Cold Storage by David Koepp

While I certainly wish I could be going to work and going about my life as normal, I do enjoy some of the perks of staying at home. At the start of the year, I resolved to work through a backlog of reviews from the year previous. Like most good-intentioned resolutions, this one quickly fell to the wayside. Lucky for me, I've been gifted a rare second chance to make good on that goal. I'm still maintaining my 2020 goal of reading and reviewing at least one book a week, but I now have a bit of extra time to devote to some of the books that I didn't get to feature in 2019. The first backlogged review couldn't be more timely.

In Cold Storage, author David Koepp writes of the attempted containment of a highly mutative organism that, if left unchecked, has the potential to take over the earth. This thing is nothing to mess with. The novel opens with a Pentagon official Roberto Diaz investigating what is believed to be some sort of bioterrorism attack. What he discovers is the thing nightmares are made of. No, this isn't a monster or an evil terrorist. In a world that is facing the realities of a novel virus, the threat of this little fungal organism seems even more devastating. One touch of this organism and you're done for. Diaz wastes no time containing the fungus and burying it deep in an underground Kansas facility.

Decades later, the front desk attendant at a self-storage facility notices the faint beeping of some kind of alarm. None of the controls within the facility point to anything out of the ordinary, but the alarm persists. Miles away, Roberto Diaz is called out of retirement to investigate an urgent matter that only he can address. Somehow the alarm that is alerting the US government and the minimal wage storage unit are one and the same. That deadly parasitic fungus has sat 300 feet below what has now become a storage facility, forgotten by time and the complicated web of government bureaucracy. After all these years something has changed. It will take the unlikely heroes of storage facility employees and long-retired government agents to stop what could potentially be the most catastrophic breach in human history.

David Koepp is probably best known for being the screenwriter for blockbuster films like Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, and Mission Impossible. It should come as no surprise then that Cold Storage is an action-packed novel that is easily read in one breathless sitting. There are obvious echos of the literary style of Michael Crichton, all very welcome in this case. I would argue that Koepp takes a bit more liberty for the sake of action and pace, leaving believability behind. Still, there's no denying this is a page-turner. Cold Storage doesn't have much in terms of character development. The protagonists all fall into neat little tropes that are serviceable to the story, but a bit predictable. In fact, some of the most convincing character work is actually for the parasitic fungus itself. There's one deliciously devilish description in particular written from the perspective of our fungal villain as it spreads into its unsuspecting victim. Overall, Cold Storage is a diversional "outbreak type" thriller that never truly rises beyond its inventive opening. This may be one case where a movie version penned by Koepp might be more successful.

For more information visit Amazon and Goodreads.
(2019, 37)

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24 Responses to “Cold Storage by David Koepp”

  1. I had similar plans to be caught up on my review pile, too... and no, not there yet. LOL

    Oh yeah, this one does raise the short hairs for being a timely sci-fi thriller. I could go along with the unbelieve-ability if the rest of the story caught me. Sounds like a good one.

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    1. It was a really great premise, but the characters are severely lacking.

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  2. This one has been on my Goodreads want to read list for awhile, now. Sad about the lack of character development, but that happens sometimes in books like this. And it sounds like it's still a pretty entertaining thriller.

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    1. It is still entertaining if you go into it with the right expectations.

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  3. I am almost caught up with my review pile but this is only because my reading has slowed down :) This sounds really good. I do like an exciting story and this one would definitely qualify.

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    1. My reading has sped up lol. My review mile is growing!

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  4. ... a chapter written from the POV of the fungus?!?! Oh boy, that was unexpected! This definitely sounds like a Jurassic Park type of movie-book in the making.

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  5. Sometimes I’m willing to suspend disbelief and just go with it for an otherwise entertaining story. And hooray for backlog books and reviews. That’s such a good feeling to read those book and write those reviews. :)

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    1. This one ended up being a bit too silly for even my taste!

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  6. I listened to this one and absolutely loved it!c Great narrators made a long road trip fly by.

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    1. Maybe I should have listened to this one instead.

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  7. This sounds like something that would be fun to read during this time! I love me a good thriller.
    I think I'd be able to overlook the believability if it's a good page turner!

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    1. It is definitely one of the more topical books at the moment.

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  8. This sounds like a great thriller and something I would enjoy listening to on audio!

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    1. I think the audiobook is the way to go on this one!

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  9. Well, isn't this timely? LOL That's cool the author is a screenwriter. I'm a big character person most of the time, so I don't know how I'd feel about lack of character development.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. It is very timely, but the lack of character development for me was a real detractor.

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  10. I think, in terms of entertainment, sometimes you just want something with a good premise and chockfull of action, and can forgive the lack of other things. It sounds like the little guy gets a chance to shine and become a hero in this one, and I sort of like that idea. Way to conquer your back review too (gold star for you)

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    1. It is a pure action novel, so it does succeed on that front. I'm very happy to be chipping away at my backlog of reviews!

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  11. Getting to my backlog was my goal this year too but I haven't been as successful. I can't seem to focus at all on reading.

    I had to laugh at the *fungal villain pov* lol I once read a book with a one chapter pov from a squirrel.

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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    1. For what its worth, this is only my second backlog review of the year. I've still got a ways to go to catching up!

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  12. I love Crichton, so this might be a possibility in my future. Not sure yet, but wonderful review!

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    1. I think your mileage may vary on this one. It is a quick action read, but the lack of character development was a real bummer to me.

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