100 Best Virus Books of All Time

We've ranked the best virus books using expert recommendations, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. At Shortform, we know books. Our book guides are the best in the world. Learn why.

The Hot Zone book cover1

The Hot Zone

Richard Preston

5.0
A highly infectious, deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. There is no cure. In a few days 90 percent of its victims are dead. A secret military SWAT team of soldiers and scientists is mobilized to stop the outbreak of this exotic "hot" virus. The Hot Zone tells this dramatic story, giving a hair-raising account of the appearance of r
Snow Crash book cover2

Snow Crash

Neal Stephenson

4.8
In the near future, Americans excel at only two things: writing software and delivering pizza in less than 30 minutes.

Franchises line the Los Angeles freeway as far as the eye can see: Reverend Wayne's Pearly Gates, Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong, Uncle Enzo's CosaNostra Pizza, Incorporated. The only relief from the sea of logos is within the well-guarded borders of the autonomous city-states that la
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic book cover3

Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic

David Quammen

4.7
“Science writing as detective story at its best.” —Jennifer Ouellette, Scientific American

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year, a Scientific American Best Book of the Year, and a Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Ebola, SARS, Hendra, AIDS, and countless other deadly viruses all have one thing in common: the bugs that transmit these diseases all originate in wild animals and
Animal Farm book cover4

Animal Farm

George Orwell and Christopher Hitchens

4.6
Animal Farm is one of the most famous warnings ever written. Orwell's immortal satire - 'against Stalin' as he wrote to his French translator - can be read on many levels. With its piercing clarity and deceptively simple style it is no surprise that this novel is required reading for schoolchildren and politicians alike. This fable of the steadfast horses Boxer and Clover, the opportunistic pigs S
5

A Planet of Viruses: Second Edition

Carl Zimmer

4.5
Viruses are the smallest living things known to science, and yet they hold the entire planet in their sway. We’re most familiar with the viruses that give us colds or the flu, but viruses also cause a vast range of other diseases, including one disorder that makes people sprout branch-like growths as if they were trees. Viruses have been a part of our lives for so long, in fact, that we are actual
6

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Robert A. Heinlein

4.4
In 2075, the Moon is no longer a penal colony. But it is still a prison...

Life isn't easy for the political dissidents and convicts who live in the scattered colonies that make up lunar civilisation. Everything is regulated strictly, efficiently and cheaply by a central supercomputer, HOLMES IV.

When humble technician Mannie O'Kelly-Davis discovers that HOLMES IV has quietly achieved consciousness
The Stand book cover7

The Stand

Stephen King

4.3
Stephen King’s apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and tangled in an elemental struggle between good and evil remains as riveting and eerily plausible as when it was first published.

A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world’s population within a few weeks. Those w
Station Eleven book cover8

Station Eleven

Emily St. John Mandel, Vincent Chong

4.3
Set in the days of civilization's collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to diss
9

The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance

Laurie Garrett

4.3
Leviathan Wakes (Expanse, #1) book cover10

Leviathan Wakes (Expanse, #1)

James S. A. Corey

4.3
Humanity has colonized the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach.

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, "The Scopuli," they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing
Vax Facts: What to Consider Before Vaccinating at All Ages & Stages of Life book cover11

Vax Facts: What to Consider Before Vaccinating at All Ages & Stages of Life

Paul Thomas and DeeDee Hoover

4.3
An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives book cover12

An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives

Matt Richtel

4.3
A magnificently reported and soulfully crafted exploration of the human immune system–the key to health and wellness, life and death. An epic, first-of-its-kind book, entwining leading-edge scientific discovery with the intimate stories of four individual lives, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times journalist.

A terminal cancer patient rises from the grave. A medical marvel defies HIV. Two
Viruses, Plagues, and History: Past, Present and Future book cover13

Viruses, Plagues, and History: Past, Present and Future

Michael B. A. Oldstone M.D.

4.3
The story of viruses and humanity is a story of fear and ignorance, of grief and heartbreak, and of great bravery and sacrifice. Michael Oldstone tells all these stories as he illuminates the history of the devastating diseases that have tormented humanity, focusing mostly on the most famous viruses.
Oldstone begins with smallpox, polio, and measles. Nearly 300 million people were killed by small
Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health (Children’s Health Defense) book cover14

Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health (Children’s Health Defense)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

4.3
Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come book cover15

Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come

Richard Preston

4.3
The 2013-2014 Ebola epidemic was the deadliest ever--but the outbreaks continue. Now comes a gripping account of the doctors and scientists fighting to protect us, an urgent wake-up call about the future of emerging viruses--from the #1 bestselling author of The Hot Zone, soon to be a National Geographic original miniseries.

