. The first section, named "Trial", tells of teenage girl named Kate Moran who violently dies one day in school. The next section titled "1969", explains many tests done in the sixties by the U.S. government involving certain viruses. The third section, "Diagnosis", describes the autopsy of Kate Moran and also introduces many key characters such as Dr. Alice Austen, Mark Littleberry, and Will Hopkins. The book continues on the other three sections, "Decision", "Reachdeep", and "The Operation", describe these three characters' journey to discover the producer of the lethal virus Cobra.