As a big fan of some of Crouch's previous work, was really looking forward to diving into this one. Upgrade follows a world where gene editing is common and heavily regulated. Logan Ramsey is a member of the Gene Protection Agency (GPA) who gets infected with a virus while on an investigation. What's first expected as an act of biological warfare, ends up being a sort of gene editing upgrade. Logan starts to connect the dots with his mother, a famed geneticist who has a bad reputation for a failed experiment that led to a major world catastrophe, and tries to figure out whose behind it all.

The story feels a bit heavier on the science compared to some of his previous books, but isn't overwhelming and is helpful in setting the scene. There are some very interesting questions asked in the novel around the future of humanity and what's the most moral way to future success. I also enjoyed the transition that Logan went through as the "Upgrade" began to take hold.

Overall, it's a fun sci-fi story that provides a unique, consumable take on the future of genetic engineering. Highly recommend.

Another huge win for Blake Crouch. I have been reading his books for years and have inhaled each one. He disguises an amazing story about family, forgiveness, acceptance and regret as a thrilling sci-fi dystopian thriller. There is so much depth to his characters. Also the concept is really unique. What is so compelling about this story is that there is so much truth behind it that you almost think that this could be possible. And this is what makes it scary. All of his books are just realistic enough while still being totally out there so you get that feeling in your gut. A great action packed thriller from start to finish!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Hands down, this is the best sci-fi book of the year. What I love about Blake Crouch is the trajectory he is on as an author. The Wayward Pines trilogy was great. Dark Matter and Recursion are on my all time favorites list. It seems like novel after novel Blake just keeps getting better and Upgrade is proof of that.

I was fascinated by this concept of gene upgrading, which is basically gene hacking, right? Gene upgrading that gives people Matrix-like abilities, plus a superb story full of twist and turns. Seriously, I could never get a step ahead. This is why I love reading Blake Crouch novels. His stories are so deep and unpredictable. It's an edge of your seat ride from beginning to end! I'm excited that this is my favorite book of the year and I'm also a little bummed out since I have to wait patiently until the next Blake Crouch exciting sci-fi adventure comes by to turn my world upside down.

I want to thank Blake Crouch, Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this new novel from Blake Crouch! It's an amazing, almost meditative novel about human nature and the the levels of empathy that we're capable of extending to people we don't know. That simple concept is explored through a complex novel where our main character is dealing with gene editing technology and navigating above-human levels of intelligence.

I think fans of Blake Crouch will really enjoy this, and it's definitely one for readers to keep on their radar this summer.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Penguin Random House, and Ballantine for this incredible ARC.

In the not so far future, a method of hacking a living entity’s genetic code has been developed, and after an implementation goes terribly wrong, this gene hacking becomes illegal. Agent Logan Ramsay, working for the GPA, an agency that finds these illegal gene hackers, is caught off-guard in a raid during which he is infected by an unknown gene modification virus. Soon, he gains upgraded abilities and is sucked into a larger plan to change humanity at large, and he must figure out how to stop it all.

I’m so impressed by Blake Crouch’s imagination in coming up with a story that ties together a common technological fear with very human emotions to create a unique stories that are equal parts warning and entertainment. He manages to tie in very technical sounding science with human emotions that make you care about the characters deeply. One of my biggest pet peeve in books about the perils of technological innovation is when they don’t delve into specifics about how the technology works in the world of their book. Blake Crouch is one of the best at coming up with this realistic sounding pseudo-science. Upgrade progresses at a great pace, with plenty of action, making sure that the reader is never bored and always wondering what is going to happen next, albeit with a slightly underwhelming climax and conclusion. The build up was just so good, I was expecting more out of the ending. Compared to Recursion, the other Blake Crouch novel I’ve read, this one seemed not quite as flushed out of a concept, and not as many relatable characters. However, it was still a great, relatively quick read, with the added bonus of tidbits of information about the present news being relaid in the book as past events (such as referring to the self driving, electric car as the Google and referencing searching for someone’s Meta profile as opposed to Facebook or Instagram) which I always find amusing. The overarching promotion of conservationism and compassion toward our fellow humans was much appreciated too, especially in the current climate.

