Another amazing story from Blake Crouch! I seriously love his writing style and his plots. This book did NOT disappoint. He sets the bar very high and keeps delivering. I am a HUGE Blake Crouch fan!

An ordinary man gets an unwelcome upgrade to superhuman status in Crouch’s
latest techno-thriller. Logan Ramsay already paid his debt to society for his role in the
Great Starvation, a global catastrophe caused by his renegade scientist mother. Now, years
later, the world is a mess. He dislikes serving the Gene Protection Agency, but his adored
wife and daughter make it worth it. But on a routine raid for the GPA, Logan contracts
a virus designed to slowly turn him superhuman. He soon realizes another terrifying
catastrophe is looming, one with devastating connections to his past, and that he’s
uniquely qualified to intervene before it’s too late—even though the cost is unbearable.
An engrossing and cinematic blend of hard science and thrilling action, and a thoughtful
and ultimately hopeful exploration of what makes us human—and what we stand to lose
if we don’t get our relationship with our vast technological power right.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this early read!

One kind of thriller I like to read is the techno-thriller - I don’t pretend to understand all of the techy stuff, but I like the high-stakes and often futuristic nature of these stories. Upgrade is set sometime in the future, where the science of gene editing is advanced and is considered a federal crime. The main character is Logan Ramsey, and he works for the Gene Protection Agency. At the opening, he and his team are following a lead to secret gene editing lab, but when they get there it becomes clear it is a trap. Logan is exposed to a virus that almost kills him. But it doesn’t. The opposite in fact – he is getting stronger, smarter, more intuitive every day. He is taken into custody by his own agency, suspected of altering his own genes. With some unexpected help, he escapes and discovers that this is just the first step in a much larger, and darker, plan. And because of his “upgrade”, Logan may just be the only person who can stop it. Logan is a great character. His family history, his predicament, the choices he has to make – you really want to root for him. There is lots of action, but also lots to think about with the plausible science in this fictional world. And I am still thinking about the ending, which really hit home, especially in our current environment. If you haven’t tried a techno-thriller, this might be a good one with which to start.

5 stars

Did Blake Crouch just make me a sci-fi fan? It might be too soon to tell for sure, but I feel like reading Upgrade may have converted me to the genre through a story full of twists, full of action, and ultimately full of heart.

Upgrade starts out with a bang - literally! - when our protagonist Logan is hit by an explosion that upgrades his DNA to make him stronger, smarter, and more perceptive. What follows is a story that centers the question of what does it mean to be human and how our humanity can be weaponized for good or for evil. Crouch's prose is quick and I truly appreciate his ability to present the science in this book in terms that I, as an incredibly un-scientific human being, can understand. I was utterly riveted throughout the story and even found myself shedding a few tears during the epilogue. I will definitely be picking up some of Crouch's backlist in my new quest to see where my reading taste fit within the sci-fi landscape.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Mr. Crouch, I'm not sure why I keep reading your books and expecting a different outcome.

Your books are what they are: not for me. Sure, they're entertaining and will make passable movies one day, but I can't overlook how dumb this "smart" book is supposed to be.

I couldn't help but feel this book defined intelligence as a dumb person would: read and remember a lot = smart. Intelligence is about abstracting pattern recognition, original thought, and knowing how to make new discoveries. It's not memorizing shit other people have done. All the plot points were about memorization or perfect memory recall. There are people who have this ability today and they're not geniuses. The only pattern recognition utilized in this book is in deciphering people's microexpressions, which is then utilized as a lazy plot device.

The whole plot hinges on one HUGE assumption: intelligent people make better choices that will save all humankind and stop global warming. This assumption is obviously wrong. See Dr. Josef Mengele as an example.

The antagonist's emotional relationship with the protagonist is missing. It's hinted at but never shown. No groundwork is laid. The tension is added soooo late in the game. If this missing element was present, I'd rate this book 4 stars. It's as if the author was consumed with showing off all the neat sci-fi "human improvements" that he forgot to establish any character motivations or tension between the protagonist and antagonist. How boring would The Matrix be if Neo didn't know why he had to fight Mr. Smith? Or if Mr. Smith didn't show up until the end of the movie? That's what we have here. Limitless minus the tension of any downward spiral.

