06/17/2019
Screenwriter and director Koepp makes his fiction debut with a sensational SF thriller. In 1979, Skylab, the first NASA space station, crashes into the Indian Ocean, with a piece landing in Western Australia. Aboard Skylab is a highly adaptive fungal organism, Cordyceps novus , which was sent into space as a research project. Once back on Earth, the organism starts to evolve into a sentient killer that sees humankind—and all other life-forms—as nourishment. In 1987, USAF Maj. Roberto Diaz, a Defense Nuclear Agency operative, manages to contain the organism after it decimates a remote Australian community in nightmarish fashion. In 2019, Diaz, who’s now retired, receives the midnight call he’s been dreading—the remnants of the organism, buried far underground inside a former military installation in Kansas, may have escaped. Diaz rushes from his North Carolina home to Kansas, where he joins two security guards in battling the menace. Breakneck pacing and nonstop action compensate for the predictable story line and the occasional contrivance. Michael Crichton fans won’t want to miss this one. Agent: Mollie Glick, CAA. (Sept.)
“[Koepp] writes well, he has a wicked sense of humor and his characters are so keenly, intelligently and even movingly drawn. . . . On every level, Cold Storage is pure, unadulterated entertainment.” — A.J. Jacobs, New York Times bestselling author of The Know-It-All
“Engaging. . . . Koepp recognizes that this is all pretty zany and imbues the novel with a mordant sense of humor, which gives Cold Storage a welcome vibrancy and lightness.” — USA Today
“The story line in Cold Storage invokes classic horror films. . . . It’s scary, and a great deal of fun.” — Associated Press
“Koepp delivers a story worthy of Michael Crichton.” — Entertainment Weekly
“It has all the hallmarks of a thriller destined for Hollywood.” — Polygon
“A thriller of breakneck speed, Cold Storage will be an engaging read that fans of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter could devour in one sitting.” — Ars Technica
“Chilling. . . . Propulsive. . . . Koepp is skilled at sharp, often humorous dialogue. . . . [A] taut, mordant thriller debut.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“A terrific thriller: ambitious, audacious, gory, scary, flamboyant, and funny. . . . [Koepp makes] a seamless, massively effective transition from the visual medium to the literary. The book doesn’t read like a modestly beefed-up pitch for a movie; it’s a rich, textured, and downright impossible-to-put-down story.” — Booklist (starred review)
“A sensational SF thriller. . . . Breakneck pacing and nonstop action. . . . Michael Crichton fans won’t want to miss this one.” — Publishers Weekly
“Cold Storage is The Andromeda Strain on crack: chilling end-of-the-world terror infected with wicked humor. Koepp pulls it off with style. When the real apocalypse arrives, may it be even half as funny as this.” — Barron's
“An ultra-flammable combination of science-based horror, primal nightmare-level terror, and unrelenting action, cunningly tied together by indelible characters and a satisfyingly sly, knowing sense of humor.” — Steven Heller, Imprint
To be simultaneously terrifying and hilarious is a masterstroke few writers can pull off, but Koepp manages in this incredible fiction debut that calls to mind a beautiful hybrid of Michael Crichton and Carl Hiaasen. Cold Storage is sheer thrillery goodness, and riotously entertaining. — Blake Crouch, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter
“A thrilling, funny, and unexpectedly moving joy ride.” — Scott Smith, New York Times bestselling author of A Simple Plan and The Ruins
You might as well put your plans on ice for the next twenty-four hours, as all you’ll be doing is reading this book. The very definition of ‘thriller,’ David Koepp’s Cold Storage grabs you and shakes you and ultimately leaves you grinning. — Neal Pollack, author of Alternadad
It has all the hallmarks of a thriller destined for Hollywood.
A thriller of breakneck speed, Cold Storage will be an engaging read that fans of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter could devour in one sitting.
[Koepp] writes well, he has a wicked sense of humor and his characters are so keenly, intelligently and even movingly drawn. . . . On every level, Cold Storage is pure, unadulterated entertainment.
Cold Storage is The Andromeda Strain on crack: chilling end-of-the-world terror infected with wicked humor. Koepp pulls it off with style. When the real apocalypse arrives, may it be even half as funny as this.
Koepp delivers a story worthy of Michael Crichton.
Engaging. . . . Koepp recognizes that this is all pretty zany and imbues the novel with a mordant sense of humor, which gives Cold Storage a welcome vibrancy and lightness.
The story line in Cold Storage invokes classic horror films. . . . It’s scary, and a great deal of fun.
A terrific thriller: ambitious, audacious, gory, scary, flamboyant, and funny. . . . [Koepp makes] a seamless, massively effective transition from the visual medium to the literary. The book doesn’t read like a modestly beefed-up pitch for a movie; it’s a rich, textured, and downright impossible-to-put-down story.
Booklist (starred review)
Engaging. . . . Koepp recognizes that this is all pretty zany and imbues the novel with a mordant sense of humor, which gives Cold Storage a welcome vibrancy and lightness.
You might as well put your plans on ice for the next twenty-four hours, as all you’ll be doing is reading this book. The very definition of ‘thriller,’ David Koepp’s Cold Storage grabs you and shakes you and ultimately leaves you grinning.
An ultra-flammable combination of science-based horror, primal nightmare-level terror, and unrelenting action, cunningly tied together by indelible characters and a satisfyingly sly, knowing sense of humor.
A thrilling, funny, and unexpectedly moving joy ride.
To be simultaneously terrifying and hilarious is a masterstroke few writers can pull off, but Koepp manages in this incredible fiction debut that calls to mind a beautiful hybrid of Michael Crichton and Carl Hiaasen. Cold Storage is sheer thrillery goodness, and riotously entertaining.
You might as well put your plans on ice for the next twenty-four hours, as all you’ll be doing is reading this book. The very definition of ‘thriller,’ David Koepp’s Cold Storage grabs you and shakes you and ultimately leaves you grinning.
An ultra-flammable combination of science-based horror, primal nightmare-level terror, and unrelenting action, cunningly tied together by indelible characters and a satisfyingly sly, knowing sense of humor.
Cold Storage is The Andromeda Strain on crack: chilling end-of-the-world terror infected with wicked humor. Koepp pulls it off with style. When the real apocalypse arrives, may it be even half as funny as this.
You might as well put your plans on ice for the next twenty-four hours, as all you’ll be doing is reading this book. The very definition of ‘thriller,’ David Koepp’s Cold Storage grabs you and shakes you and ultimately leaves you grinning.
[Koepp] writes well, he has a wicked sense of humor and his characters are so keenly, intelligently and even movingly drawn. . . . On every level, Cold Storage is pure, unadulterated entertainment.
It has all the hallmarks of a thriller destined for Hollywood.
Engaging. . . . Koepp recognizes that this is all pretty zany and imbues the novel with a mordant sense of humor, which gives Cold Storage a welcome vibrancy and lightness.
A thriller of breakneck speed, Cold Storage will be an engaging read that fans of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter could devour in one sitting.
[Koepp] delivers a story worthy of Michael Crichton.
The story line in Cold Storage invokes classic horror films. . . . It’s scary, and a great deal of fun.
A terrific thriller: ambitious, audacious, gory, scary, flamboyant, and funny....[Koepp makes] a seamless, massively effective transition from the visual medium to the literary. The book doesn’t read like a modestly beefed-up pitch for a movie; it’s a rich, textured, and downright impossible-to-put-down story.
Booklist (starred review)
British actor Rupert Friend narrates this bio-thriller in an easy-to-listen-to American tone and accent. The debut novel from David Koepp, well known as the screenwriter of JURASSIC PARK and other megahits, delivers on cinematic tension, action, and well-placed humor. Think smart, unstoppable human-destroying fungi discovered in a remote area of Australia and then contained by bioterror operative Roberto Diaz and his partner. Years later, the fungi resurface, and Diaz is called upon again to battle the determined and deadly predator. Narrator Friend keeps the listener engaged throughout the detailed explanations of chemistry and biology that add to the realism and terror of the situation. He also handles the female voices effectively. A truly creepy and entertaining listen. E.Q. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
British actor Rupert Friend narrates this bio-thriller in an easy-to-listen-to American tone and accent. The debut novel from David Koepp, well known as the screenwriter of JURASSIC PARK and other megahits, delivers on cinematic tension, action, and well-placed humor. Think smart, unstoppable human-destroying fungi discovered in a remote area of Australia and then contained by bioterror operative Roberto Diaz and his partner. Years later, the fungi resurface, and Diaz is called upon again to battle the determined and deadly predator. Narrator Friend keeps the listener engaged throughout the detailed explanations of chemistry and biology that add to the realism and terror of the situation. He also handles the female voices effectively. A truly creepy and entertaining listen. E.Q. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
★ 2019-06-17
Koepp is a very successful screenwriter (Jurassic Park , etc.) and director (Premium Rush , etc.) whose film experience is apparent in this propulsive disaster tale. In the prologue, set in 1987, two agents of the U.S. Defense Nuclear Agency, specialists in neutralizing bioweapons and the like, head for a remote Australian town where debris from the Skylab satellite fell. There, Roberto Diaz and Trini Romano find a bizarre catastrophe: An unknown fungus that mutates with spectacular speed has killed everyone in Kiwirrkurra. Diaz and Romano clean up the mess and contain a sample of the organism, which they deliver to a huge cave under the Missouri River bluffs used by the military as a highly secured storage facility. What could go wrong, right? Cut to the present, when the military has sealed the lowest sublevel of the cave, where the fungus is, and sold the rest of the space to a self-storage company. Add a little climate change to raise the underground temperature, and the novel kicks into high gear. Koepp keeps a tight focus on three characters: Diaz, who is called out of retirement to handle the situation secretly, and two guards at the storage facility. Travis "Teacake" Meacham is an ex-convict trying to get his life back on track. Naomi Williams is a college student with two jobs and a sweet little daughter she's raising as a single mother. When the two try to track down an unfamiliar warning signal going off in the facility, they find a nightmare. Koepp builds a tight plot as the three race against time and the fungus, a fictional but all-too-convincing monster of an organism that, if it escapes, could bring on global extinctions. Roberto, Travis, and Naomi are engaging, believable characters. Koepp is skilled at sharp, often humorous dialogue, and Roberto's discovery of the physical barriers to being a hero at age 68 is both darkly funny and an effective source of suspense.
Unlikely heroes battle a frightening fungus that could wipe out humanity in this taut, mordant thriller debut.
