Mr. Crouch has written a novel that is frightening in its possibility.
Genetic research is used to try and stop a plague of locusts and results in a great famine as a side effect.
Later this person develops an UPGRADE to the human species in order to mankind…except it is not perfect and she is dying….so she uses it on the only two people she believes are capable of finishing her work.
A thriller for sure, and sadly plausible too.
I do recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me this ARC.

wow wow wow!!! my first blake crouch novel but definitely not my last. thank you netgalley & the publisher for the arc!

This is my 3rd Blake Crouch book and he did not disappoint. I can now say that I’m a Blake Crouch nerd. I did want to see more from the upgrade and what it could do. And I wanted to learn more about his mom and sister. Also, I missed the love aspect.

Another excellent Blake Crouch novel. It had me hooked from beginning to end. And as always the ending left me feeling breathless and filled with emotion. I will always read novels by this author because they never fail to give readers a gripping and compelling novel. Being set in a dystopian future where the world is threatened by the harm we commit is incredibly timely. I would recommend to all sci-fi lovers.

I get completely absorbed in all of Blake Crouch's books and Upgrade was no different!! No complaints or constructive criticism here. five stars all day long!

I don't typically think of myself as a sci-fi girl, but Crouch might be converting me.

Recursion and Dark Matter are two of my all-time favorite books, I've recommended them to friends and colleagues upwards of 50 times. Upgrade is officially going on that list now, as well.

This story was the most science-heavy of the three, in my opinion, but that was alright because the context clued me in, even when I didn't understand the jargon. I will admit that I initially thought this whole concept was a little far-fetched.. until I read The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson afterwards, and realized how truly close to this reality we might actually be. I found the morality/ethical dilemma (in both books) to be the most fascinating aspect. I absolutely love the pacing and the intensity of Crouch's novels, and this one was no exception. I read it all within 24 hours, same as his others, because I absolutely HAD to know what the end result would be.

This one felt so cinematic, I'm not surprised to hear there is potentially going to be a movie adaption. I can't wait for that, and I'm going to be gifting this book to friends in the meantime.

Five shiny edge-of-my-seat stars.

This is a new twist on the human becoming something else thriller. Logan Ramsey's genome has been hacked. He is changing in unique ways. He learns faster, reads faster, and is getting sharper and sharper. As he realizes how this will affect him, he learns that this will be unleashed on humanity. As he realizes how bad this will be, he also realizes that he is the only one who can do anything to stop this. Can he stop this?

This is my third book by the author. I really enjoyed the premise. The goal should be for a better humankind, but is it ethical to manipulate it through science? I enjoyed the main character and found his familial relationships interesting. In the end, this one was too science-y for me.

I'm not sure if I even blinked while reading this. I enjoyed the nonstop action and the author's ability to make you get things without overexplaining, like Logan's relationship with his daughter and wife, and the backstory of how he ended up in prison and working for the GPA. The near-future world was fascinating, like lower Manhattan being navigable only by boat, and the US finally having a hyperloop. A gene editing thriller could be a bit much or heavy-handed, but this was perfect and I loved the ending.

Blake Crouch seriously does it again. This one was so good, that my husband was rushing me to finish it so he could get to it! Crouch does an amazing job of mixing thriller and sci-fi in a way that it so easily digestible for any reader and making you not want to put the book down! There were multiple points where the science aspects were way over my head, but I kept reading because I needed to know what happened to Logan! Highly recommend literally anything my crouch. I cannot wait until the next!

Never in a million years did I ever think I would be reading science fiction In fact, I have spent much of my reading life AVOIDING it because the few books I attempted to read either couldn’t hold my attention, or made me feel like those memes with the math equations flying around the person’s head.

And then Blake Crouch came into my life and I started looking forward to his books with such anticipation—I was like “who am I?!?” My anticipation leading to being able to read Upgrade reached a near fever pitch, and when I was gifted a galley, I quite literally dropped everything to dig in.

Once again, Crouch drops us into a work where STUFF IS COMPLICATED. There are themes and layers and the SCIENCIEST things happening here, and I found myself having to slow down to really grasp the stakes at the start of this novel. Of Crouch’s many talents, the sharpest perhaps is his ability to distill this very science-heavy, complicated information in way that never makes me feel dumb, even when I have to go back and re-read something in order to understand it. It never fails to completely amaze me the amount of work that goes into crafting this wild story that is so deeply rooted in real science. No really, Google it!

Maybe the most terrifying thing Crouch’s work is, though they are often dystopian or not-of-this-world, they are still 100% believable. Upgrade perhaps is the most relevant and believable and will leave you breathless and haunted. If you’re anything like me, you’ll put the book down and sit in silence for a long while, contemplating the gravity and impressiveness and a little bit of terror of what you just read.

Blake Crouch never disappoints with his mind-bending thrillers!

Logan Ramsay works for the gene protection agency (GPA) to thwart the plans of scientists who intend to modify genes for personal gain. Logan’s mother was the matriarch of gene research and modification before her life’s work to end world hunger turned into the “Great Starvation” causing a sizeable part of the world’s population to die off. One night at a raid in Denver, he triggers an IED in a house’s basement that was packed with a gene modifier. At first everything comes back clean, but before long, Logan starts to notice that his intelligence is enhancing as is his body structure. Logan knows that if the GPA finds out that his genome has been modified, he will be isolated and studied until they are confident they can contain what he will become. But Logan also learns that what happened to him is just the first step in someone’s attempt to upgrade the human race so that they don’t face extinction in the future.

