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Coffee Crash
What if a new plant disease threatened the world’s coffee crop? What if it wasn’t an accident? Coffee Crash, the debut novel from author Steve Hoffenberg, is a biotech mystery thriller that redefines eco-terrorism.
Microbiologist Samuel Decker travels to Brazil to investigate a new organism that rapidly destroys coffee trees, and he discovers puzzling clues surrounding the outbreak.
Matthew Cochran, the CEO of a major U.S. coffee retailer, seeks to leverage industry turmoil and reap millions in profits through commodities market manipulation.
Eddy Zeger, the Indonesian leader of a radical environmentalist group, plots to wreak economic havoc by disseminating the disease into coffee plantations worldwide.
Trails of evidence lead in conflicting directions as Decker and others unravel the truth and struggle to save the world’s coffee plantations from annihilation.
Microbiologist Samuel Decker travels to Brazil to investigate a new organism that rapidly destroys coffee trees, and he discovers puzzling clues surrounding the outbreak.
Matthew Cochran, the CEO of a major U.S. coffee retailer, seeks to leverage industry turmoil and reap millions in profits through commodities market manipulation.
Eddy Zeger, the Indonesian leader of a radical environmentalist group, plots to wreak economic havoc by disseminating the disease into coffee plantations worldwide.
Trails of evidence lead in conflicting directions as Decker and others unravel the truth and struggle to save the world’s coffee plantations from annihilation.
330 pages, Paperback
First published May 18, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 4, 2013
Imagine a world with no coffee. Imagine your panic when you realize you have only a half-empty twelve ounce bag of ground beans in your cabinet. This is the last coffee you will ever have. That feeling is the underlying emotion in Coffee Crash by Steve Hoffenberg.
The novel opens as a previously unknown red fungus is destroying a Brazilian company's coffee crop. Its lead scientist is killed in a small plane crash that is more than it appears. The crash is a murder committed with a very unusual weapon. One that may by used on many more people.
Added to this brew, is a hard-charging head of an American coffee shop company, various lab technicians, police, and an eco-terrorist with a large butterfly tattoo on his back. There is also good descriptions of science, medicine, police procedure, code breaking, and more.
I enjoyed reading the book. It is well written and holds together. I received the book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. I probably would not have sought the book out on my own--too much to read, too little time--but I'm glad I won it and was able to read it. I recommend it highly.
The novel opens as a previously unknown red fungus is destroying a Brazilian company's coffee crop. Its lead scientist is killed in a small plane crash that is more than it appears. The crash is a murder committed with a very unusual weapon. One that may by used on many more people.
Added to this brew, is a hard-charging head of an American coffee shop company, various lab technicians, police, and an eco-terrorist with a large butterfly tattoo on his back. There is also good descriptions of science, medicine, police procedure, code breaking, and more.
I enjoyed reading the book. It is well written and holds together. I received the book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. I probably would not have sought the book out on my own--too much to read, too little time--but I'm glad I won it and was able to read it. I recommend it highly.
July 20, 2014
Very well written book that is not your typical story line. The book contains multiply story lines and plots all intertwined into the main story line. This book has it all, terrorism, magic, scandal, and phrases that I have not heard since I was 19 in biochem class to name a few.
Many times I found myself thinking that this could actually happen. I also thought about all of the food scares and recalls in recent years and what could be behind them - spinach, lettuce, chicken, beef, the list goes on and on.
For some reason, lately I have been looking at my coffee funny every morning yet I still drink it because you know how we Americans are about our coffee.
I won this book as part of the first reads giveaway. Thank you for a wonderful yet somewhat frightening read.
Many times I found myself thinking that this could actually happen. I also thought about all of the food scares and recalls in recent years and what could be behind them - spinach, lettuce, chicken, beef, the list goes on and on.
For some reason, lately I have been looking at my coffee funny every morning yet I still drink it because you know how we Americans are about our coffee.
I won this book as part of the first reads giveaway. Thank you for a wonderful yet somewhat frightening read.
July 17, 2013
I received this book for free from the goodreads first reads giveaway. Being a big fan of coffee and its ability to make me feel human in the morning, I found this book to be right up my alley. I never really thought about how many things and lives could be affected if the world's coffee supply would come to a sudden halt, and I'm very glad that something like this hasn't happened. The only problem I had with this book was that it seemed to be a bit slow starting up, once it did I loved it. I would recommend this book to everyone.
August 18, 2013
A great story that takes a what if situation and see how the world and the companies would react to such a desperate situation. Hoffenberg takes as many players as possible involved in such an event and showcases the tensions between people while problem solving this desperate situation.
Kind of slow in the beginning; don't know if meant that way to create a mystic tension or just in trying to introduce all of the characters that he wants to have be a part of the book. But, after that it becomes a great plot twisting story for any reader, coffee drinker or not.
Kind of slow in the beginning; don't know if meant that way to create a mystic tension or just in trying to introduce all of the characters that he wants to have be a part of the book. But, after that it becomes a great plot twisting story for any reader, coffee drinker or not.
September 21, 2014
My friend won this book as a goodreads giveaway. I couldn't stay focused throughout the book. There were so many players involved that I couldn't keep track of all that was going on. The closer I got to the end, the better it became to me. I liked the ending in this book. I am glad I finished the book. At the end I thought, okay, that was pretty good.
May 31, 2015
What a great book. So much action, it never stops, and really keeps you hanging on to find out how it's going to end. I stayed up until 3 am trying to finish it and had to give up and go to bed. If you like thrillers, especially biotech thrillers, you have to read it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews