David Koepp has had an enviable career as a screenwriter (and sometime director) in Hollywood. Who else can say they have collaborated with Steven Spielberg on four movies – including Jurassic Park, no less ­– as well as having worked on Spider-Man, Mission: Impossible and cult favourite Death Becomes Her?

Not one to rest on his impressive laurels, Koepp recently wrote his debut novel Cold Storage, which was described by The New York Times as “pure, unadulterated entertainment”. Drawing on his wealth of experience crafting suspenseful scripts, the novel is an intense science fiction thriller about the discovery of a strange, hyper-aggressive new organism that threatens to end of life as we know it. All that stands in its way is an unlikely group consisting of a government agent and two unwitting storage unit security guards just trying to make it through to the end of their shift.

We spoke to Koepp about Cold Storage, his amazing film career, the legacy of Jurassic Park and a certain upcoming Indiana Jones sequel…

Cold Storage balances a global disaster narrative with the personal stories of these characters, a technique you were also praised for in War Of The Worlds. How has your work in screenwriting influenced your novel writing?