Another Blake Crouch masterpiece. Upgrade is a fascinating blend of suspense thriller, clandestine spy novel and high-tech joy ride. One of the things I appreciate most about Blake Crouch is how he's able to completely immerse the reader in an enthralling, fast-paced story all while effortlessly weaving in a complex backstory AND scientific details to make the impossible seem perfectly plausible. Not to mention his ability to keep you just enough off balance that you'll never see the jaw dropping plot twists he throws in on the regular. Trust me, just hit the Amazon "BUY NOW" button and you can thank me later.

Blake Crouch is truly a master of modern scifi and while it’s not my normal genre - he is an auto-buy for me. This one is one of the best I’ve read by him thus far.

When it comes to writing a story that will both blow your mind and get your pulse moving, with a lot of deeply interesting science thrown in, there's no one like Blake Crouch.

We're in a dystopian world where the study of gene science is not allowed by scientists. In fact, all the scientists are rounded up by the government for even trying. This is due to an apocalyptic event that went wrong where thousands of lives were lost. Logan Ramsay works for a government organization that finds illegal gene labs/activity and shuts it down.

As a result of a raid gone-bad, Logan Ramsay is now a super-human. He got the brain he always wanted and his body is operating at an extremely high level on all counts. He's strong, smart and fast. But, like all good things, all this comes with plenty of caveats. And his live soon turns into a cat and mouse chase on multiple levels.

I loved Logan Ramsay the moment I started reading the book. As with all Crouch books, the pace at which things happen here is fantastic, it's fast-moving, exciting and there's so much twisting and turning that you're not always sure who to root for. And of course there's a deeply-interesting social discourse underlying this whole plot. I won't give it away here, but there's a lot to think about and no clear answers as with all of life's big questions.

Another great read from Crouch!

with gratitude to netgalley and Random House for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Upgrade by Blake Crouch does for novels what Don't Look Up did for movies. It takes the world we live in and will live in and places us in the crisis. Here we are living in this world. Climate change is right before our eyes and what we are doing to combat it is simply not enough.

In Upgrade the waters have already risen and the world keeps moving forward. The smartest people in the world have decided to combat climate change by upgrading the intelligence of the world. By taking it upon themselves to illegally modify the population’s DNA. After all, if everyone was smart enough to get it then we wouldn’t be in this situation, right?

Upgrade once again delivers for Blake Crouch on the action and a future more terrifying than my worst nightmares and I loved every second of it. If I could complain about one thing it would be its length. I would read what I felt like was just a little bit and my kindle jumped from 10% to 20% to 30%. Was this a novella? No, it’s 352 pages of pure pleasure that basically absorb into your brain as if you have been upgraded yourself. I can’t wait to talk about this one with fellow readers. If I wasn’t already, this one for sure would make me a Blake Crouch fan for life.

Upgrade is a story about the need for technology and the dangers of technology as the population increases and resources decrease. I liked the premise of the story and the character development was sufficient but found myself skimming the sections that got bogged down in the science and biogenetics. Crouch constructs an entertaining, fast-paced thriller with a sci-fi movie vibe.

Three stars - I liked it, just not over the top awesome. Crouch continues to hold a spot on my auto-buy/read list.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and Blake Crouch for the electronic ARC.
Expected publish date: July 2022
#NetGalley #Upgrade

Upgrade follows the basic structure of a Crichton-esque techno-thriller (technology brings progress but technology is bad) and moves swiftly with that structure. But unlique Crouch's other books along this vein Upgrade felt like it skipped any of the character work. Despite a good start with a little world building and character background, I felt I knew nothing of the characters or their worlds as the book went on. It didn't explore the cause and effect of the story world's recent history, I only got stock understanding of characters relationships to other characters, and plot just felt like going through the motions. The first Crouch novel I've been disappointed in, but I will return to him in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an unbiased review.

If you liked Blake’s other books and weren’t too overwhelmed by the detailed sciency bits of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary, then you’ll love this one when it comes out in July!

