I loved it! I wish it hadn't ended that way! Fascinating yet disturbing. The non-stop action is thrilling and I really enjoyed the back and forth chase all over the country. Being able to see things that minutely would be a skill I wouldn't mind having myself. Great author!

Another compulsively readable science fiction novel from Blake Crouch. As per usual, there is a lot of science in here, but Crouch approaches it much in the same way that Andy Weir does: in bite-size pieces, which don't overburden the plot.

It was also surprisingly emotional.

Basically, everything you'd want in a science fiction novel, and everything we've come to expect from Crouch.

Jason Cavallaro
jcavallaro42@gmail.com

Thank you Goodreads for giving me the opportunity to preview “Upgrade”. I found it to be at first very interesting, then as I got further into it, very very interesting, and now that I finished it, I consider it just a remarkable book that everyone should read. It is hard to imagine how much research was first needed to even start the writing of “Upgrade”. It was so realistic while also being so informative about man’s possible future abilities. Read it, I guarantee you will also love it.

There is rarely a moment in Upgrade, Blake Crouch’s latest novel, where the reader is given the opportunity to relax and catch his or her breath. The novel is the literary equivalent of a speeding, out-of-control car careening side to side down San Francisco’s notorious Lombard Street, with its 27 degree slope, eight hairpin turns, and landscaping obstacles. In other words, it is a wild, breathtaking and relentless thrill ride.

Logan Ramsay is a special investigator with the Gene Protection Agency, set up after a scientist released genetically DNA altered insects into Chinese rice paddies to bolster the plant’s blight resistance. The result? More rice. Starvation would become a memory. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, however. Despite extensive testing, the DNA mutated. Within seven years, 200 million people starved to death. The world as it once was was all but destroyed.

Investigating a site suspected of altering genes, Ramsay is caught in an explosion, which all but kills him. As he recovers, Ramsay notices that his body is transforming - physically and mentally. He is, as the title suggests, becoming the next upgrade.

I am stopping here. There is so much more waiting for you in this book. Real life questions about our future, some lovely written characters, and an ending that…well, that’s all you need to know. This is a thought-provoking, powerful novel that raises many questions about mankind's future, our own humanity, and our stewardship of the earth.

One more thing, and this was completely unexpected. There is a beautiful and heartbreaking love story within these pages. Something I did not expect to find in a techno-thriller. It had a profound impact on me.

This is one of the best books I have read in some while. I am grateful to NetGalley and Random House for sharing the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, read it. Talk about it. It is a great book for discussion.

This was a pretty great read. Fast-paced, interesting, hard to put down. The world Blake Crouch envisions and creates is not too hard to imagine—gene editing, famine, calamity. Logan is mysteriously upgraded and then needs to figure out why and by who. And then has to save the world.

It's a real nail biter and I could hardly put it down! Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC. If you're looking for highly readable scifi that gives you lots to think about and is incredibly engaging, this is probably the book for you.

WOW! An amazing read executed with perfect clarity. Just like Blake's other works this is a blazing fast emotional adventure read that has cutting edge plot lines at it's center. I have loved his other books some of which I would call my very top most favorites, and this one falls right up there with them. The major difference, good or bad, with this read is that the plot is very linear and easy to follow. I didn't think there was too much hard to follow jargon. Again, much like Blake's other books, this is a very quick exciting and easy read. I think most readers, especially his fans will be able to read Upgrade over a long weekend. My favorite criticism for Blake after reading a Blake Crouch book is that he's too good and I need a new book immediately.

• Thank you to Random House/Ballantine Books and NetGalley for providing this Advance Reading Copy. Expected publication date is July 19, 2022.

It is not unusual for Blake Crouch to make me a little anxious about the future. However, this book scared the living daylights out of me. The premise is that in the future scientists will find a way to hack into a person’s genome via a virus. As with most science, the intention was to improve health and mental processes but what happens when everything goes haywire and the results are far different than what was intended? What is the cost and who is paying it? Terrifying concept.