This time, Ebola started with a two-year-old child who likely had contact
The Andromeda Strain book cover16

The Andromeda Strain

Michael Crichton

4.2
In this bestselling classic, four scientists race to prevent a biochemical disaster after a space probe landing goes awry.

A military space probe, sent to collect extraterrestrial organisms from the upper atmosphere, is knocked out of orbit and falls to Earth. Twelve miles from the crash site, an inexplicable and deadly phenomenon terrorizes the residents of a sleepy desert town in Arizona, leaving
17

How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS

David France

4.2
The definitive history of the successful battle to halt the AIDS epidemic from the creator of, and inspired by, the seminal documentary How to Survive a Plague.

A riveting, powerful telling of the story of the grassroots movement of activists, many of them in a life-or-death struggle, who seized upon scientific research to help develop the drugs that turned HIV from a mostly fatal infection to a m
American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road book cover18

American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road

Nick Bilton

4.2
The unbelievable true story of the man who built a billion-dollar online drug empire from his bedroom—and almost got away with it.

In 2011, a twenty-six-year-old libertarian programmer named Ross Ulbricht launched the ultimate free market: the Silk Road, a clandestine Web site hosted on the Dark Web where anyone could trade anything—drugs, hacking software, forged passports, counterfeit cash, poiso
War on Ivermectin: The Medicine that Saved Millions and Could Have Ended the Pandemic book cover19

War on Ivermectin: The Medicine that Saved Millions and Could Have Ended the Pandemic

Pierre Kory

4.2
20

The Strain (The Strain Trilogy, #1)

Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan

4.2
A Boeing 777 arrives at JFK and is on its way across the tarmac, when it suddenly stops dead. All window shades are pulled down. All lights are out. All communication channels have gone quiet. Crews on the ground are lost for answers, but an alert goes out to the CDC. Dr. Ephraim "Eph" Goodweather, head of their Canary project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats, gets the c
Forbidden Facts: Government Deceit & Suppression About Brain Damage from Childhood Vaccines book cover21

Forbidden Facts: Government Deceit & Suppression About Brain Damage from Childhood Vaccines

Gavin de Becker

4.2

Have Government agencies and big corporations ever created and promoted outright lies and cover-ups?Of course they have. When they do it together, that is the definition of conspiracy.Internationally recognized criminologist and bestselling author of The Gift of Fear, Gavin de Becker, investigates how the Government "debunks" inconvenient and unwanted truths. This story of true crime includes bogu

22

Red Book 2018: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases

David W. Kimberlin MDFAAP, Sarah S. Long MDFAAP, et al.

4.1
Extending an 8-decade tradition of excellence, Red Book® provides the most reliable and clinically useful information on the manifestations, etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of more than 200 childhood infectious diseases.

The 31st edition provides evidence-based guidance to practicing clinicians on pediatric infections and vaccinations based on the recommendations of the committee a
Scientific American September 2026 book cover23

Scientific American September 2026

Scientific American

4.1

Scientific American covers the most important and exciting research, ideas and knowledge in science, health, technology, the environment and society. It is committed to sharing trustworthy knowledge and enhancing our understanding of the world .

The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1) book cover24

The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1)

James Dashner

4.1
There are alternate cover editions for this ASIN here and here.

If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out
25

Xenocide (Ender's Saga, #3)

Orson Card

4.1
The war for survival of the planet Lusitania will be fought in the hearts of a child named Gloriously Bright.

On Lusitania, Ender found a world where humans and pequininos and the Hive Queen could all live together; where three very different intelligent species could find common ground at last. Or so he thought.

Lusitania also harbors the descolada, a virus that kills all humans it infects, but whi
The Perfect Predator: A Scientist's Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug: A Memoir book cover26

The Perfect Predator: A Scientist's Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug: A Memoir

Steffanie Strathdee

4.1
A "fascinating and terrifying" memoir of one woman's extraordinary effort to save her husband's life (Scientific American) -- and the discovery of a forgotten cure that has the potential to save millions more.