Upgrade is set in a not too distant future where climate change has dramatically impacted the earth. Scientists are researching further into the genome to see how they can make adjustments to help humanity survive.

After the great famine, where millions died from starvation due to an accidental gene manipulation, the Gene Protection Agency has been established to ensure genes aren’t being adjusted inappropriately. Logan is a GPA specialist on a lab raid when everything goes wrong.

He wakes up after the raid to find he has heightened intelligence, can mentally process things at warp speed, and remembers every detail from every moment of his life plus more. Who has illegally changed his genes and why? The race is on to find out before Logan is captured and becomes a lab rat for others to study his upgraded genome or worse.

There’s TONS about genes and DNA and how it all works, which can get a bit overwhelming but is fascinating. There’s also the moral/what would I do question threaded through. As with Blake’s other books, the love of family is a major driving theme. My best read of the year so far!

(Instagram review will be posted closer to pub date)

This was a solid Blake Crouch novel. I personally didn't think it delivered as much of a punch as Dark Matter or Recursion. I got a little lost in the DNA details, however I think that was part of the point - it was a heavy science-based book. That is the only reason I am not giving this one 5*.

For fans of Sci-Fi, you need to read this! It's equal parts nerdy and futuristic, and kind of funny too. Buckle up and enjoy the ride that is "Upgrade"!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A great story! This book is full of twists and turns. Much of the story has to do with DNA and genetics the author did a great job explaining how it all worked without making the reader feel like he was “dumbing it down” for us, at least I didn’t feel that way. This book has it all, science, mystery, family drama, a romance of sorts, and a few skirmishes to round it all out. I am not a huge fan of the science fiction genre, but I truly enjoyed this book.

I really enjoy the way that Blake Crouch writes. I have been captivated by his books in the past, and although Upgrade was good it didn't hold my interest as well as his previous books had. I found it to drag through most of the middle of the book and really only picked up for me toward the end. The back story of the main character, with his aloof mother and mistakes that he had made in the past was a good place to start, but it fell flat afterwards. Upgrade has a good moral lesson in the demise of mankind if we don't start caring for the planet and caring about each other. The ending ties it all together and redeems the slow moving middle part of the book. I thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC copy and wish great success for Blake Crouch's newest novel.

Really enjoyed this book! Fast paced, interesting topic. A bit too many technical details for me -- but I would pick up other books by this author.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

I was so excited to receive this arc after reading both Dark Matter and Recursion in respective single sittings. Those two books were not only unique in their premise but also well thought-out and researched. Upgrade was a significant step down. The idea was generic and the execution was lacking nuance and detail. I'd read more Blake Crouch because his other 2 books were so awesome, but this one was not great.

Like all Blake Crouch’s books this was a quick read. A mix of Science Fiction and thriller. I did not find it as engaging or mind blowing as his previous books.

In another fantastic Blake Crouch novel. An excellent but very terrifying story. I am still questioning everything. I feel like throughout the book there was this line about everything and I was bouncing back and forth on how i felt. I know in the grand scheme of things you pull for Logan and want to think the best in humanity, but long story short, Logan still had to "fix" society in the end. So in actuality humanity failed us. which is just super depressing. Either way, i loved the story, and can't wait for the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Blake Crouch, and Ballantine Books for providing me with an advanced reading copy.

I was blown away by another Blake Crouch trip into the believable/unbelievable. What starts out as scientists manipulating genetics in the hopes of eliminating a harvest plague turns into so much more. This is an epic tale of the logic of science versus the ethics of humanity, pitting members of one family against each other. “Upgrade” kept me up late at night because I just had to know the ending.

(3.2/5)

I am slightly more positive about this book after a few days of reflecting, but there are many things holding this back from being a 'great' book.

Crouch's writing style is just so very sparse. I read Dark Matter and Recursion on audio and do not remember feeling the same way on the audio medium, but with Upgrade, I found myself often irked at the simplicity. There would be long passages where Crouch describes the actions of the narrator in the simplest way possible including many 2 word abrupt sentences. When Crouch does get descriptive about the environment, he often just lists things out with an adjective of choice. For some people, this is not an issue, but for me, such a writing style will reduce my enjoyment.