“What do we have to lose?”
“Everything it means to be human.”

In the mid-twenty-first century, gene editing technology has become incredibly efficient and pervasive. Well-meaning scientists have inadvertently caused the death of hundreds of millions of people with their genetic experiments, leading gene editing technology to be banned globally. Logan Ramsay works for the Genetic Protection Agency, where he tracks down and apprehends scientists suspected of illegal genetic experiments. However, a trap one evening will change everything for Logan, and the results could change humanity as we know it.

First of all, great setup. The story hits the ground running. Personal information about Logan’s background and his mother are disclosed over time with the focus remaining on the main storyline. The pace was perfect; there was not a single chance to get bored, and Crouch includes some great twists along the way. Logan made his way into multiple situations that seemed impossible to get out of, and I couldn’t wait to find out how the story could resolve itself.

I love to read, but my first love is Biology, and I can’t fail to mention the misuse of the term evolution in the novel. Also, some of the anatomy and genetics seemed a little heavy handed, written like a student who has to use a certain amount of vocabulary terms in an essay.

This novel seemed to be heavy on the thriller and less so on the science fiction, which may make it accessible to readers who don’t typically read a lot of sci fi. I definitely liked Recursion and Dark Matter more than Upgrade, but it was still a really fun action- (and science-!) packed read. 4 stars.

3.5 stars. Maybe it's not fair to compare this book to Recursion and Dark Matter, but as someone who's become a fan of Blake Crouch and was extremely excited to read this because of those books, it's difficult not to. In light of that, it's also difficult not to see Upgrade as a little bit of a disappointment, considering how high of expectations I had for it.

Upgrade follows a man named Logan Ramsay, the son of a geneticist who inadvertently caused a worldwide disaster that killed millions, who has since been trying to pay penance for his mother's mistake by working for the fictional Gene Protection Agency. After a raid gone wrong, Logan suddenly starts noticing changes in himself and has to track down who did this to him and why, what they plan to do with this "upgrade", and figure out how to stop them. I would personally categorize Recursion and Dark Matter as sci-fi novels with threads of a thriller plot, while I would call Upgrade more of a thriller with threads of sci-fi. The science of the premise -- the dangers and possibilities of gene editing, and how a so-called "upgrade" changes a person on a fundamental level -- is intriguing and just as promising as the more reality-bending bases of Recursion and Dark Matter. However, the science here takes more of a backseat to the chasing-people-across-the-country-trying-to-stop-their-nefarious-plans mystery-thriller part of the plot. Crouch does dedicate some parts of the narration to describing the science behind said nefarious plots, but it's nothing as mind-bending as Recursion or Dark Matter (at least in my opinion).

This isn't to say that's necessarily a bad thing, to be fair! The mystery-thriller plot itself was enthralling. I finished this book in 2 days partly because there were parts where I literally could not stop turning pages, where I needed to know what happened next. In terms of being a thriller, Upgrade is solid. It's a fast-paced, heart-pounding thriller that kept me hungry to read more. This alone would have caused me to give Upgrade a good 4 stars, so perhaps it's unfair to judge Upgrade simply for being more thriller than sci-fi, and not what I expected.

HOWEVER! One similarity that Upgrade does have with Blake Crouch's other books is this: the main character is a family man, a man who is introduced to us as already having a family that he loves deeply, and this love motivates many of his actions throughout the book. I've noticed and mentioned this before, but at least for me, something is lacking in the way that those family relationships are fleshed out. This is not unique to Upgrade; in general, I've noticed that Blake Crouch seems to write from the point of view that his readers already innately understand the love of a man for his wife and children. On some level, I do understand a person's love for their family, but I feel that Crouch seems to skip over the complexities of a husband and father's love for his family specifically. And this is a problem when many of the pivotal moments of the plot hinge on this love. For example, in Upgrade, I found it difficult to really care about Beth and Ava, Logan's wife and daughter, because we hardly see their relationships with each other. For me, it's not enough to say "this is my wife Beth and my daughter Ava, and I love them" to make me really feel the depth and complexity of their relationship and Logan's devotion to them. As a result, a lot of the emotional moments of Upgrade fell a little flat for me.

Despite these criticisms, however, I would be lying if I said I didn't feel anything. Although I didn't care much for Beth and Ava specifically, I could still empathize with Logan's confusion and anxiety as he felt himself change from the man he once was, and his grief for his old self. Blake Crouch still painted an effective emotional picture of a man finding himself becoming increasingly isolated from his family, his old self, and indeed humanity itself -- even if the finer strokes were lost.

In the end, Upgrade is a step down from Recursion and Dark Matter in terms of the scope of its scientific premise, but it's still a page-turner mystery-thriller with a decent sci-fi backdrop that'll satisfy you if that's what you're looking for.

I have read two Blake Crouch books, well I guess three now. I absolutely loved Dark Matter and Recursion. They’re books I continue to think about even a year or more after reading them. This author is one of the main reasons I started looking into the sci-fi/thriller genre. So I was so excited to read his new book Upgrade!! Did I like the book? Yes. Did I love it? No. Will I be first in line for the next Blake Crouch novel? Heck yes!

I’m giving it 4 stars, but I continue to go back and forth between that and 3.5 stars, which is a good book in my eyes. I enjoyed the premise of the book. It’s about a guy (Logan) who basically becomes super human through a forced “upgrade” in his DNA. It makes him stronger, less reactionary (emotional), faster/more agile, more analytical…It enhances his hearing, observational skills and raises his IQ to literally off the charts. All of this ends up putting him smack dab in the center of being involved in saving the dying world/preventing the extinction of the human species. Logan will face difficult choices/sacrifices, which frankly this upgrade has mandated he make, in order to hopefully save Earth for the next generations in a not so distant future. This book makes you look at what it means to be human and our innate selfishness. It really did make me take a hard look at how if nothing is done to drastically change how we interact with our planet and the negative impacts we continue to have on it. Like duh! We all know this; however, will we stand together to make the decision to sacrifice in the here and now to ensure a future for generations to come, so that the choice is ours? Will we continue to ignore and hope for the best leading to the choice of how it gets saved taken away from us…forced on us? Or will nothing be done and the inevitable comes to fruition? Definitely a thought provoking book.

With that said, It was a bit of a hard read for me. Def not the kind of book where I could read it with distractions/too much background noise, aka around my kids. I had to concentrate, even having to reread many sections to comprehend what the heck was being said/described. I appreciate all the research that went into this book, but it felt like an info dump at times with it feeling forced down my throat. And honestly the volume of it was not necessary. I ended up skimming these heavily “how it works” science infused parts towards the 2nd part of the book.

Am I glad I read this book? Yes. Will I recommend it to my friends who enjoy sci-fi thrillers? Yes, with just a hint of hesitation.

Much thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for the ARC.

Humans have limitations for what they’re capable of, but with some genetic tinkering that can significantly change and have impactful ramifications on humanity in Blake Crouch’s Upgrade.

Logan Ramsay works for the Gene Protection Agency and his latest case leads him to an unassuming home presumed to be a lab used for illegal genetic activity. Soon after getting an all-clear to enter the basement, Logan realizes that there are ice bombs about to go off; caught in the explosion, his hazmat gear is punctured and ice particles reach his now broken skin, melting in to the wounds. When he awakes in the hospital, he’s quarantined as they investigate the virus that infected him and see if his genetic structure has been modified as a result. After fevers and pain, it’s determined that Logan is fine and no modifications have been made; released back to his normal life he slowly notices increases in his mental acuity, making him curious if the virus was a sleeper and used technology that his infamous mother developed. Upon confirmation of his genetic upgrades, he is detained by his employer, escapes with assistance from an unlikely source, fights with that person as to what to do about the upgrade potential, and goes on the run to stay hidden while considering how to outmaneuver his opponents in the fight for what’s best for humanity.

An engrossing and quickly moving story that raises important moral questions, the premise is equal parts interesting and frightening in what it portrayed as a possibility for the next state of humanity’s development as scientific progress is made, specifically around genetic engineering and the benefits and perils that come with that exploration. The pacing and general presentation of the plot had a cinematic feel to it, which is in line with Crouch’s writing style. There was a fair amount of technical terminology used throughout the text, some of which felt like gibberish and was highly skimmable as strings of numbers and/or letter acronyms, but the information necessary to understand the base of what’s shared was made clear to readers, though more in a telling versus showing manner. A certain level of remoteness or coldness to the characters’ presentation kept them at arm’s length, likely due to the highly analytical presentation from Logan’s augmented perspective, in this highly interior-facing story with vast external implications.

Overall, I’d give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Easily earned 5 stars. The science went over my head at times and the final action sequence was a bit much for my taste, but those things aside...the story and characters were excellent, not to mention all the research this must have taken. And it had a ton of heart, too. I highly recommend!

I’ve previously read two of Crouch’s books, Dark Matter and Recursion, and both of them were excellent, filled with very original ideas presented in a sharp and engaging style, and the plots and the characters held my attention. But this new one leaves both of those earlier books in the weeds. I’ve been reading science fiction for sixty-five years and even though my field is history, not molecular biology, I’m also a more or less professional genealogist with a strong interest in how DNA works, so I’ve read a great deal on that subject. Actually, this is more of a thriller set a few decades in our future than it is science fiction, and DNA is the key to the unwanted adventures of Logan Ramsay.

Logan’s mother, Miriam, was a certified genius and a leader in the field of DNA modification. While trying to control a disease that was decimating rice crops in China, she introduced a modified DNA package using locusts as a vector -- only something went badly wrong, the crops themselves began to die off, and by the time it had all burned itself out, 200,000,000 people around the world had died -- the Great Starvation. In the U.S., one result was the establishment o the Gene Protection Agency, with sweeping powers that basically halted all research in virology and molecular biology. Logan himself spent three years in a federal prison before being pardoned, and then he went to work for the GPA in search of penitence. And then, during a raid on a clandestine lab, Logan is caught in a very carefully designed bomb blast. And he begins to change. He becomes stronger, faster, healthier, and raw his intelligence level skyrockets. His DNA has been hacked and modified. This might be the next stage in human evolution.

That’s the beginning of Logan’s race to figure out what’s happening to him, and uncover how it was done, and to figure out if he was the only one “upgraded.” But the big question is *why*? And when he is able to solve that puzzle, he realizes he has to stop what it is that’s about to begin. And maybe that’s actually the wrong choice.

Crouch asks some hard questions along the way about how the species might pull back from the brink before we destroy ourselves, and whether the possible price we would have to pay is worth it. There’s lots of dead-run action in the story, but also a number of deeply technical discussions -- this is a very geeky book -- that will require you to pay attention, and which I personally found fascinating. This is arguably Crouch’s best book yet.

Five amazing stars!

Get ready for one of the best books you are going to read this year. It has been a long time since I have read a book that totally captivated me from start to finish but this one did it. We have Logan Ramsey a agent for a, not so distant future, government agency called GPA: A small agency created to fight against gene editing. He has his perfect family with a wife and daughter he loves. Then one day on a SWAT raid against a possible gene editing lab he is accidently? injected with a virus which starts to modify his genetic structure.

And for the better. Everything about him from mental to physical aspects gets enhanced. He starts to get stronger and smarter right before our eyes. And its totally fascinating. Especially when the bullets start flying! And the twists were genuine WTF moments.

This book was beautifully paced and written. From the pace, to the science which was mind blowing but not overbearing. And more importantly the overall emotional impact of the book.... We feel for Logan and his family and what he has to go through is not only suspenseful but soul crushing at times.

Just so hard to explain the book without spoilers but just know it's a great science thriller. This is my first book by Blake Crouch but it definitely won't be the last as I will fast track all his books to my TBR. If I had any complaint with the book is that it started to slow down towards the end but only briefly as it picked up steam again.

Once again, I don't really give out five start reviews so easily but this book was so entertaining on every level that it is well deserved. Now we just have to wait for the Netflix or HBO series which I hope gives it justice.

Book given free for honest review.

Blake Crouch’s newest story, UPGRADE, is a sci-fi action thriller that lives up to the lofty expectations set by his previous work. It’s every bit as enjoyable as his previous novels with that signature Crouch style we all know and love.

His writing style is so sharp and fast-flowing - it’s immensely readable while delivering scientifically detailed & complex information at the same time. There’s really no other author who can deliver a story quite like he can.

I was captivated right out of the gate as he detailed the future world of genetic modifications. When you read today’s news, tiny pink gorillas that become a status symbol for Russian oligarchs does not seem too much of a leap.

In Upgrade’s world, we meet Logan Ramsey, son of genius scientist Miriam Ramsey. As a young man, he was part of her experiment designed to stop a massive drought and end food shortage in China, but it backfired and killed millions.

His mother killed herself and after a stint in prison, Logan now works for the government’s GPA - Gene Protection Agency, which tries to prevent genetic tampering and modification. But after a raid where he is injured and infected, he starts to change. He thinks more clearly, remembers every minute detail of everything that has ever happened, and can do things physically that he’d never imagined. And that’s only the beginning.

Logan is a great character that the reader can sympathize with. I love how we learn about genetic modification as he tries to figure out what has happened to him. While the plot of the novel seems far-fetched at first, does it really? As someone who works in cancer research, I see scientists leveraging genetic discovery as a means to cure cancer. Who’s to say that research couldn’t go astray in the wrong hands. The potential of some of aspects of this story felt chillingly real.

More than that, it was fun and impossible to put down. About halfway through the book, everything changed. What was self-discovery becomes a desperate, edge-of-your-seat chase to save humanity. I’ve read Recursion and Dark Matter. While I enjoyed them and appreciated their intelligent themes, I felt like something was lacking in both. THIS is the book I was waiting for. While the science is over my head, I never felt lost or out of my depth. I just wanted more. I did keep wondering how in the world an author can come up with this kind of stuff.

Don’t miss this book!

Thanks to Penguin/Random House & NetGalley for an advanced reader's copy of this book; this is my honest opinion.

If you like classic sf such as Flowers for Algernon, where the narrative style evolves as the protagonist changes and the themes address broad human weaknesses as well as personal dreams, you will love this novel.

The story begins like a police procedural from the future, featuring a cop named Logan. In straightforward and unadorned prose, Crouch aptly describes Logan as “just an ordinary guy with extraordinary dreams.” Isn’t that a description we can all identify with? Logan was once a scientist, but much to his chagrin, he was just an average scientist.

In this future where climate change continues to destroy the earth, a genius but autocratic geneticist wants to hack the human genome because she thinks that we are currently so stupid that it will take stronger, faster, smarter people to realize how colossally important it is to fix our damaged environment if future generations want to survive.

That brilliant scientist who wanted to modify mankind? That is his mother! But she is not without flaws. Twenty years earlier, she accidentally brought the entire world to its knees when a tiny agricultural modification went haywire and lead to the starvation deaths of 200 million people. As a result of that disaster, genetic modifications are of the worst criminal behaviors—and he now polices those genetics scientists.

But while on the job, he gets knocked out by a genetics bomb. In a month, he experiences painful changes and the narrative urgency accelerates as his mind and body grow quicker and better, and he must go off grid to avoid prison and plan what to do. When he comes out of hiding to make a stand against a new villain, the action in this technical science thriller was so exciting, I could not put the book down until I finished!

It’s important to note that this book is NOT a literal argument in favor for or against modifying people. It’s a thought experiment. As a worst case scenario, it shows the horrors of someone drugging and changing you without your consent. As a best case scenario, it explores some fun wish-fulfillment dreams we all have. Big ones like dodging a bullet or dodging cancer, or little ones like just being able to remember a new password.

The gentle resolution in the Epilogue, preceded by a relevant C. S. Lewis epigraph, is written with such feeling and compassion, shows Logan’s love of family and others and his predicament of having to hide. It’s meant to make us think about how we treat people.

It raises the question of how we understand human selfishness, especially in terms of important issues like environmentalism: do we have the bandwidth to be compassionate to everyone or do we only have the capacity to act like the autocratic scientist and (ironically) force our will onto others? And implicitly it challenges us to change our own behavior. It’s a poignant, sensitive, rational chapter, beautifully written, and brought tears to my eyes.

A very satisfying ending.

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Random House, and Blake Crouch for a pre-approved peek in exchange for a review.

An easy 4.5, rounded up because "I liked his other books more" is not a reason to rank low! This one is difficult to review without giving away the ending... but I will try!

Blake really shows his neo-tech action-adventure chops in upgrade, echoing greats such as Crichton and Stephenson as he paints a stark picture of what the future could hold, and the length some will go to ensure the planet can be kept safe. The premise is that, on a failed raid of a dark genetic research lab, Logan is infected with a virus that literally "upgrades" him. His mind, his bones, his immune system, his muscles. This ushers him into a mystery of 'Why' as he copes with owning his new abilities. But do these enhancements make him super-human, or sub-human.

As always, with sharp plotting Blake leads us on a merry action adventure, with thrilling scenes, hard stakes and the fate of the world hanging in the balance. I Loved this book, and only rank Dark Matter and Recursion higher due to the absolute MAZE he leads us thru to come to a satisfying conclusion. In a simpler fashion, he does the same here, but with a more profound look at social decisions, and what needs to happen to turn around the destruction we see on the world's horizon. A no-brainer for lovers of the genre to pick up. Solid A Mr. Crouch!

My absolute THANKS to Netgalley and Macmillan for this ultra-early ARC in exchange for an unbiased review. You guys rock!

Blake Crouch has done it again. Another brilliant action-packed sci-fi thriller nestled in the mind of a character you can really root for. I couldn’t put it down.

In a reality where it's possible to easily manipulate and rewrite genes, we follow Logan who works for an organization whose mission in to track down labs that are working on that and arrest the scientists. Until one day he's exposed to something that may change everything.

One of the things that I love about Blake Crouch is how he presents a premise for his books but the story completely deviates from that start point; it's amazing to me where his plots go after their beginning. So, I suggest to everyone to not read the sinopsys of the book because it's a wild and fun ride. Even if I could predict some of the plot points in Upgrade, there were always little twists on them that made the story unpredictable for me by the end.

There is always that movie quality to his writing that makes us feel that we are watching what is happening and we are living it, there were moments when my heart was racing. And the story is completely engaging; the book is unputdownable as his previous ones. And even though I felt that this story did deviate more from his previous books, it has some familiar plot points: some exploration of relationship and human interaction, intelligence, human impact in the world, and the high stakes.

I feel that in this book, not only we have to care about the technology but we also have to like the protagonist. And I really cared for Logan. Since the beginning I felt he was extremely relatable and charismatic even when the plot moved along and he started deviating from whi he initially was. I liked following his thoughts and his inner struggles with everything that was going on.

And I do love the technology that he dreamt about in this book. If there is one thing that I hate in sci-fi is when the fault is always in the technology, the technology is always the villain. But Blake Crouch doesn't fall into this trap, the conflict and the peril come from the humans and how they employ it and understand it, which makes for a far better and complex narrative.

By the end I really enjoyed this one. But I feel thar Dark Matter and Recursion are still more compelling for me.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.