Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for my ARC of this ebook.

Right off the bat, this was a story premise that I loved the sound of. I mean, a deadly fungus that can mutate and replicate at high speed ... what's not to love? The narrative was fast-paced throughout, and the characters interesting. However, I didn't find myself rooting for anyone in particular, except maybe for the elderly Agent who came out of retirement to try and fix things once they'd gone drastically wrong. Many of the other characters felt like a bit of a caricature outline, though they were fun enough.

Some scenes had me cringing while others had me laughing, all a mix that I like. A good book evokes responses from me, and this one certainly achieved that. The only reason I haven't awarded a full solid 5 stars is due to the chronic head hopping (jumping from one character point of view to another with no indication or warning). I lost count of the number of times I was reading from inside one person's head, only to discover--sometimes too late--that the narrative had hopped into someone else's head. This aspect of the book drove me nuts, quite frankly, and this loses it a full star.

So, all in all, a light, fun, and sometimes cringeworthy read that's easy to complete in one or two sittings.


***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

I couldn't warm to the cast of characters in this one and although I love a good dystopian, this whole premise didn't work for me.

It was just an ordinary night at the storage units. The two nightworkers are in place and all seems quiet…….but what is that persistent beeping?

The world is coming to an end and the people standing in the way are an old government agent with a dodgy back & two nightworkers; a single Mum and an ex-con. Throw in a variety of other characters including a little old lady & a group of motorcyclists who seem a little high & you have a very eclectic cast. These aren’t deep characters but you know enough about them to move the story along.

I enjoyed this book – it is fast paced & action filled right from the beginning. It seemed to me like a blockbuster film so it came as no surprise that the author is a screenwriter. In fact I am sure that it would make a great film.

This book reminded me of the Da Vinci Code – fast paced, amusing in places, a good read but don’t expect deep, meaningful or good literature. Nothing wrong with that – I enjoyed the Da Vinci Code. However it needs to be read for what it is. I would certainly pick out another book by this author & I await the film!

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

Unfortunately this book was not my cup of tea.
I thought the synopsis sounded great, but unfortunately it didn't live up to it for me.

Pentagon bioterror operative Roberto Diaz and his partner thwart an attack from a deadly fungus which had mutated in space and when its container crash landed back on earth, it went in search of new living hosts. The organism is buried in cold storage beneath a military installation, but decades later when the military sells off the building, it seems the organism has been forgotten about. All may still have been okay except the earth's temperature starts to warm up waking the organism from its dormant state.

I almost stopped reading this book after the first couple of chapters because, to be honest, Diaz was coming across as a bit of an ass. I'm glad I carried on because in the end it was quite an entertaining read. I did feel at times as if the fungus was portrayed as almost being sentient which added an extra creep factor. You do have to suspend your disbelief at times and the characters are only okay, but it is definitely an intriguing concept.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, HQ, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

A good book. Not as gory as I feared despite exploding people. Obviously a little far fetched with fungus mutating to eat through everything, but an enjoyable romp.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.
This book is a refreshing read. The premise of a killer fungus, though probably used before, is given a real modern twist. The writing is clear and not too technical. The story is fairly well paced, and builds to a satisfying conclusion.
I look forward to reading more from this author.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this captivating book

edge of the seat stuff...

a fungus
we first meet this fungus in australia where 3 people are sent to investigate it
it attaches to a shoe and with minutes it attack that person unbeknown to the other two until she turns around and they see the transformation

its then somehow taken to a remote spot and left hidden, secure for years until it manages to break free...

though this is quite a serious outbreak there are funny moments in this book that make it worth a read..its well written in a style that keeps you reading it, as you want to know how bad it can actually get...

going to be adding this author to my ever growing list of authors to keep an eye out for

Interesting story on a fascinating topic. Believable and very likely tale of how things can go wrong. Recommended to those readers who enjoy this genre.

A book that is hard to put down. Gripping tale from start to finish.
Would like to read more from this author.

'Cold Storage' is an unusual mix of sci-fi, horror, military procedural, romance and humour. Reading the book feels like watching an action film, fast paced and entertaining. I would have liked a little more depth, but it is interesting and I enjoyed the subtle undercurrent of humour.

A very straightforward zombie thriller with a bio warfare twist. I'm sure that someone already has the cast for the film in mind - the heroic veteran, the retired harass, the troubled youth, the feisty fighter.
It all unfolds in a satisfying but predictable way, with a few scares along the way and some nice character development.
An easy and thrilling read.

Quirky - almost science fiction

David Koepp is perhaps better known for his work as a screenwriter on films such as Jurassic Park and Mission Impossible and, although it's proven that being a successful screenwriter does not automatically translate into being a good author, I, therefore, started to read the novel with a good deal of anticipation and expectation.