I received this book from Netgalley and the Publisher for an honest review.

Another winner from Blake Crouch!

I thought the concept of this book was absolutely fascinating -- it really made me ponder how myself and/or the world around me would change if I was in a similar situation. Despite the significant imaginative nature of this book, you could tell that Crouch put a lot of thought and research into it. It seems particularly difficult to really conjure how someone would alter through such significant changes in intelligence, but I thought that Crouch did a great job at making these changes in our main character, Logan, seem plausible. Overall this was a very enjoyable, fast-paced story that kept me engaged from beginning to end (though I will say that I found the beginning half of the book to be more propulsive and interesting vs the second half). Highly recommend!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advance copy of Blake Crouch’s upcoming summer release Upgrade in exchange for my honest review.

I honestly love the complexity with which Crouch develops these stories - are they sci-fi? Maybe. Thrillers? Kind of. It’s really hard to give it a particular genre, but with the science, it’s okay if this isn’t your forte, you can still follow along.

That being said, this one is my least favorite title of Crouch’s three major works (Dark Matter, Recursion) - I felt like this one had a strange plot, and I didn’t connect with Logan as easily as some of the other protagonists. I’m still rating it very high and definitely think you should check it out if you enjoyed his other titles. Thank you again NetGalley and the publishers for granting me this advance copy for one of my most anticipating of the summer!

Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine Books for this arc.

I did not know what to expect when I went into this book. I know a lot of people love Blake Crouch’s books but I was not sure if his books were for me so I had zero expectations and as soon as I started reading Upgrade I was gladly surprised by it.

The story takes place in a not so distant future where science has evolved enough to allow alterations, or manipulation, of people’s DNAs. In this story, Logan Ramsay is an employee of the Gene Protection Agency. Manipulating genomes is illegal in this world. His mother, a brilliant scientist, was unintentionally responsible for the “Great Starvation” after attempting to improve the resistance of a rice plant to a particular virus but resulted in a global rice crisis, causing the death of two hundred million people.

Logan served his time in prison for his role in the catastrophe and is currently working for the GPA, investigating people who try to change the human genome. In one of his raids, Logan is exposed to a virus and he soon realizes he is changing. His senses, his memory, his strength, vision, have been altered. He comes to the realization that he has been upgraded.

He starts his journey then, trying to understand exactly what happened to him, why he was targeted, and who has done this to him. I liked the fact that the parts in which Crouch goes deeper in the specifics of science and of the human DNA were not impossible to understand. I thought I would read this book and not understand anything. To me the scientific details were very informative in this novel.

The story is very fast-paced, I felt I was watching a movie with a lot of action. I would not be surprise if this book is adapted into a film or series. It was an enjoyable read and it made me curious to read more from this author. Upgrade is also an emotional novel and presents some ethical questions, perfect for a greater discussion.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch is a fantastic sci-if read! It hooks the reader from the start and has enough turns to keep it entertaining. A great summer read!

I really enjoyed the author's former books, Dark Matter and The Pines series, both of which I do not think he could possibly best. Enter, The Upgrade! There have suspense, dystopian, and sci-fi books about the human genome before, but nothing like this!!! I was hooked from the first few pages. There are some truly scary twists in this book that can make you think about humans in the future. This book definitely gave me the chills in a good way!

Highly recommended and I am getting this at publishing!

Thanks to NetGalley, Blake Crouch, and Random House Publishing Group Ballantine Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 7/12/22

UPGRADE by
Blake Crouch

Logan suddenly starts feeling sharper, thinking quicker his memory is much better. His body is stronger he notices he moves quicker and has more energy than before. There is a reason for all of this.He has received a DNA "upgrade" from his famous but dangerous mother who tried this out on his sister and himself.