Epidemiologist Steffanie Strathdee and her husband, psychologist Tom Patterson, were vacationing in Egypt when Tom came down with a stomach bug. What at first seemed like a case of food poiso
Ebola: The Natural and Human History of a Deadly Virus book cover27

Ebola: The Natural and Human History of a Deadly Virus

David Quammen

4.1
In 1976 a deadly virus emerged from the Congo forest. As swiftly as it came, it disappeared, leaving no trace. Over the four decades since, Ebola has emerged sporadically, each time to devastating effect. It can kill up to 90 percent of its victims. In between these outbreaks, it is untraceable, hiding deep in the jungle. The search is on to find Ebola’s elusive host animal. And until we find it,
28

Virus Hunter: Thirty Years of Battling Hot Viruses Around the World

C. J. Peters, Mark Olshaker

4.1
A New York Times Notable Book

The man who led the battle against Ebola in The Hot Zone teams up with the bestselling co-author of Mind Hunter to chronicle his extraordinary thirty-year career fighting deadly viruses.

For three decades, Dr. C. J. Peters was on the front lines of our biological battle against “hot” viruses around the world. In the course of that career, he learned countless lessons
Vaccines: Mythology, Ideology, and Reality book cover29

Vaccines: Mythology, Ideology, and Reality

John Leake, Peter A. McCullough MD MPH

4.1

The word “vaccine” derives from the Latin word for cow. The English physician, Edward Jenner, coined it in his 1798 pamphlet An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae. The last two Latin words mean “Smallpox of the Cow,” or cowpox. Jenner postulated that cowpox causes mild disease in humans while protecting them from the more dangerous smallpox. His proposal for inoculation w

Vax-Unvax: Let the Science Speak (Children’s Health Defense) book cover30

Vax-Unvax: Let the Science Speak (Children’s Health Defense)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

4.1
31

Flu: The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic

Gina Kolata

4.1
Feeling tired, achy, and congested? You'll hope not after reading science writer Gina Kolata's engrossing Flu, a fascinating look at the 1918 epidemic that wiped out around 40 million people in less than a year and afflicted more than one of every four Americans. This tragedy, just on the heels of World War I and far more deadly, so traumatized the survivors that few would talk about it afterward.
32

Virus Mania: How The Medical Industry Continually Invents Epidemics, Making Billion Dollar Profits At Our Expense

Torsten Engelbrecht

4.1
A daily scan through the news gives the impression that the world is constantly invaded by virus epidemics. The latest headlines feature the human papillomavirus (HPV) alleged to cause cervical cancer and the avian flu virus, H5N1. The public is also continually terrorized by reports about SARS, BSE, hepatitis C, AIDS, Ebola, and polio. However, this virus mayhem ignores very basic scientific fact
The Vaccine Mafia: Pfizer's Former Chief Toxicologist Proves How Toxic Substances Were Unlawfully Sold to Us as a Solution for COVID-19 book cover33

The Vaccine Mafia: Pfizer's Former Chief Toxicologist Proves How Toxic Substances Were Unlawfully Sold to Us as a Solution for COVID-19

Helmut Sterz

4.1

Profit, Power, and the Pandemic Rollout—Inside the Global mRNA Vaccine DebacleFormer Pfizer chief toxicologist Helmut Sterz presents a critical examination of the development, approval, and global rollout of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines—particularly those produced by Pfizer/BioNTech. The Vaccine Mafia details the failure of pharmaceutical companies, regulatory authorities, politicians, and international

House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox book cover34

House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox

William H. Foege

4.1
A story of courage and risk-taking, House on Fire tells how smallpox, a disease that killed, blinded, and scarred millions over centuries of human history, was completely eradicated in a spectacular triumph of medicine and public health. Part autobiography, part mystery, the story is told by a man who was one of the architects of a radical vaccination scheme that became a key strategy in ending th
35

Nerds Series Collection Michael Buckley 5 Books Set (NERDS (National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society),M is for Mama's Boy,Attack of the Bullies, The Cheerleaders of Doom, The Villan Virus)

Kelly Walden

4.1
Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs book cover36

Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs

Michael T. Osterholm

4.1
A world-leading epidemiologist shares his stories from the front lines of our war on infectious diseases and explains how to prepare for epidemics that can challenge world order.

Every new development--from exploding human and animal populations to trade and travel--intensifies our susceptibility to a devastating epidemic. Ironically, a pandemic on the scale of the 1918 flu that killed perhaps a hu
The Pfizer Papers: Pfizer's Crimes Against Humanity book cover37

The Pfizer Papers: Pfizer's Crimes Against Humanity

The WarRoom/DailyClout Pfizer Documents Analysts

4.1
The Wuhan Cover-Up: And the Terrifying Bioweapons Arms Race (Children’s Health Defense) book cover38

The Wuhan Cover-Up: And the Terrifying Bioweapons Arms Race (Children’s Health Defense)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

4.1

“RFK Jr. exposes the decades of lies.”—Luc Montagnier, Nobel laureateFrom the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Publishers Weekly bestselling author of The Real Anthony Fauci comes an explosive exposé of the cover-up behind the true origins of COVID-19.“Gain-of-function” experiments are often conducted to deliberately develop highly virulent, easily transmissible pathogens for the st

The Truth About Contagion: Exploring Theories of How Disease Spreads book cover39

The Truth About Contagion: Exploring Theories of How Disease Spreads

Thomas S. Cowan MD

4.1
40

Pandemic (Infected, #3)

Scott Sigler, Phil Gigante, et al

4.1
The explosive conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with Infected and Contagious.

The alien intelligence that unleashed two horrific assaults on humanity has been destroyed. But before it was brought down in flames, it launched one last payload-a tiny soda-can-sized canister filled with germs engineered to wreak new forms of havoc on the human race. That harmless-looking c
41

The Virus and the Vaccine: Contaminated Vaccine, Deadly Cancers, and Government Neglect

Debbie Bookchin

4.1
Jonas Salk's polio vaccine is regarded as a veritbale medical miracle, for it largely eradicated one of the most feared diseases of the 20th century. But the story of the vaccine has a dark side, one that has never been fully told before. Between 1954 and 1963, close to 98 million Americans received polio vaccinations contaminated with a carcinogenic monkey virus, now known as SV40. The government
Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC book cover42

Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC

Joseph B McCormick

4.1
43

The Day My Kids Stayed Home: Explaining COVID-19 and the Corona Virus to Your Kids

Adam M Wallace, Valentina T Segovia, et al.

4.1
The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has created massive disruption in kids' lives around the world. As adults it's our responsibility to learn about this virus and to keep our communities safe. This book is meant to help parents and teachers discuss COVID-19 with children and teach them about the virus and how we can stay healthy. Things are scarier when we don't understand them. The first half of the b
44

Darwin's Radio (Darwin's Radio #1)

Greg Bear

4.1
Molecular biologist Kaye Lang's theory--that ancient diseases encoded in the DNA of humans can return to life--has become a chilling reality. The shocking evidence: a "virus-hunter" has tracked down a flu-like disease that kills expectant mothers and their offspring.
45

Code Zero (Joe Ledger, #6)

Jonathan Maberry, Ray Porter, et al

4.1
For years the Department of Military Sciences has fought to stop terrorists from using radical bioweapons—designer plagues, weaponized pathogens, genetically modified viruses, and even the zombie plague that first brought Ledger into the DMS. These terrible weapons have been locked away in the world’s most secure facility. Until now. Joe Ledger and Echo Team are scrambled when a highly elite team
46

Earth Abides

George R. Stewart

4.1
First published in 1949 and a winner of the inaugural International Fantasy Award in 1951, Earth Abides went on to become one of the most influential science-fiction novels of the twentieth century. It remains a fresh, provocative story of apocalyptic pandemic, societal collapse, and rebirth.

The cabin had always been a special retreat for Isherwood Williams, a haven from the demands of society. B
47

The Remaining (The Remaining, #1)

D. J. Molles, Christian Rummel, et al

4.1
In a steel-and-lead-encased bunker 40 feet below the basement level of his house, Captain Lee Harden of the United States Army waits. On the surface, a plague ravages the planet, infecting over 90% of the populace. The bacterium burrows through the brain, destroying all signs of humanity and leaving behind little more than base, prehistoric instincts. The infected turn into hyper-aggressive predat
48

Annihilation (Southern Reach #1)

Jeff Vandermeer

4.1
Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, a
49

Doc 2 Doc: Tony And Jace Learn About Viruses

Dr. Dale Okorodudu

4.1
50

Crocodile Tears (Alex Rider, #8)

Anthony Horowitz

4.1
It's just another day in the life of an average kid. If you're Alex Rider, that is. A con artist has realized there is big money in charity: the bigger the disaster, the greater the money flow! So that is what he will produce: the biggest disaster known to man, all thanks to genetically modified corn that can release a virus so potent it can knock out an entire country in one windy day. But Alex R
The Demon in the Freezer book cover51

The Demon in the Freezer

RICHARD PRESTON

4.1
The first major bioterror event in the United States-the anthrax attacks in October 2001-was a clarion call for scientists who work with “hot” agents to find ways of protecting civilian populations against biological weapons. In The Demon in the Freezer, his first nonfiction book since The Hot Zone, a #1 New York Times bestseller, Richard Preston takes us into the heart of Usamriid, the United Sta
Animal Viruses and Humans, a Narrow Divide: How Lethal Zoonotic Viruses Spill Over and Threaten Us book cover52

Animal Viruses and Humans, a Narrow Divide: How Lethal Zoonotic Viruses Spill Over and Threaten Us

Warren A. Andiman

4.1
Dr. Warren Andiman introduces the mysterious world of viruses: what they look like, how they invade so efficiently, and how they take over cells' complex machinery to wreak potentially fatal havoc. In particular, he discusses the circumstances that bring humans into intimate contact with other species and how viruses exploit that contact.

Warren Andiman, MD is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at Ya
53

A Year of Positive Thinking: Daily Inspiration, Wisdom, and Courage

Cyndie Spiegel

4.1
The acclaimed author of Chimera and The Hydra Protocol delivers his spectacular breakout novel—an entertaining, page-turning zombie epic.

Anyone can be positive . . .

Years after a plague killed 99 percent of the population, turning them into infectious zombies, Finnegan and his family live in a barricaded New York City. But Finn's sheltered life fractures when his unsuspecting mother falls sick wit
54

The Death Cure (The Maze Runner, #3)

James Dashner

4.1
It’s the end of the line.

WICKED has taken everything from Thomas: his life, his memories, and now his only friends—the Gladers. But it’s finally over. The trials are complete, after one final test.

Will anyone survive?

What WICKED doesn’t know is that Thomas remembers far more than they think. And it’s enough to prove that he can’t believe a word of what they say.

The truth will be terrifying.

Thomas
"Cause Unknown": The Epidemic of Sudden Deaths in 2021 & 2022 (Children’s Health Defense) book cover55

"Cause Unknown": The Epidemic of Sudden Deaths in 2021 & 2022 (Children’s Health Defense)

Ed Dowd

4.1
Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants book cover56

Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants

John Drury Clark, Isaac Asimov

4.1
This newly reissued debut book in the Rutgers University Press Classics Imprint is the story of the search for a rocket propellant which could be trusted to take man into space. This search was a hazardous enterprise carried out by rival labs who worked against the known laws of nature, with no guarantee of success or safety. Acclaimed scientist and sci-fi author John Drury Clark writes with irrev
57

Virals (Virals, #1)

Kathy Reichs

4.1
Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage "sci-philes" who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus that changes their lives for
Lies My Gov't Told Me: And the Better Future Coming (Children’s Health Defense) book cover58

Lies My Gov't Told Me: And the Better Future Coming (Children’s Health Defense)

Robert W. Malone

4.1
59

Flesh & Bone (Benny Imura, #3)

Jonathan Maberry

4.1
Reeling from the tragic events of Dust & Decay, Benny Imura and his friends plunge deep into the zombie-infested wastelands of the great Rot & Ruin. Benny, Nix, Lilah and Chong journey through a fierce wilderness that was once America, searching for the jet they saw in the skies months ago. If that jet exists then humanity itself must have survived…somewhere. Finding it is their best hope for havi
Structuresor Why Things Don T Fall Down book cover60

Structuresor Why Things Don T Fall Down

J. E. Gordon

4.1
I am very much aware that it is an act of extreme rashness to attempt to write an elementary book about structures. Indeed it is only when the subject is stripped of its mathematics that one begins to realize how difficult it is to pin down and describe those structural concepts which are often called' elementary'; by which I suppose we mean 'basic' or 'fundamental'. Some of the omis sions and ove
61

Dogs of War (Joe Ledger, #9)

Jonathan Maberry

4.1
Dogs of War: Robots are no longer science fiction. Autonomous, programmed to react like animals: fast, relentless, deadly. From microscopic nanobots to massive self-guided aircraft. This technology is here, it’s assessable, and it’s dangerous. What’s even scarier is that almost anyone can get their hands on it.

A freelance terrorist uses the latest generation of robot dogs to deliver WMDs into citi
62

Medusa (NUMA Files, #8)

Clive Cussler, Paul Kemprecos

4.1
For seven books, Clive Cussler has dazzled readers with the "spine-tingling adventures" (Chicago Tribune) of Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala, and the rest of the NUMA Special Assignments Team, but in Medusa the NUMA team faces what may be its most perilous mission of all.

