Ahoy there mateys!  Though the First Mate and I have very different reading tastes, occasionally we do recommend books to each other.  I enjoyed his viewpoints so I ordered asked him to write reviews.  So you get one from me and a bonus additional review from me crew.  Please note that I write like I talk and the First Mate writes like he thinks.  Hope you enjoy!

From the Captain:

This be another sci-fi that deals with forgotten Cold War tech and the consequences of climate change.  It has killer fungus.  The setting of a self-storage facility placed in a former military storage bunker is part of the delight of this novel.  Two main characters (ex-con who crushes on the single mom) are self-storage employees.  The third is a retired ex-Pentagon operative involved in the original cover up.  There are plenty of side characters that are caricatures but fun ones.  This is over-the-top but I loved the majority of it up until the silly, but stupidly fun, ending.  It was amusing and a quick read.  Popcorn sci-fi for sure.

From the First Mate:

Like a Roger Corman or SyFy original in novel form. Minimal locations  (majority of the action takes place in a mountainside public storage, small cast (3 main characters, less than a dozen fodder characters), and a sci-fi / horror premise that wouldn't take many special effects to realize (an aggressive fungus turns people into zombies). It's schlocky and silly and is constantly on the edge of falling into absurd territory, but I love schlock, so this one worked for me.

Koepp comes to novel writing from being a screenwriter, and it shows. All the characters are pretty one-note; the background we get on them is essentially the type an actor would get to better prepare for their scene. The tension in the plot is continually ratcheting up, and there's an action beat every ten or so pages. We even get the fungus anthropomorphized to the point that it gets angry (yes, angry fungus) when something thwarts its diabolical plans to break out of its container and zombify the world. There's body horror, plucky high school dropout protagonists, and forgotten thermal bombs tucked away next to Christmas decorations. This one's got all the schlock.

One element that was handled particularly well was the concept of dangerous relics of the past being forgotten and future generations ultimately having to pay the price for past ineptitude. It's a relevant and timely concern in the world today. I thought Koepp was going to do something with it, what with the old soldier coming out of retirement side plot. But no. It's just in service of more schlock. But, again, I like schlock, so no harm done. Recommend for mindless, schlocky fun.