Despite a slow start, the plot started to grow on me, much like the fungus which is central to the storyline. It's 1987, and Robert Diaz and Trini Romano have been sent by their organisation (Defence Nuclear Agency or DNA for short) to investigate and deal with a biochemical attack which turns out to be a virulent fungus which is intelligent and able to adapt to any new environment. Their successful mission should have been the end of the story but storing hazardous material, no matter how securely, rarely has a good ending. Moving forward to 2019, the fungus has managed to re-emerge, and the only people with any experience and capable of dealing with the problem are called out of retirement.

There are certainly shades of Jurassic Park in this thriller, but it makes it no less interesting for that. As a straightforward horror story about how close the world as we know it comes to extinction, the book would have made excellent reading, but the counterpoint of humour injected throughout make it a superb read which is both humorous and terrifying in equal measure. It's a delicate balance to maintain but one which Koepp manages very successfully.

It’s a difficult book to classify but, as someone who doesn’t believe in labels, my suggestion is to forget about pigeonholing and to relax and enjoy the ride. It’s a cracker.

Mr zorg

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to read.

This book comes with great pedigree as the author wrote the screenplay for ‘Jurassic Park’, it also comes with great premise.....a ‘eat all’ fungi is discovered in the 80’s in Australia but is ‘managed’ and contained and ‘no questions asked’ and what remains of the fungi is then sealed away hundreds of feet down in a ‘black site’ mountainy thing.....so far so good.....the mountainy thing is sold on as a ‘rent out locker facility’ and the contents hundreds of feet down are ‘forgotten’....then the fungi ‘escapes’ and causes havoc!
The description of the fungi, how it evolves, infects and spreads is morbidly fascinating have to say and the research done amazing, however, the characters are insipid, the dialogue uninspiring and the plot follow through enough to raise your eyebrows every few paragraphs, I did read on some reviews how readers had loved the humour in the book, I didn’t realise there had been any so do wonder if I missed the point altogether but wasn’t as far as know a comedy book!!
Great idea, fab research, not my kind
of delivery of both
3/10
2 Stars

I have been wondering when someone would write a book based around this particular natural and scientific phenomenon. Now it's here and every bit as terrifying as it should be. I have a few personal qualms but nothing major. The book itself reads as well as any Chrichton novel and has the science to back it up. If you were a fan of The Hot Zone and similar books then i highly recommend this.

I didn’t make it past the first page on this one, I hated the prose style and took an instant dislike to the main characters! That said, I can see it would be a fantastic thriller for some, it has flavours of Michael Crichton: it just wasn’t for me at all. I’ll know not to request books like it in future.

‘Cold Storage’ wasn’t quite what I expected, but I did enjoy it enormously. What I thought I was going to be reading was a Michael Crichton style scientific thriller, packed with juicy detail and held together by a solid plot. What I got instead was that, but also a bizarro comedy populated with engaging and likeable characters. That Koepp manages to make those two things work together is evidence of his skill as a writer. The mix may not be for everyone but it worked a treat for me.
The villain of the piece is a fungus that has been mutated in space and which takes control of living hosts to make them help it spread. The heroes are a wonderful underdog bunch – a single mother, an ex con and a retired scientist. I’m not sure the story is entirely credible, but the energy and humour that it’s told with kept my disbelief well and truly suspended and I enjoyed every page.

Cold Storage by David Koepp
Overall this was a good book. A mix of sci-fri & military ops along with a weird, foul-mouthed romantic underpinning. It’s maybe not the one for bedtime reading- I set it aside after the first night and kept it for daytime. Overall fast paced with characters you could get to know and like but, on a somewhat negative side, the sci-fi bit was (hopefully) very far-fetched and lost a bit of “believability” with the adaptations coming so quickly. Then again, who knows! I always did hate fungus!!!

Channelling Michael Crichton, this disaster story features an implausibly lethal and self-aware fungus, mutated from its days when we innocently took it up to live on Skylab for a few years. If you do buy into it being plausible, this is enjoyable, but the level of hokum is very high throughout, and the chatty, conversational style the author chooses rankled with me a bit. The Bits Where We Do Character seemed needlessly in-depth, as well – just let us have the zombified infected causing problems! Finally, any puff quote writer who says this is "funny" needs their heads checking – it's not at all (and nor is it particularly horror-full), but it certainly is three and a half stars.

Cold Storage is like The Strain on steroids.
When a deadly fungus starts to manifest it is up to bioterror investigator Roberto Diaz to control and stop it.
Over two decades later buried beneath a cold storage facility it begins to grow again and will stop at nothing until all mankind are eliminated.