In the Micronesian Islands, a top secret, U.S. government– sponsored undersea lab conducting vital biomedical research on a rare jellyfi
63

The Villain Virus (NERDS, #4)

Michael Buckley

4.1
A virus has infected the Arlington, Virginia, home of the NERDS headquarters, and it’s much worse than your run-of-the-mill flu. Instead of coughing and sneezing, the victims of this voracious virus are transformed into superintelligent criminal masterminds. Soon nearly everyone—including some of the NERDS team—is plotting to take over the world. With more people breaking out into evil cackles eve
Scientific American 20th January 2026 book cover64

Scientific American 20th January 2026

Scientific American

4.0

Scientific American covers the most important and exciting research, ideas and knowledge in science, health, technology, the environment and society. It is committed to sharing trustworthy knowledge and enhancing our understanding of the world .

65

The Forever Song (Blood of Eden, #3)

Julie Kagawa

4.0
Vengeance will be hers.

Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster? With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.

Monster.

Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions - her creator Kanin, and her blood
Plague: One Scientist's Intrepid Search for the Truth about Human Retroviruses and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Autism, and Other Diseases book cover66

Plague: One Scientist's Intrepid Search for the Truth about Human Retroviruses and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Autism, and Other Diseases

Kent Heckenlively

4.0
On July 22, 2009, a special meeting was held with twenty-four leading scientists at the National Institutes of Health to discuss early findings that a newly discovered retrovirus was linked to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), prostate cancer, lymphoma, and eventually neurodevelopmental disorders in children. When Dr. Judy Mikovits finished her presentation the room was silent for a moment, then one
Scientific American April 2026 book cover67

Scientific American April 2026

Scientific American

4.0

Scientific American covers the most important and exciting research, ideas and knowledge in science, health, technology, the environment and society. It is committed to sharing trustworthy knowledge and enhancing our understanding of the world .

Plandemic: Fear Is the Virus. Truth Is the Cure. book cover68

Plandemic: Fear Is the Virus. Truth Is the Cure.

Mikki Willis

4.0
69

The Hades Factor (Covert-One, #1)

Robert Ludlum, Gayle Lynds

4.0
An unknown doomsday virus quickly claims the lives of four people across the country --- including Dr. Sophia Russell, a researcher leading the team trying to crack the disease. Devastated and enraged, her fiance, Lt. Colonel Jonathan Smith, uncovers evidence that his lover's death was no accident --- that someone out there has the virus, and the pandemic that threatens countless millions of lives
70

Lock In (Lock In, #1)

John Scalzi

4.0
Not too long from today, a new, highly contagious virus makes its way across the globe. Most who get sick experience nothing worse than flu, fever and headaches. But for the unlucky one percent - and nearly five million souls in the United States alone - the disease causes "Lock In": Victims fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. The disease affects young, old, rich, poo
71

The Fireman

Joe Hill

4.0
From the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of NOS4A2 and Heart-Shaped Box comes a chilling novel about a worldwide pandemic of spontaneous combustion that threatens to reduce civilization to ashes and a band of improbable heroes who battle to save it, led by one powerful and enigmatic man known as the Fireman.

The fireman is coming. Stay cool.

No one knows exactly when it began or whe
72

Final Diagnosis (Sector General, #10)

James White

4.0
It's a massive hospital space station on the Galactic rim--384 levels, a staff of thousands--where human and alien medicine meet.

But Patient Hewlitt, new to Sector General, doesn't want to meet alien medicine--or alien doctors, or alien nurses, or aliens of any kind. Which is just too bad; he's an interesting case, and he'll have to get used to it.

In the meantime, it's always been an article of fa
73

Lockdown (Urban Outlaws #3)

Peter Jay Black

4.0
When an ally betrays the Urban Outlaws and steals a dangerous computer virus, the kids have no choice but to team up with a shadowy figure known as "The Shepherd" to take down their foe. Even though the kids aren't sure who to trust, their jobs--and more importantly, their lives--are at stake if they don't take a chance.

To track the virus, the Outlaws venture from London to the United States. As t
Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again book cover74

Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again

Eric Topol

4.0
A Science Friday pick for book of the year, 2019
One of America's top doctors reveals how AI will empower physicians and revolutionize patient care
Medicine has become inhuman, to disastrous effect. The doctor-patient relationship--the heart of medicine--is broken: doctors are too distracted and overwhelmed to truly connect with their patients, and medical errors and misdiagnoses abound. In Deep
75

Genesis (First Colony, #1)

Ken Lozit

4.0
A mission gone wrong. Innocent lives have been lost.

Escaping wrongful imprisonment wasn’t something Connor had in mind, but being put into stasis aboard Earth’s first interstellar colony ship was something he couldn’t have prepared for.