Thanks to @netgalley and @randomhouse Ballantine Books for the eARC for review!

I have found out two things about Blake Crouch - I am not science savvy enough to understand all aspects of his books but I love them just the same. This book is very heavy on DNA science. I have some basic understanding there and was able to figure out the gist of what he meant based on that. Did I completely understand all of the sequencing and gene info, no, but I don't think it impacted my understanding of the book. Honestly, Crouch does a great job of making the science accessible to pretty much anyone who has taken high school biology, and then using it to stupefy the reader into wondering just how close we are to this becoming a reality
This one was very fast paced, almost a little too fast paced. I wish there had been a little more about his life before the upgrade to really show the changes. But I also really liked the way the fast pace showed the speed with which he could live his life after the upgrade.
When it comes down to it, as a sci fi book, it did all the things it should: used hard science to show a pretty chilling prediction of what we might be looking at in the future, kept you interested with action, but also had the human element to tie in if a person isn't into the science part of it as much.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and I am so sad I didn’t like it more. The first maybe 1/3 to 1/2 I was totally invested and excited to see where the story would go. But once Kara was introduced and Logan had been upgraded any and all connection I had to the story somehow disappeared. Upgraded Logan was irritating and the typical Blake Crouch writing style of short choppy sentences got more and more pronounced to a wildly irritating level. I don’t like the direction the story went in at all, and felt like all we got in the 2nd half was action sequence after action sequence. Any heart in the story was gone and the epilogue did little to dissuade me from my feeling this. Super bummed because the setup and idea is fantastic, I just don’t like how it played out. I’m sure there will be an audience to love this, it just wasn’t me.

eARC received via Netgalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

After a biological attack at work leaves him hospitalized, Logan Ramsay, thinks he has survived the worst of it but he soon he realizes the worst is yet to come. Logan begins to feel different...more focused, smarter, a more improved version of himself. He soon discovers his genome is being "upgraded" to something more evolved. A plan to unleash a virus that may save or end humanity as we know it is in the hands of the one man who may be able to stop it but as Logan continues to transform he finds himself losing his humanity.

Upgrade is the new action-packed, sci-fi, thrill ride by author Blake Crouch. The novel follows a seemingly normal guy, Logan, who we soon discover hides a tragic family secret. While investigating a genetic threat for work he gets caught in a mishap that exposes him to a genetic altering virus. As Logan begins to transform he must flee to safety where he can try to figure out what is happening to him. Although there was quite a bit of technical sci-fi lingo involved, I found this novel quite fascinating and the action scenes were a nice transition between the more scientific expositions of the novel. I had a hard time putting this one down and I really enjoyed seeing Logan's character struggle with his humanity and the changes that were occurring against his will...a must read for 2022!

Wow. Just, wow. This is the kind of science fiction that I love. It's a real "what if" of a possible future.
Logan Ramsey is a member of the GPA, the Gene Protection Agency. They stop genetic research, especially the sort that results in changes to the genes in any living entity, including plants and insects. The agency was a result of a genetic mutation in an attempt to bolster one strain of rice's resistance to blight. The mutations infected other food crops causing them to fail and starve millions of people. That was to never happen again, so genetic research was forbidden.
You can't stop an idea. You can make it illegal and lock up anybody that has that idea and works on it. But you can't kill it. Somewhere, sometime, somebody is thinking about it. That somebody will eventually try to make that idea physical.
Logan is also the son of a brilliant genetic researcher. She was involved with the famine the rice project caused and was believed dead. What if she wasn't dead? What if she was working in secret on "improving" human intelligence? What if she succeeded? Would making people smarter avert the coming destruction of the human race? Is intelligence what we need? Is the lack of genius what is leading us toward oblivion?
Lots of questions in that last paragraph, aren't there? That why I like this type of science fiction. Oh, the book is a rip roaring thriller with plots and plans and people chasing each other. There is plenty of science and plenty of scientific gobbledygook (all of which is very likely real but it won't mean much to the average reader) to make the story plausible. The real gem, at least for me, is Logan's final discovery and decision. I read this on in a very short time. I will be thinking about it for a while.
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
I read the copy of the book for this review from Netgalley.