The world Crouch places the narrator in is the near future. It is quite depressing and Crouch makes sure to let us know this. Unfortunately, the world-building is done in an, er... abrupt way. There is one particular good flashback of the past, but often we get a picture of the future in a way that just lists things out. It also seems Crouch pulls modern-day events he saw on the news and extrapolated them into lore in this book, which seemed a bit uninspired to me. The overall depiction of this future world is morbidly possible though, so props to Crouch.

Regardless, this was a fast-paced thriller and I never grew bored throughout, even if I was also irked at the usage of some thriller tropes and predictable twists.

The topic of the book is not very original. I've seen something similar done in Crichton's Terminal Man from the 70's and the movie Limitless. Upgrade does have its own spin on these concepts and you've got to give Crouch some credit for that. Particularly, Crouch's commentary on genetics and human nature is direct and to the point, letting us know the importance of thinking about these things today. I cannot recall this particular message being portrayed in such a mainstream way before and I hope Upgrade gets some people thinking about them, and I suspect for many readers, these concepts will be brand new. Currently, human genetic modification is considered immoral, but this book makes you question, should it really be? Unfortunately, I must say the execution of the themes fell flatter than it otherwise would have it Crouch could have been a bit more articulate and less abrupt in his prose.

I see no reason to not continue reading new Crouch books as they release. The books are just so easy to read and usually give a lot to think about.

Not my favorite Blake Crouch novel yet, but still an extremely enjoyable ride! Mr. Crouch certainly knows how to write a page-turner, and I couldn't put this down from the moment I started.

3.5-3.75
*netgalley copy*

Another enjoyable book from this author. While I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as Dark Matter or Recursion it was still a great read. If you’ve enjoyed his other books you’ll likely enjoy this one too. There were a few times that I found myself skimming over some sections just to get to the action again but overall I’d still recommend it to fans.

Upgrade, by Blake Crouch, is a brilliant dystopian look at what genetics engineering can bring. Our hero’s mother caused hundreds of millions to die when her GMO rice mutated and destroyed the ability to grow rice. Now the genetics agency, which her son works for, controls any attempts at genetic modification. But it seems his supposedly dead mother is now trying to provide genetic upgrades to human capabilities. His sister was also drawn into this, and the enhanced twosome are at odds over what is best for humanity. It’s written as an excellent thriller which kept me glued to it, and has a wonderfully thought through ending.

Upgrade is the 16th novel by Blake Crouch. I started to read one of his early novels 8 years ago, but I gave up part way through the story. The good news is that this book kept me on the edge of my seat until the end. This is a sci-fi novel set about 25-30 years in the future. In the course of this story, millions of people die as the result of untested genetic manipulations are attempted, and if a certain plan to “upgrade” human physical and mental powers works, “only” one billion in the world’s population of ten billion will die.

The story is connected to the worldwide experience of the novel coronavirus (which has similarities to the last book I reviewed, Reap3r, which I gave a raving review). In this story, Agent Logan Ramsay was working for the Gene Protection Agency. It had become illegal to do self-editing of genes, and prior to his time with the government agency, Logan had been in prison for several years as the result of the suspicion that he had done just that. Logan was the daughter of a famous geneticist, Miriam Ramsay, who had allegedly died just as she was about to be arrested for such offenses, herself. Miriam thought the human race was doomed as the result of its timely failure to manage global warming. There was no doubt the world was changing and becoming much less habitable than it had been before. Logan also had an older sister who was a vital player in this story. She was the brighter one of the two siblings, and she and Logan often did not see eye to eye about their mother’s legacy.

Ultimately, this is a story about the lack of ability to control unforeseen outcomes, as well as the impact of selfishness/narcissism versus compassion. It’s a novel worth reading. Thanks to Random House for an advanced copy. The book is expected to be published in early 7/22.