Cold Storage by David Koepp

Cold Storage but David Koepp is one part thriller, one part horror, and one part comic relief. Years ago Roberto Diaz was sent by a covert government organization to investigate a biological incident in the Australian desert. What he found was terrifying and only the remote location and arid conditions prevented a global disaster.

A sample of the organism has been stored in a sub-basement of a long-forgotten military facility. Decades later the organism has escaped containment and the only one who knows how to stop it is Diaz. Stopping the threat is up to him and two security guards, an ex-con and a single mother. They are the only thing preventing this deadly organism from being unleashed in America's heartland.

Koepp evokes Michael Crichton in his ability to spin terror from a mixture of the biological world and the unknown. Koepp, however, turns some of the conventions on their side. The three main characters are all likable but none of them are superhuman. Diaz was once a highly skilled and able operative but is now beginning to succumb to the infirmities of old age. The two security guards, Teacake and Naomi, are both young and inexperienced with more bravery than skill.

Koepp does a good job both building tension and then cutting it with humor. From the runaround Diaz experiences with his former agency to Teacake’s and Naomi's asshole boss as well as the customers and routines of a storage facility in rural Kansas.

Cold Storage moves along at a good clip in a story filled with tension. I haven't been this scared of something like a fungus since Scott Smith's The Ruins. Cold Storage has characters who are impossible not to like and who alternatively make you feel like running away or laughing out loud. This is a fun thriller and highly entertaining. Give it a read!

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.

Buy it here: