This was really the scifi future dystopia that I needed right now in my life. I've been in a reading rut and this action packed story really filled the reading space that I needed it to. I haven't read any others by Crouch, though his earlier titles have been recommended to me multiple times. This was fun, popcorn, and fast paced. Just what I needed.

This is an entertaining book to read and would be great for readers interested in a more “science-fiction” format of fiction. I enjoyed the book, but am only able to give it a 3-star rating because I didn’t realize it borders on science fiction.
Logan Ramsay is a loving husband and father with a regular job at the GPA- the General Protection Agency. His scientific background makes him perfect for the job, but his deceased mother’s reputation as a scientist makes life difficult, to say the least. While responding to a call, Logan enters a basement but comes out a different person. His family is lied to, he’s basically imprisoned, and he’s a human guinea pig.
As he fights to get his life back and discover what chemicals were used to change his genome, he’s thrust further and further down the rabbit hole. Will he crawl back out, and what kind of human will he be when he does? This plot is fast-paced and exciting to read.
Thanks so much to Random House Publishing- Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.25
Another solid sci-fi thriller from Blake Crouch. I've seen other reviews mention how much science is in this book, and yes there was a lot more than previous books. This didn't bother me- I think it helped that I listened to the audiobook because I just let the science technical terms wash over me and kept going. Maybe a little overdone at times, but I did think it helped me get to "this is an entirely possible chain of events".

My expectations were sky high, as I LOVE Dark Matter and Recursion; however, this one didn't reach those levels for me. It's kind of hard to articulate why - but I still really liked this book. I'm just saying that I would recommend this book to people who have already read those two novels and want more, but I'm not sure that I would recommend this as someone's introduction to Blake Crouch's work.

I still VERY eagerly await his next novel :)

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for a review copy in exchange for a honest review.

I read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch earlier this year and absolutely devoured it. I loved it! So, I was really looking for to his new book, Upgrade, but this just was not a book for me 😅 I know this is a science thriller, but, for me, there was just too much science. A lot of it went over my head, and I didn’t really see what all of it added to the story other than length. The characters felt flat, and I didn’t really care for them. Even though it has important things to say, the plot felt kind of loose to me… Unlike Dark Matter, I just didn’t find this super thrilling. It’s no fun when the main character is stronger and smarter than everyone around him….
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Mostly, I feel like Upgrade just wasn’t what I expected 😅 For some reason, I thought a genetically mutated creature was involved? That is definitely not the case, in case you were wondering, so maybe it fell a little flat because of my own misunderstanding? Regardless, after loving Dark Matter, I had super high hopes for Upgrade. It just fell a little flat in comparison… or maybe I’m just not smart enough for this one

What a wonderful sci fi story. This is not my typical genre but I was impressed (per usual) by the quality of this book and also how fast of a read it was. This author is phenomenal.

Logan is a genre cop--not the official term, but the gist of what he does. This story is set in the future when mankind discovers how to manipulate genetic material to create more resilient crops, reintroduce extinct species and tragically "better" the human make up.

While no one does this well and the results can wreak havoc on the world, Logan spends his career finding and arresting these gene manipulators.

Until he is exposed to a mutation bomb during a raid and evolves to the next level of human development. The rest of the story is a race against time as he and his sister both do what they think is right to save humanity.
This was a profound look at the humane specifies, what defines our strengths and what makes us worth saving. I really enjoyed this book.. The fast paced novel flew by and I was not overwhelmed by the science of it all. Crouch explains things really well. This was a fun and different read!

This was my first Blake Crouch book and probably won’t be my last. However, at the same time, I felt “Upgrade” was very up and down. For me, it started out slow, then I couldn’t put it down, then it got slow again, and then I flew through to the end and was satisfied with the ending . So I have very mixed feelings about this book!

There were definitely a lot of technical terms, but I felt that things were thoroughly explained and were understandable for my non-science brain!

My final rating is 3.5, but I rounded down just because of the roller coaster I felt the book was.


Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me this ARC!

Blake Crouch keeps getting better with every book he writes. His latest, Upgrade, continues that trend. Logan Ramsay works for the Gene Protection Agency. The agency tracks genetic scientists who may be doing illegal work. Much genetic research was outlawed after the Great Starvation, a worldwide phenomenon that devastated crops, an unintentional side effect of gene manipulation caused by Logan's mother. While on a raid, Logan is exposed to something. Soon he finds himself with improved memory and other mental and physical improvements. Government agents lock him up at a black site and begin running test after test on him. When someone unexpectedly breaks Logan out of the facility, he learns that his mother had plans for improving humanity and the human condition. Plans that only he can move forward or halt.
Blake Crouch is always asking the big questions about the intersection of technology and humanity. He makes it easy to understand the temptations that technological advances represent both on an individual as well as a global scale.

Upgrade presents great moral dilemmas and plays them out in thrilling fashion. Logan is on the run from a government seeking to capture him while he is also trying to stop a plan that could result in an untold number of deaths. He also has to wrestle with whether the changes he is undergoing are destroying his own humanity and ultimately put his own dangerous plan in motion.

No one is better than Crouch at portraying the moral complexity of science and technological possibilities. He does this against the backdrop of a thrilling action story that not only keeps you guessing every step of the way but creates the nagging question of whether or not you want him to succeed.

Great characters, thrilling action, and a brilliant concept make this one of the best books of the year. One that will have you thinking long after you close the book. We need more stories like this. Upgrade is Blake Crouch at his best.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for the gifted book.

Whatever Blake Crouch writes, I wanna read! He sucks you in. I read this in almost one sitting on my first night of vacation and only because I could no longer keep my eyes open. And the next morning I immediately grabbed it up and finished it. 

Logan works for the government's Gene Protection Agency. He seeks to find and arrest those who are gene editing. But his relationship with the science is complicated because of a horrific family legacy.

After a raid of a dark gene lab goes awry, Logan starts to notice changes in himself, and realizes he's been... upgraded?! His genome has been hacked. And once again he has to face that complicated family legacy, as well as his morality. 

This upgrade has set a sequence of events in motion that Logan has no choice but to engage in. And he has to decide if the evolution of humanity is his to engineer or not.

A thrilling ride that is full of science and broad concepts, but is also a character study on the purpose of life and the power one man can hold. I was enthralled from beginning to end.

I'm not a huge Science Fiction lover, but there are a few authors who write science-y stuff in such a thrilling, fun, and approachable way that I want to read everything they write. Those authors include Andy Weir, Ernest Cline, and of course, Blake Crouch.

While there's a ton of science that goes over my head in this book, I almost think that makes it more enjoyable for me. I can just completely buy into the plausibility of the story and enjoy the ride. And what a ride it is. This is essentially a superhero story - but instead of getting his superpowers from a radioactive spider or injected by a super soldier serum, our slightly-better-than-average-Joe is infected by a virus that fundamentally alters his DNA. It gives him super strength, speed, intelligence, and resilience. The plot behind this upgrade leads to our hero running from the government - and his own upgraded, super soldier sister - while trying to save the world. And it's just oodles of fun. I really think Crouch's books read like action movies and I am here for it.

Thank you to Net Galley and Ballantine Books for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

An engaging story that makes you think about what it would be like to be more intelligent, more focused, and need less sleep than everyone else. Logan can anticipate what is going to happen, read books in minutes, and memorize material like never before. As you can imagine, this creates several problems and many enemies. This book is hard to explain but I also don’t want to give any details away. There are some surprising twists and turns and it is a great book to get swept away with. This is science fiction for people who don’t normally like the genre. While this isn’t my favorite of the author’s books, I still really liked it and will continue to read future novels by Blake Crouch.

"My mother had tried to edit a few rice paddies and ended up killing two hundred million people. What havoc could she wreak—intentionally or through unintended consequences—by attempting to change something as fundamental as how Homo sapiens think?"

"We were a bunch of primates who had gotten together and, against all odds, built a wondrous civilization. But paradoxically—tragically—our creation’s complexity had now far outstripped our brains’ ability to manage it."

OK, so if you had the chance to upgrade yourself, would you do it? I know I would. There are so many things about me that could be better. But, as we all know from the constant barrage of upgrades offered by the makers of every bloody piece of software, some have downsides. Such as new, bloated code slowing down your app. A feature you liked has been removed. You now have to endure ads. Are the benefits of greater value than the costs? Sometimes, but usually, we won’t actually know until the new version is installed, which can take anywhere from minutes to “really, this fu#%ing thing is still processing?” Sometimes, you have no choice, the app updates whether you want it to or not.

I suppose agent Logan Ramsay could tell us something about that last case. On a raid, he walks into a planned trap, which goes boom, and Ramsay is infused with version 1.0 of something, which gets busy rewriting his internal code to produce version 2.0 of Logan. There are upsides and downsides. This is no steroidal enhancement, trading zits and rage for increased muscle mass. A nifty bit of tech called a gene driver, (can’t help but see a tiny Uber with double-helix treads) is busy re-writing his actual DNA. (For a new you, no really, a totally, completely new you, call…1 800 FIX-THIS. Of course, we have a la carte if there are only some minor changes you would like. Operators are standing by.)

Logan already had a complicated life. Mom was a geneticist trying to improve crop yields in China when there was a slight bit of collateral damage. Her altered-DNA material went where it was not supposed to. Oopsy. It was known as The Great Starvation. As noted in the quote at top, over two hundred million dead. Junior, who had been working with Mom, dead in the ensuing mess, wound up taking undeserved legal heat in her place, spent time in prison, but was sprung three years in. Now he works as an agent for the federal GPA, or Gene Protection Agency, (too late for Wilder) fiddling with genetic code having become a serious, felonious no-no, and Junior wanting to make amends for his family’s role in the global debacle. He is a geneticist like Mom, now dedicated to seeing that it never happens again.

So, what happens in every single film and book in which our hero is altered by some weird outside force? They are dragged into enforced isolation for relentless study. Or base their subsequent actions (FLEE!!!) on the presumption that this is what the powers that be have planned for them.

Of course among the changes that have been implanted into Logan is a significant increase in IQ. His perceptions have been enhanced as well, giving him a wider bandwidth for incoming sensory information and a much improved ability to process that new flow.

This is both a chase and a pursuit story, as Logan must stay out of the clutches of the government, while searching for a dangerous geneticist, trying to stave off another potential global disaster. His personal upgrades make both running and chasing less of a challenge for him than it might be for an unaugmented person.

Crouch offers a steady, if light, sprinkling of tech changes, letting us know we are in the future, if not necessarily the far distant future. Some seem more distant than others. Hyperloop, for example, is a widespread viable transportation mode. There is a mile-high building in Las Vegas.

"The book is set slightly in the future, because I wanted to accelerate where some of the climate change and more in-the-weeds technology was heading, but it’s a mirror of where we might be five minutes from now. – Time interview"

Some of the alignments seemed out of kilter. The story takes place in the 2060s. But delivery drones and driverless taxis hardly seem much of an advance for forty years. Ditto electric cars with greater range. Mention is made of a Google Roadster. Google producing its own car has been a project in the works since 2009. So, maybe only five minutes into the future for a lot of the tech Crouch employs. The five-minutes vs forty-years lookahead was jarringly inconsistent at times, which pulled me out of the story.

He also reminds us, with a steady stream of examples, that the underlying issue is humans having screwed up the Earth to the point where the continued viability of Homo Sap is called into question. Lower Manhattan and most of Miami are under water. Glacier National Park no longer features glaciers. Many wildlife species are only memories. It is raining in the Rockies instead of snowing. There are now seven hurricane categories.

There are some things about this book that I would change. There is an escape scene in which I found the means of egress a bit far-fetched, given the year in which it takes place. Surely there is better tech available? I kept wondering who got Logan sprung from prison. If it was revealed, I missed it. I wondered, during a flight from hostile forces, at how little pursuit of the runner there was by the pursuing forces. Really? That easy to get away? I don’t think so. A couple of lost family members merited a bit more attention. And there is a decided absence of humor.

Expected questions are raised. Things like what is it that makes us human? There are those who believe that enhancing, upgrading humanity’s intelligence-related genes to stave off the potential extinction of our species is the only solution, regardless of what collateral damage that might entail. If we are smarter, goes the theory, we will see that what we are doing is madness, and find more sustainable ways of living. While that notion is appealing, it seems pretty glaring that an intelligence boost alone will not cut it. I mean, so you make people smarter. What could possibly go wrong? Logan addresses this:

"What if you create a bunch of people who are just drastically better at what they already were. Soldiers. Criminals. Politicians. Capitalists?"

