David Koepp is a celebrated American screenwriter and director best known for his work on Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, Panic Room, War of the Worlds and Mission: Impossible. His work on screen has grossed over $6 billion worldwide.Koepp's new novel is Cold Storage.
At CrimeReads the author tagged seven of his favorite contagion novels, including:
I Am Legend, by Richard MathesonRead about the other entries on the list.
I Am Legend tops my list of seven essential contagion novels not just for the tender age at which I read it—and how many of my still-forming mental synapses were created or closed off by its horrors—but because of the genius of its simplicity. Vampirism is a communicable disease.The sharp edges of that premise cut clean; it’s an idea at once groundbreaking and obvious. Of COURSE this book had to exist. Written in 1954, it was in the middle of Matheson’s legendary streak of compelling fantasy work, a run that included The Shrinking Man (1956), A Stir of Echoes (1958), and most of the best Twilight Zones. Yowza! Interesting side note—I Am Legend has been made into a movie four times, but never once has a filmmaker had the nerve to shoot the chills-down-your-back, everything-is-clear-now ending of the book. Still one of the darkest and most beautiful closing passages I’ve ever read.
I Am Legend is among Jeff Somers's five notable books totally unlike their adaptations, Jonathan Hatfull's ten best vampire novels ever, Jennifer Griffith Delgado's top eleven mind-blowing surprise endings in science fiction and fantasy literature and Kevin Jackson's top ten vampire novels.
--Marshal Zeringue
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