If you pick up a Blake Crouch book, you know that you are going to be in for a wild ride that will likely result in sleepless nights while reading the book and after reading the book because you keep thinking about it for months. Upgrade was no exception to his formula. However, he changed tactics a bit and strayed from his usual focus on quantum entanglement to human gene modification. He has also moved from being more current day to a time of a dystopian world after disasters.

If you’ve researched much into genetics, you will find quite a bit of the same acronyms show up in his book. Even if you haven’t, Crouch does a great job of giving readers just enough information to follow the technical jargon without having to have a biomedical degree just to keep up. He never gets into the weeds, but makes it feel like you are reading a medical thriller. The suspense is always top notch and its easy to connect with the main protagonist from the beginning. I always look forward to his books.

There is quite a bit of foul language (understandable from the characters) but doesn’t take away from the storyline at all. If you love suspense thrillers that will leave you thinking for weeks to months afterwards, Upgrade should be on your shelf!

How have I not read anything by Blake Crouch before? Upgrade is absolutely wild and will make you really think.

Set in the future, Logan Ramsey begins to feel sharper and stronger after an explosion during a raid for the Gene Protection Agency. He learns that his genome has been hacked and his DNA has been upgraded. This is extremely fast-paced and will keep you on the edge of your seat. I could not put it down. I'm not usually a fan of sci-fi/futuristic books, but this one might have changed my mind.

Needless to say, I'm excited to read Crouch's other titles. I will definitely recommend Upgrade.

4.5/5 stars
Thank you Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the eARC!

Putting this aside for now as I'm not really connecting with the story, so I will try to come back to this at a later point.

This was an entertaining read with some interesting ideas. I'd compare it to a "popcorn movie" - fast paced and enjoyable with a dash of suspension of belief in some parts.

In this story Blake Crouch looks at genetic engineering and both good and bad potential consequences. After an error in genetic manipulation causes a huge number of global deaths, gene engineering is outlawed, and the Logan Ramsey is initially working for an agency that enforces that law. However, when his own DNA is upgraded, the action really begins.

I liked some of the questions asked by the book - there's an ethical dilemma posed by Logan's sister and other smaller questions. And I liked the final resolution.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballentine books for the opportunity to read this!

I don’t read a lot of sci-fi type books, but there are a few authors that I will pick up…and this is one of them. I enjoy these kinds of books because they educate and get me interested in something that I normally probably wouldn’t pay much attention to; but, the whole concept of genetic modification is pretty interesting and I know that these kinds of things are plausible in our lifetimes. I like that this is set in the future, but not a distant future so it is more realistic. I also liked the fact that this had a lot of action packed into it as well, not just information about genes and DNA. The storyline itself was very well done and the characters were well thought out. I will recommend this to others.

Relentlessly technological, but very readable - I am nowhere near as smart as Blake Crouch, so I let the minute details of the narrative flow through my brain and not worry about whether I completely understand everything exactly. It makes for an immersive, enjoyable reading experience.

As an interviewer said to him, this book is about the tension between intellect and compassion.
Set in the future, when humans can design changes to their own DNA and others, the protagonist his sister unwittingly have their own DNA altered against their will and find out their own super genius mother did it.
They becomes more and more brilliant, but less and less human, which leads up to a brilliant conclusion!
Just a personal note, I enjoyed this book, the idea of being able to get into the DNA of any living plant or animal is amazing, but I didn't find the story as awesome as "Dark Matter" or "Recursion".

I don’t necessarily think of myself as the biggest fan of the sci-fi genre, but I will continue to read anything Blake Crouch writes. The science seems plausible, the suspense though is what will keep me coming back. The ethical dilemma adds a perfect point of conflict. Of course, it doesn’t even end there, because beyond the ethics, there might even be secondary consequences when the science works as intended. Couple all of this with the need to hide from the authorities who would turn you into a lab rat and you have a truly intriguing novel.

Upgrade is my third book I’ve read from Blake Crouch, and is another 5-star read. I would not consider myself a sci-fi reader, but there is just something about his books that are so believable and realistic, and I really enjoy his writing style.

After coming in contact with a virus that transforms his DNA and ultimately upgrades his body to superhuman intellect and physicality, Logan Ramsay must stop the spread of this virus meant to upgrade many and sacrifice some. With an emphasis on humanity, and what it means to be human, this story explores the not-so-distant future and some of ethical questions humankind will need to answer. As Logan fights to save humanity, he grapples with his own internal struggles and in the end, must make his own personal sacrifices for the good of all.

I would highly recommend this book to any sci-fi or thriller fans!

A huge thank you to the author, Random House Publishing Group -Ballantine, and NetGalley for an copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review. #Upgrade #NetGalley

I love Blake Crouch's books - The Wayward Pines series is enthralling, and Dark Matter was mindbending. But Upgrade read a little too much like a science textbook for me. I imagine that would be just the right balance for a lot of people who don't like too much fluff. But I am fully willing to suspend my disbelief when I read fiction - so I didn't need all the scientific exposition included in this novel. It made my brain work too hard, ha! But I will still faithfully read any new release Crouch publishes!