For me, here’s the secret to enjoying a @blakecrouch1 novel—don’t try to understand the science. Is genome hacking possible? No idea. Is it possible given THIS methodology? Beats me! What I can tell you is that Blake Crouch makes it *feel* real. If you start reading Upgrade and pause to watch a SciShow episode every time you read about a scientific concept that you don’t understand…you’ll drive yourself crazy. But if you can suspend reality long enough to get on the bus with Crouch…you’re in for one heck of a ride.
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Overall, I think I’d classify Upgrade as a thriller with surprising depth. There were twists. There were turns. There were deeper questions about ethics and global warming and whether it’s possible to save humanity from itself. I really, really enjoyed it, and plan to purchase a hard copy for myself. And my house is 1,000 sq ft, so if I’m buying a hard copy of a book I already have digitally…that’s a good sign! Upgrade comes out July 12, 2022 and I highly recommend it for summer reading!
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.5 out of 5 stars)

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

I love Blake Crouch but one of the issues with his books is that you can’t review them because you will spoil everything. I am not a Sci Fi reader, but somehow he gets me every time. This book leaned a little more sci fi heavy for me, and I wish it was little more thriller. This was not as good as Dark Matter, but better than Recursion. Also, I was unable to put it down.

Now I need to think about whether I would go for genetical upgrade if given a chance? And also if there are people out there who think they get to decide if everybody needs an upgrade. Gosh, this sounds so scary!!

Upgrade follows the story of Logan who ends up with an upgrade that kind of makes him good at almost everything but the government becomes aware of this upgrade and wants to research as expected. Then it turns into a fast-paced sci-fi thriller with an intense cat and mouse game between intelligence forces and Logan. It is very much like the sci-fi movies that I have enjoyed watching but is also the kind that leaves the readers weighing the pros and cons of an upgrade and consequently our future. The whole plot could be in very near future makes it very interesting as the viruses have turned our lives upside down and made us understand that anything can happen, any minute and anywhere.

To all the fans of Blake Crouch - absolutely pick this one and you will definitely enjoy it!

I had read the synopsis of Upgrade quite some time ago and then through a book community that I am a part of, I found out how to get an ARC of the book, so I had quite a bit of hype leading up to reading this book. I guess without trying to spoil anything, the premise of Upgrade is a question that has been asked throughout history and that is "just because I can change something, should I?"
Upgrade follows the life of Logan Ramsay, an agent for the Gene Protection Agency, who is injured in a raid on a suspected Bio-Lab. After he is exposed to the substance, he notices changes in the way that he thinks, feels and interacts with things, but he isn't the only one noticing these changes!
Upgrade is a roller coaster ride with plenty of action mixed in with the science, so you'll never get bored and being so fast-paced the book is an exceptional fast read. There are twists and turns and betrayals throughout that will leave you guessing as to who is actually helping Logan and who is out to get him.
I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who likes Science Fiction and anyone that has ever dreamt of being more because this book will give you an idea of what it might look like and the cost that it incurs.

Logan Ramsey works for a government agency that controls and tries to limit gene change. Humanity, as we know it, is disintegrating and not expected to survive another century. His mother, Miriam Ramsey, a brilliant scientist developed gene changes that lead to upgrades in the intelligence of some and mass deaths in others. Collateral damage that was of little or no import. Logan is taken in by his agency and kept prisoner in a black ops hideaway. He is also upgraded. His sister, who has a military background, rescues him and attempts to get him to help her continue their mother’s work. The plot is that of a thriller, but also SciFi and so very believable. I won’t go further into the plot because of spoilers, but will say it is engrossing and captivating, just a really well done thriller that will have you thinking about it long after you finished it. Thanks to Net Galley and Ballantine Books (Random House) for an ARC for an honest review.

