"The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston.

Essay by spongebuddy514High School, 11th gradeA+, October 2003

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The first chapter, titled "Something in the Forest", begins by introducing Charles Monet, a Frenchman with an innate likeness for animals and birds, but very little concern for that of humanity in general. A person of few companions, of which consisted mostly of the female gender and his pet crow, Monet spent most of his time alone in his small home, and as a result, very little was known about his history or reason for choosing to reside in Kenya. As the Christmas break approached, Monet made the decision to spend his vacation on Mount Elgon and asked a fellow lady friend to accompany him. While on the mountain, they ventured through Kitum Cave and admired the crystal-encrusted walls, mummified elephant corpses and the pillars covered in bat guano. Once their trip to Mount Elgon came to an end, the two friends went their separate ways and back into their normal routines of life.

However, something prevented Monet from living as he once did. At first it was a severe headache, but as time passed, his personality changed drastically and his face became an expressionless mask. His few friends noticed the change and urged him to go to a hospital to cure him of his illness. After the first hospital he went to could find nothing wrong with him, he was sent to the best private hospital in East Africa, the Nairobi Hospital. The chapter ends with Monet waiting patiently for medical attention in the waiting room of the hospital. Feeling weak and dizzy as a result of the presence of his unwanted "visitor" taking control of his body, Monet falls to the floor while excreting large amounts of blood, as well as the lining to his intestines.

"Jumper", the second chapter of Part One, begins with medical assistants rushing...