Armed only with their knowledge of the natural world, they find themselves prey to a technology of radical and unbridled power. But once in the Oahu rain forest, the scientists are thrust into a hostile wilderness that reveals profound and surprising dangers at every turn. Nanigen MicroTechnologies dispatches the group to a mysterious lab in Hawaii, where they are promised access to tools that will open a whole new scientific frontier. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, seven graduate students at the forefront of their fields are recruited by a pioneering microbiology start up.

Trillions of microorganisms, tens of thousands of bacteria species, are being discovered they are feeding a search for priceless drugs and applications on a scale beyond anything previously imagined. In the lush forests of Oahu, groundbreaking technology has ushered in a revolutionary era of biological prospecting. The only clue left behind is a tiny bladed robot, nearly invisible to the human eye. Three men are found dead in the locked second floor office of a Honolulu building, with no sign of struggle except for the ultrafine, razor sharp cuts covering their bodies. It is a dramatic, heart stopping account of a very real threat, told with the skill and authority that made Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone an internationally acclaimed bestseller. The stories of what they have seen and what they expect to happen and how they plan to deal with it are chilling.

Preston’s sources for his story include members of the FBI and the United States military, public health officials, intelligence officers in foreign governments, and scientists who have been involved in the development and testing of strategic bioweapons.

The extent to which the products of black biology are available nearly everywhere in the world is shocking. ‘The creation of advanced biological weapons using methods of genetic engineering and biotechnology is sometimes known as ‘black biology,” Richard Preston writes. The details of this story are fictional, but they are based on a scrupulously thorough inquiry into the history of biological weapons and their use by civilian and military terrorists. What she finds precipitates a federal crisis.

an expert in epidemiology, to investigate. Soon, other gruesome deaths of a similar nature have been discovered, and the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta sends a forensic pathologist. Hours later she is having violent seizures, blood is pouring out of her nose, and she has begun a hideous process of self cannibalization. It is set in motion one spring morning in New York City when a seventeen year old student wakes up feeling vaguely ill. The Cobra Event is the story of a secret counter terror operation.

Panic in level 4 richard preston