The notion has been done a fair bit. Forbidden Planet is the classic of this sort. That most of the genetic manipulators in this tale ignore this suggests that maybe they were not so smart as they thought they were, enhanced or not.

Might it enhance one’s appreciation of Upgrade if one had read his prior sci-fi thrillers? No idea. Have not read them. Cannot say. My unaugmented research capacities tell me, though, that this is a stand-alone, so at least there is no direct story or character connection to his prior work.

Upgrade is a fast-paced thriller that keeps the action charging ahead. I often found myself continuing to read beyond where I had planned to stop. Logan is a decent guy who struggles with moral decisions in a very believable way. There are reasons to relate to him as an everyman, regardless of who his mother may have been. Crouch offers character depth enough for this genre. The tech never gets extreme, a beautiful thing. The concerns raised are very serious. Hopefully, it will boost, if not your muscle mass and speed in the forty, your interest level in the world of genetic manipulation, which, albeit with the best of intentions, could wind up degrading us all.

"TIME: You did a ton of research on gene editing for Upgrade. Was there anything you learned that stood out?
Blake Crouch: The big thing I came away with is how afraid scientists are of this research and this technology. I didn’t realize how unnerved everyone was about both the optimistic potential of this technology—but also the pitfalls that await us."

Review posted – August 5, 2022

Publication date – July 19, 2022

I received an ARE of Upgrade from Penguin Random House in return for a fair review, and not trying to change too much. Thanks, KQ, and thanks to NetGalley for facilitating.

For the full review, with links and images, please go to https://cootsreviews.com/2022/08/05/upgrade-by-blake-crouch/

Exactly what I've come to expect from Blake Crouch. Upgrade is an emotional scifi thriller with lots of heart and philosophical commentary on humanity and society. Upgrade felt similar to Recursion but also fresh and original. This is a perfect summer or vacation read because it is best devoured over a few sittings. The plot moves so quickly it's hard to put down.

While I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as Dark Matter, it was still a fun, fast-paced read. I liked Logan and thought his motivations and decisions made sense for him as a character. I enjoyed the arguments about the state of humanity and how to save us from ourselves. There is a lot of science jargon about DNA and the human genome and biology, but it was explained well and made everything seem that much more realistic.

While this book didn’t have quite as many twists and turns as the author’s previous books, the last third of the book rocketed toward the conclusion. As with Dark Matter and Recursion, this story played in my head like a sci-fi action movie and I could definitely see it being made into one. Overall, I enjoyed this and if you’re a fan of Dark Matter or Recursion or sci-fi thrillers that are heavy on the science, I would definitely check this one out.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch is a well written, easy to read story about the effect hacking genomes has on the world. Logan Ramsey has had a hard life. His mother, a once in a century genius did some hacking and killed over 200 million people. As a result, Logan spends some time in jail but eventually becomes an agent for the Gene Protection Agency and somehow, his genome is hacked and he becomes . . . better.
Good world building but the DNA discussions did approach I don't care land. Fast paced action plot. If you buy this book you bought a "hidden gem."

Imagine yourself being better? You are smarter, faster, needing less sleep, a very powerful machine. Is this the way the human race will eventually be, or are we doomed and the homo sapiens species will go out of existence in time.

This is the dilemma presented to us in Blake Crouch's book, The Upgrade. Our main character, Logan Ramsey, the son of a well- known scientist mother, finds himself a person who has been upgraded. Surely his dead mother, the vile perpetrator of a virus that devastated the earth, can't be behind this new state of humans and yet?

As is everything, untested well by scientists, anxious to permeate their findings. this new state of humans can also be detrimental to many. His sister becomes involved as she too, is a victim of an upgrade and sees nothing but benefits coming from this. However, Logan carries a much divergent view and sees this as it it, dangerous, ominous, and threatening. It arrives at a point where upgraded brother versus upgraded sister in the battle for all humanity to survive.

Filled with action, the edge of your seat kind, Logan strives to bring about the destruction of the upgrade genome change. Bereft of his family,because he fears for their survival, Logan takes on many as he finds those he once trusted might not be the ones he needs now.

Thoroughly enjoyable with lots of salient points especially about our human's capacity to feel empathy, I so enjoyed this story and thought its relevance in today's world spot on.