I loved Blake Crouch books Dark Matter and Recursion and gave then both an easy 5 star review. This book Upgrade i wavered back and forth how to rate it. I loved the idea of the DNA manipulation and wanting to stop using it for evil ...great idea.He wrote a very fast pace exciting page turner but I noticed as I reached towards the end it was all about Chasing the sister .. I felt the book could have had more to it. However the book was redeemed for me by the ending . I loved the insight he gave about people's apathy towards the world and why we are that way. I also loved how it ended.
4 stars.
Thanks to Netgalley and RandomHouse and Ballantine Books for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

To quote Woody Allen, “I got a 98 in algebra but only by adding up the scores of my tests.” So let’s see if this ratio makes sense. If Dark Matter is to The Martian then Upgrade is Limitless. Right?

In the 2011 movie Limitless, Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is exposed to an experimental drug that increases his brain capacity to the nth degree. Of course he uses that newfound knowledge to bet on stocks and then the bad guys show up and hilarity ensues. The movie got good reviews and a spinoff tv show. So all-in-all, not bad.

Novelist Blake Crouch plays with a similar idea. He adds in a dark sci-fi spin yet still provides an ample buffer for his legion of mainstream fans. The end result is Upgrade, a totally enjoyable read – but maybe not quite as memorable as the movie. With Upgrade, Logan Ramsey is an agent with the GPA – which is the FBI in the near-future that covers illegal gene manipulation. Fox Mulder woulda loved it. Like Eddie Mora before him, Agent Ramsey is exposed to a radical DNA rewrite that enhances not only his brain capacity but also improves muscle and bone density. He essentially becomes Captain America with Tony Stark’s intelligence for those playing today’s pop-culture game. Logan then goes on a quest to not only find out how he changed and why – but to prevent gene manipulation on a global scale.

Upgrade is a fun, fast read with just enough DNA geekspeak to give the text weight. The climatic action sequence is made-for-a-movie ready. However, even though Logan Ramsey might have Cap’s endurance and Iron Man’s intelligence, there one trait that DNA manipulation could not enhance: Logan Ramsey is one boring as hell character.

Other than playing chess with his daughter, Logan does not possess a single interest nor have any significant characteristics that make him relatable to the reader. He is not interested in cars nor does he collect film noir posters. He is not a fan of the Caps or the Avs or the Nats or the Rockies. He does not take delight in making the perfect bowl of basmati rice nor in sipping special blend Irish whisky. You know what Logan Ramsey is?

Boring.

And man, reading about boring characters don’t make those pages move fast – no matter how fun some of the shoot ‘em up action gets.

Logan Ramsey is a good man. He tries to do the right thing and is driven in his task. Yet, pop-culture is full of other intelligent, driven characters that have provided intense enjoyment over the decades because of their interesting, often-flawed, character makeup. Batman, Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Spock are three quick hits. And yes, perhaps what makes those three memorable are those close-orbiting advocates that keep such drives in check. Ramsey, sadly, does not have that amenity. His humanity is his love for his family, which is admirable and tragic and also - in this grand wide world of anything-can-happen literature – boring.

Upgrade is pure Crouch: fast, inventive, and makes for a great conversation piece. The scifi is believable and relatable… even if the main character is not.


Many thanks to Penguin Random House for the upgrade in sending me the advance read.

The first story I remember reading about enhancing the mind through science was Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, but you could say the idea of pushing the limits of our abilities goes back to the Garden of Eden, with every author warning their readers that tampering with our mental restrictions can only result in tragedy.
Upgrade by Blake Crouch gives this cautionary tale a 21st century twist which makes it both more believable and scarier.
Crouch presents a world of the near future with all the usual threats of climate change, population explosion and the end of the world as we know it. What seemed to be a promising field of science, gene manipulation, has been outlawed because of unintended consequences that wiped out a large portion of society due to crop failure. . Not all scientists support this restriction and the story’s narrator works for a government agency created to track down these rebels.
Without revealing any spoilers, narrator Logan Ramsey becomes the victim of genetic hacking and gradually realizes that he is extending his mental powers in all areas, including, but not limited to, concentration, calculation, problem-solving, reflexes and social cues. It is so much fun to read about the growth of a fairly average individual who sheds his weaknesses. Logan shares his self-awareness and observations with the readers and, although I didn’t understand all the where’s and whys, it is exhilarating to go along for the ride.
But Logan and the reader soon realize, his gift is a terrible double-edged sword with the fatal flaw a misreading of the basic question of how to save humanity. Logan must use his enhanced abilities to prevent the greatest tragedy that could ever befall the human race.
This story combines the fantasy of science fiction, the possibilities of actual science, the heart-pounding action of a thriller and the thoughtful exploration of Man as a social being. Add to that an unexpected but satisfying ending and you have a book well worth the time you spend with it.