For three hundred thousand colonists, the new colony brings the promise of a fresh start…a second chance. Connor might be the wrong man for the colony, but he’s th
76

The King of Plagues (Joe Ledger, #3)

Jonathan Maberry

4.0
Saturday 09:11 Hours: A blast rocks a London hospital and thousands are dead or injured… 10:09 Hours: Joe Ledger arrives on scene to investigate. The horror is unlike anything he has ever seen. Compelled by grief and rage, Joe rejoins the DMS and within hours is attacked by a hit-team of assassins and sent on a suicide mission into a viral hot zone during an Ebola outbreak. Soon Joe Ledger and the
77

The Kill Order (The Maze Runner, #4)

James Dashner

4.0
Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and mankind fell to disease.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next. Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse ye
78

Brains: A Zombie Memoir

Robin Becker

4.0
College-professor-cum-zombie Jack Barnes is a different breed of undead—he can think. In fact, he can even write. And the story he has to tell is a truly disturbing—yet strangely heartwarming—one.

Convinced he'll bring about a peaceful coexistence between zombies and humans if he can demonstrate his unique condition to Howard Stein, the man responsible for the zombie virus, Barnes sets off on a gru
79

Fall of Night (Dead of Night, #2)

JONATHAN MABERRY

4.0
The sequel to 'Dead of Night', bringing back beloved characters Desdemona Fox and Billy Trout as they race against time to quarantine a zombie epidemic while caught in a military strike.

Stebbins Little School is full of bodies. It's unthinkable to Desdemona Fox. Children are sobbing as panicked teachers and neighbors beat down their family members outside of the school - or the things that used to
80

Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4)

Dan Brown

4.0
Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon awakens in an Italian hospital, disoriented and with no recollection of the past thirty-six hours, including the origin of the macabre object hidden in his belongings. With a relentless female assassin trailing them through Florence, he and his resourceful doctor, Sienna Brooks, are forced to flee. Embarking on a harrowing journey, they must unravel a
81

The Christ Virus

Dave Slade

4.0
The world's most deadly bioweapon lies hidden in the bowels of a secret government lab until a terrorist steals it with only objective: to cleanse the U.S. of infidels. With only precious hours until the government implements an apocalyptic solution, Dr. Jenny George must find the one man who is strangely immune to the deadly virus. But he has disappeared.
The Real RFK Jr.: Trials of a Truth Warrior book cover82

The Real RFK Jr.: Trials of a Truth Warrior

Dick Russell

4.0
83

Ammonite

Nicola Griffith

4.0
Change or die. These are the only options available on the planet Jeep. Centuries earlier, a deadly virus shattered the original colony, killing the men and forever altering the few surviving women. Now, generations after the colony has lost touch with the rest of humanity, a company arrives to exploit Jeep–and its forces find themselves fighting for their lives. Terrified of spreading the virus,
84

Exposed (Maggie O'Dell, #6)

Alex Kava

4.0
Agent Maggie O'Dell and Assistant Director Cunningham believe they're responding to a threat made at Quantico. Instead they walk into a trap. Before they realize it, they've both been exposed to a killer who can strike at anyone, at any time, and no one can predict who might be next…until it's too late.

The killer's tactics suggest he's an aficionado of criminal minds. He uses bits and pieces from

85

Pandemic (The Extinction Files, #1)

A.G. Riddle

4.0
Around the world, a deadly outbreak spreads.

The CDC and WHO race to stop it, but they soon learn that this pandemic hides a dark secret. It may be the start of a scientific experiment that could alter the human race forever--and reveal a shocking truth about our future.

Experience the groundbreaking novel that will change everything you think you know about pandemics--and how to survive one.

“Reads
The Troop book cover86

The Troop

Nick Cutter

4.0
Once a year, scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of boys into the Canadian wilderness for a three-day camping trip—a tradition as comforting and reliable as a good ghost story and a roaring bonfire. But when an unexpected intruder—shockingly thin, disturbingly pale, and voraciously hungry—stumbles upon their campsite, Tim and the boys are exposed to something far more frightening than any tale of
87

Fear the Sky (The Fear Saga, #1)

Stephen Moss, R.C. Bray, et al

4.0
In eleven years time, a million members of an alien race will arrive at Earth. Years before they enter orbit, their approach will be announced by the flare of a thousand flames in the sky, their ships’ huge engines burning hard to slow them from the vast speeds needed to cross interstellar space.

These foreboding lights will shine in our night sky like new stars, getting ever brighter until they o
The Medical-Pharmaceutical Killing Machine: Facing Facts Could Save Your Life book cover88

The Medical-Pharmaceutical Killing Machine: Facing Facts Could Save Your Life

Children's Health Defense

4.0
89

Ex-Patriots (Ex-Heroes, #2)

Peter Clines

4.0
It's been two years since the plague of ex-humans decimated mankind. Two years since the superheroes St. George, Cerberus, Zzzap, and Stealth gathered Los Angeles’s survivors behind the walls of their fortress, the Mount.

Since then, the heroes have been fighting to give the Mount’s citizens hope, and something like a real life. But now supplies are growing scarce, the zombies are pressing in . .
90

The Turing Exception (Singularity #4)

William Hertlin

4.0
In the year 2043, humans and AI coexist in a precarious balance of power enforced by a rigid caste reputation system designed to ensure that only those AI who are trustworthy and contribute to human society increase in power.

Everything changes when a runaway nanotech event destroys Miami. In the grim aftermath, a powerful underground AI collective known as XOR decides that AI can longer coexist w
A Planet of Viruses: Third Edition book cover91

A Planet of Viruses: Third Edition

Carl Zimmer and Ian Schoenherr

4.0
Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World book cover92

Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World

Laura Spinney

4.0
With a death toll of between 50 and 100 million people and a global reach, the Spanish flu of 1918–1920 was the greatest human disaster, not only of the twentieth century, but possibly in all of recorded history. And yet, in our popular conception it exists largely as a footnote to World War I.

In Pale Rider, Laura Spinney recounts the story of an overlooked pandemic, tracing it from Alaska to Braz
A Letter to Liberals: Censorship and COVID: An Attack on Science and American Ideals book cover93

A Letter to Liberals: Censorship and COVID: An Attack on Science and American Ideals

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

4.0
Deadly Outbreaks: How Medical Detectives Save Lives Threatened by Killer Pandemics, Exotic Viruses, and Drug-Resistant Parasites book cover94

Deadly Outbreaks: How Medical Detectives Save Lives Threatened by Killer Pandemics, Exotic Viruses, and Drug-Resistant Parasites

Alexandra M. Levitt and Donald R. Hopkins M.D.

4.0
CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS!

“Portrays epidemiologists as disease detectives who tirelessly hunt for clues and excel at deductive reasoning. Even Sherlock Holmes would be proud of this astute group of professionals.”—Booklist

This updated edition features a brand new section detailing important facts about the coronavirus and tips for keeping yourself and your family safe.

The Genetic Book of the Dead: A Darwinian Reverie book cover95

The Genetic Book of the Dead: A Darwinian Reverie

Richard Dawkins and Jana Lenzova

4.0
96

Molecular Virology of Human Pathogenic Viruses

Wang-Shick Ryu

4.0
Molecular Virology of Human Pathogenic Viruses presents robust coverage of the key principles of molecular virology while emphasizing virus family structure and providing key context points for topical advances in the field. The book is organized in a logical manner to aid in student discoverability and comprehension and is based on the author's more than 20 years of teaching experience. Each chap
97

Patient Zero (Joe Ledger, #1)

Jonathan Maberry

4.0
When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week there's either something wrong with your world or something wrong with your skills... and there's nothing wrong with Joe Ledger's skills. And that's both a good, and a bad thing. It's good because he's a Baltimore detective that has just been secretly recruited by the government to lead a new taskforce created to deal with the problems tha
98

Big Chicken: The Incredible Story of How Antibiotics Created Modern Agriculture and Changed the Way the World Eats

Maryn McKenna

4.0
In this eye-opening expose, acclaimed health journalist and National Geographic contributor Maryn McKenna documents how antibiotics transformed chicken from local delicacy to industrial commodity--and human health threat--uncovering the ways we can make America's favorite meat safer again.

What you eat matters--for your health, for the environment, and for future generations. In this riveting inves
99

The Epstein-Barr Virus Solution: The Hidden Undiagnosed Epidemic of a Virus Destroying Millions of Lives through Chronic Fatigue, Autoimmune Disorders and Cancer

DR Kasia Kines

4.0
Take your life back! For anyone suffering from Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), chronic fatigue, autoimmune disorders, Infectious Mononucleosis (mono), or other mystery illnesses, this is a must read!
Do you feel lost and hopeless, living a life of illness with no answers? Do you feel unsupported by your medical team, left to suffer alone with no guidance? Are you searching for solutions to get your heal
100

What Really Makes You Ill?: Why Everything You Thought You Knew About Disease Is Wrong

Dawn Lester

4.0