Thank you to Blake Crouch, and NetGalley for bringing this book to me. It published in July.

Blake Crouch does it again! His book ‘Dark Matter’ was the first sci-fi thriller I had ever read. From there — I was ruined. I couldn’t get my hands on his his work fast enough! As soon as I saw ‘Upgrade’ was available, I knew I had to get my hands on it. This book is thrilling and action-packed, in true Crouch form. It twists your mind and grips you through every moment until the very end.
I want to thank NetGalley for this ARC! Although it took me a bit longer to read - life! - I thoroughly enjoyed this and appreciate the opportunity to read this!

Blake Crouch’s books feel as if they are written to be adapted into movies. They are generally fast paced, thrilling, epic stories that leave an impression. For me, Upgrade didn’t have the same something that made Dark Matter and Recursion so engaging. Granted, genetic modification doesn’t really hold the same stakes as multiple universes and time travel. All pretty high stakes, but definitely different levels.

Upgrade was an interesting, well written story. Unfortunately, I wasn’t really on the edge of my seat to find out what happened next. The only part that gave me a rush was when Logan visited a city that made me wonder if it was one of the locations featured in Dark Matter. I absolutely started googling the city and busted out my copy of Dark Matter to check the name of the town I was picturing. Regardless of whether or not it is, these two places are now cemented in my brain as the same place. The similarities are too much for me not to let this theory live rent free in my head.

I think if you’ve enjoyed Blake Crouch’s previous works you’ll enjoy Upgrade; however, while the story is told on a grand scale, it isn’t quite as intense as some of his others. His books do tend to grow on me so I may just need a little more time to digest this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced electronic copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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Question with potential spoiler for Upgrade and Dark Matter:

Did anyone else think Glasgow in Upgrade was the city Jason visited in Dark Matter where all the residents where forced to stay inside their homes due to an illness and place scraps of cloth outside their homes indicating if someone was sick or had died? The lockdown, the colors of the cloths hung outside, the police presence, and even the symptoms mentioned in each book are similar. I’m 99% sure it isn’t but then again…

I am a big fan of Blake Crouch's science fiction novels. This one starts a little slow but once it starts moving, it never slows down.

Set in the near future, Logan Ramsay is a government agent working for the Gene Protection Agency, looking for people working on gene editing which is a crime. During a raid, there is an explosion and Logan is injured. Shortly afterwards, he starts to notice changes in his body and brain--improvements in memory recall, needing less sleep, and better able to multitask. Logan's genome has been hacked and this is just the first step in an audacious plan that could impact all of humanity.

I am a fan of science fiction in general but I know that many people find it too hard to get into. Blake Crouch is able to take a concept like gene editing and weave an interesting story around it without getting too technical. Yes, there is a lot of talk about various genetic markers but it isn't really necessary to know all of those to get enjoyment out of the story. The epilogue was excellent as well. Quick read--this would make an excellent action movie that has some heart in it and asks some big questions.

Blake Crouch is as impressive as ever!

Upgrade continues Blake Crouch’s streak of constantly blowing my mind with his stories and has definitely solidified himself as science fiction’s modern-day genius. Upgrade is just as fast-paced as his other works and you will not be able to help yourself by finishing this book in a few sittings. Upgrade follows Logan Ramsey as he battles an internal battle with an infectious agent that has never been seen before. He is starting to notice changes both in his body and mind as he comes to the realization that he is transforming into a super-human. But this transformation is just the beginning for Logan as more questions than answers arise between his family and the future of humanity as a whole.

It is obvious that Crouch really put in a high level of research, specifically into genetics, for this novel. I would even argue that this is his most technical book with a ton of science thrown at the reader. However it is accomplished in a way that masterfully straddles the line of not dumbing down the science while explaining the science in a way that actually makes the reader believe that this could be possible in the near future.

Uprgade is a book I can easily recommend to most people and I believe I would be hard-pressed to find they do not like it. This holds true for all of Crouch’s works, in my opinion. This book is a homerun and has solidified Blake Crouch as one of my current favorite authors! Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book. This review is my own opinion in which I freely gave.

A great book by Crouch, it absolutely lives up to the hype surrounding it. Already it is one of my favorite books of 2022, The story, characterization and writing work perfectly together to create one of Crouch’s best!