While science fiction is not my typical genre, I loved two of Crouch’s previous novels, Dark Matter and Recursion. Upgrade started out promising and is fast-paced at first, but the scientific jargon was a bit too much for my liking. I understand that this is indeed a sci-fi thriller but I had such a hard time getting into this book due to the lengthy explanations. I was also taken out of the story when the author references Meta and Covid.

I definitely think die hard sci-fi fans will love this one but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dare I say this is the easiest five starts I have ever given? Blake Crouch is a master at explaining complex scientific concepts into digestible language which shows just how well he knows his stuff. Upgrade is an exciting, action-packed adventure, that makes your brain tingle, your heart ache, and--given the state of the current world--puts tremendous, well-placed fear in the reader. While all of the science and explanations are incredible, the story telling and plot are what really drive this story forward. Logan has so many seemingly unbeatable foes, and it was a struggle for my own conscience to not also see the "upgrade" as a good thing like some of those antagonists. All that the say, the ending wrapped up incredibly well, I was actually really surprised by the "solution" and it brought me to tears because it felt truly relevant. I'd consider this a must read. Well done, Blake Crouch, well done.

Did I love it? No. Did I hate it? Also no.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I've absolutely loved everything I've ever read by Crouch. All the stars. Until now.

Upgrade just felt like it needed more editing. The concept was great and it started off with a bang. But between the endless pontificating about genetics and some less than thrilling plot twists...this book just fell flat for me.

wow. what a disappointment after Recursion. This book is just awful. Guy chasing his evil sister for 250 pages. Book description bears no relationship to the science theme advertised. Hope its just a one off mistake

The only sci-fi writer I trust is Blake Crouch. So I was thrilled to get an eARC of his latest - Upgrade. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read it and give my honest feedback.

After reading and loving Recursion, I was ready for my Crouch fix, and Upgrade did not disappoint. It started with a clever and timely premise, and then it was off the races! The story he tells is thrilling and fast-paced, although I would say it gets a little bogged down in the middle. But I trusted Crouch to land the plane, and that he did! The ending made me think and feel and wonder about the big questions of life and humanity, just as I expected it to.

I highly recommend Upgrade, as well as Crouch's backlist titles, even to readers who think they don't like sci-fi thrillers.

Blake Crouch has a way of writing books that make me feel both wildly intelligent and unintelligent at the same time. His books require you to suspend disbelief at first, but not soon after getting into them do you see something like this playing out in the future! If you've ever thought about genetic modifications and just how far someone may take them, check this book out! Some of it was way way over my head, but that didnt detract from the general idea of the book or my enjoyment of it!

Sometimes I read too many thrillers and get in such a rut, so I keep books like this one in my back pocket to bring out! I am so happy I discovered Blake Crouch! Science fiction is not my genre of choice, but he just delivers it so perfectly! It really brings out the nerd in me and has me going back to my chemistry and physics days and I love it!! After Dark Matter, I knew I would read whatever he came out with next! They’re both so different! The complexity and thoughtfulness that goes into these books is incredible! I would categorize it’s as a futuristic, science fiction, thriller. I hope if anyone is seeing this and on the bubble of reading Upgrade, you get pushed to try it! I really think a lot of thriller readers will enjoy this! And while it is definitely heavy in science information, it wasn’t so much that it distracted from the story or made it confusing. People with any background will be able to read and enjoy this book!