Whether fiction or nonfiction, Richard Preston's bestselling books — about disastrous scientific scenarios — are always impeccably researched, informative, and deftly drawn. His 1998 novel The Cobra Event, about biological terrorism, was reportedly given to then President Clinton to read. Stephen King called his nonfiction book The Hot Zone, the terrifying true story of the Ebola virus, "One of the most horrifying things I've ever read."