Upgrade is a fast-paced sci-fi thriller that follows a man who had been genetically upgraded. This book is so much fun and so intense. I couldn't put it down. Blake Crouch has done it again and knocked it out the park. He's taken the complex ideas of CRISPR to tell a compelling story about what it means to be human. Highly recommend!

What would you do if you could upgrade your brain to be the most efficient machine on the planet? Would you be able to solve all of the world's problems and perhaps end suffering as we know it? Or would that merely enhance our innate desire to conquer over others? In this thrilling speculative fiction by Blake Crouch, we learn the lengths that people are willing to go.

I was skeptical at first when I heard about the concept for this book. I was thinking of the movie Limitless, where the character was able to take a pill to enhance his brain function for a specified period of time. There were some chases and thrills, but at the end of the day an unimpressive movie and thus a concept I didn't care to revisit. But Crouch does it again with his writing and puts a new spin on a topic that I was a bit dubious about.

The book focuses on Logan and his sudden "upgrade" to his brain, and the plot dives deeper and deeper as the reader is caught up on the troubles with this near-future society. There's great use of showing and not telling, unlike other future-society stories that wastes pages and pages of exposition explaining how we got from point A to point B. Crouch shows us this world beautifully without sacrificing the story itself.

Another strong book from Crouch. Personally, my favorites are still Dark Matter followed by Recursion, but this is a top three from his library of work.

I've had a lot of DNA-related things in my life lately - the other day I learned a bit about my own ancestry when my mom received the results of a 23andme kit (fascinating!), a friend's mom (adopted) met her bio-mom for the first time and I met one of his newly discovered cousins, I've been listening to the audiobook of The Match by Harlan Coben (IYKYK) and, finally, UPGRADE by Blake Crouch.

Blake Crouch is the author of one of my favorite novels I've read in the last ten years - Dark Matter - and I loved Recursion as well. I was busting at the seams when I heard he had a new book on the way and was absolutely thrilled to receive an advanced copy of Upgrade. is another dive into a complex subject matter that Crouch manages to render understandable and thrilling for mainstream readers like me.

Of his three latest novels (I have not yet dug into the Pines series), Upgrade is most like an action movie. I will not spoil it, but in our main character's journey to get to the truth of his unwilling genetic modification we experience chases, hand-to-hand combat and action set pieces worth of a major blockbuster (I hope the film adaptation makes it out of development... still waiting on that Dark Matter adaptation over here). For an action movie fan like myself, this was outstanding.

At the heart of Upgrade is the question of how to save humanity - and who will do it. Until the end, I wasn't really on anyone's side - or, rather, I saw the sides of everyone involved. Like a few other "near future" novels I've read recently, what Crouch presents doesn't seem THAT far off. I, ultimately, felt very satisfied by the conclusion of Upgrade and found myself nodding along with the narrator's final words.

For my fellow Blake Crouch fans, Upgrade will be a homerun - an excellent companion piece to his previous works. I can't wait for the next one! Many thanks to Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really enjoyable read - once I started it I didn't want to put it down! Definitely a new favorite author!

What is there to say about a Blake Crouch book that hasn't already been said? His books are accessible sci-fi for those of us who don't normally read the genre. How he marries sci-fi and thriller so seamlessly I will never know, but he has done it again. I would even venture to say that I enjoyed this book more than Recursion which was my favorite of Crouch's novels until now. Make sure you start this book when you have plenty of free time because stopping it to go engage in real life is more difficult by the page.

Is Upgrade my favorite book of the year? This book was hands down beyond amazing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Blake Crouch makes science cool. He brings difficult sciences like genetics into his stories and makes them easy to consume through stories that are gripping.

Upgrade is no different. This story is action-packed, character-driven, twisty, addicting and emotional. Its a story you'Ill want to devour in one sitting.

This book will easily win best science fiction for the year.

You guys have to read this!

If you liked, you'll love:
🎬 Selfless, Gemini Man, Marvel Movies
🎮 Detroit Becomes Human

Thank you NetGalley, Blake Crouch, and Random House Publishing for this ARC! Upgrade hits shelves July 12, 2022. Pre-order it now! You need this book on your shelf!