Upgrade by Blake Crouch is a thought provoking sci-fi yarn, a little on the technical side at times (but this does suggest a wealth of research) set in the near future.

Logan Ramsay is a Special Agent with the Gene Protection Agency, which was formed after an ill-conceived gene alteration project meant to prevent crop failure led to The Great Famine causing the deaths of hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Charged with protecting humanity from rogue gene adaptations, the GPA investigates and tries to prevent all unlawful genetic experimentation. Whilst in the field, Logan is exposed to a booby trap which nearly kills him but leaves him significantly changed. He’s been upgraded at a genetic level. He’s smarter, faster, stronger, doesn’t tire, doesn’t need as much sleep and essentially operates across all levels in a much more advanced state.

Logan begins to fear he is ground zero in a terrifying plan to upgrade all of humanity in a desperate and unqualified attempt to stop mankind’s decline and ultimate extinction, and only he is equipped to determine who is responsible and stop this potentially catastrophic plan from proceeding.

Fact based and a little techie in parts but not so much to out the reader off. If you are like me you’ll skim read the geeky bits and take it as read that the author knows his stuff.

An enjoyable ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read that could have descended into a superhero style romp but pleasingly didn’t, and kept it a bit more real.

I am unsure if I have made a mistake in the reading order, but this is the first Blake Crouch book I have ever read and unfortunately it was not my favorite. The plot was interesting enough, but didn't WOW me. My only problem were some of the characters, I just didn't like them. I am a little worried about trying other books by this author.

I consider myself a bit of a fantasy/sci-fi fan and read Crouch’s Wayward Pines trilogy after becoming obsessed with the TV show when it came out in 2015.

Upgrade is a little different and feels like an eerily possible scenario, in a world where peoples genes can be edited and the outcomes aren’t always amazing or safe.

Don’t be put off by the sci-fi tag if this isn’t normally your thing, because Crouch has an uncanny way of making the science accessible and explaining it alongside the story so that no one gets left behind.

Great action, great future speculation of the dangers of gene editing, and another great story from Blake Crouch. Excuse me whilst I go and work my way through his back catalogue…

This gave me *massive* LIMITLESS vibes from the off, which is one of my all time favourite TV series! An unsettling, thought provoking plot combined with Crouch’s pacy, smart writing style made for an impactful, fascinating + suspenseful story. The plot revolves around genetic modification after the MC Logan begins to experience changes in his cognitive + physical abilities after a raid on a dark lab leaves him exposed to a gene modifier. Naturally, this raises a lot of philosophical questions + I stopped and paused this audio so many times to let my mind go over certain events or sentences. I’d highly recommend this if you like a book packed with action that makes you stop + think and/or you enjoyed limitless! 🙌🏼

#𝐴𝐷𝑃𝑅. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑡𝑜 @𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑚𝑎𝑐𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝐿𝐶!

Having really enjoyed previous books by this author, I was looking forward to reading this one. Unfortunately I don't know if I went in with too high expectations, but it didn't quite meet them unfortunately.

Whew what a ride!

Well this was a very uneven book. It started slow, then ramped it all up to 11 and the final few chapters it just... felt odd. Like the author ran out of time to write, but also like a chapter was fully missing.

I do recommend it, I almost read this in one sitting, it's a thrilling page turner and raised a lot of questions on humanity, what rights we have to chage the world how we want, and so many typical Blake Crouch moral dilemmas I wouldn't even know how to start listing them.

Jason (in my mind all Crouch's characters are names Jason because his novels remind me of Jason Bourne films), started out as a fully fledged empathetic character, and seeing is departure from.humanity and into something beyond was both thrilling and unnerving.

It's a fairly short book so anything I add will be a spoiler but rest assured the twists that follow are pretty epic.

All in all, I think it was more difficult for me to connect to this character than Crouch's other books, and you'll know exactly why if you read the book.

In the somewhat distant future, genetic engineering is banned and Logan works for a government agency that goes after scientists working on genes. But after a shocking incident, Logan finds himself changed. UPGRADE is reminiscent of Jason Bourne in some ways - there’s a lone protagonist trying to find clues about himself while being chased by government operatives. There are conspiracies, secret communications, and action-packed fight scenes.

While the science parts went over my head at times, I found the book engaging and the fast pace fits the propulsive scenes perfectly. The book delves into the ethics of gene manipulation, and how superhuman powers can be detrimental when given to the wrong people. The human element comes from Logan’s family who holds the clue to his condition and also spurs his motivation to find the truth. I did find the writing a bit basic at times, and some of the dialogue were unintentionally robotic. But it was still an enjoyable read that left me thinking about how important emotions are to us as people. Fans of sci-fi thrillers would enjoy this book!

Blake Crouch's Dark Matter was a stand-out novel for me... a very fun take on the multiverse that read like an insane blockbuster. Since, I jump on whatever next the author publishes. However, along with his more recent work, Upgrade just doesn't cut it... Whilst the novel has its moments, it errs on the preachy side of things and fails to really develop relatable characters and storylines. In the end, you just have an ok story, but nothing to shout about...

Appreciate the ARC tremendously, but I wasn't the right reader for it. I don't really read books of this kind of style, but I really enjoyed the story anyway. As this is a rather belated review, I'm glad to see that other readers have responded really well to the book. Even though I'm not used to the writing of this sort, I'm still keen to see what the writer has to offer to his readers in the future.

I have enjoyed all of Blake Crouch's books and this one did not disappoint either.
This was a fast paced thriller that really made me think about the future and what may lie ahead. I found it extremely thought provoking.

Apologies - too long ago since read to give any meaningful feedback. Thank you very much to @Netgalley for the early copy of this book.

This was my first Blake Crouch book, but I'm already exploring his back catalogue, as well as looking forward to his future titles.

From the first pages, I was hooked. We follow the twists and turns of a futuristic adventure, a conspiracy and a potential world-breaking 'virus' that doesn't kill - it makes people smarter, stronger, optimised in every way. And their egos grow to match.

It's fascinating to watch our hero go from regular human to super-human, maintaining his basic ethics while being unable to stop himself viewing those around him as inferior. Like it or not, his system is faster, cleverer, better - so (in the same manner as Superman, almost) he has to moderate himself in order to fit in. But it's not quite enough...

I don't want to give too much away about the plot, but the writing here is absolutely stellar. Yes, this may have certain similarities to a recent movie of the same name, but it's absolutely it's own beast, and Blake Crouch explores alongside that road, treading new ground with relatable characters that gradually transform into something very different.

I was engrossed by this book and don't hesitate to recommend it. I definitely look forward to a potential movie!

Loved this book so much ❤️
kept me at the edge of my seat! As always, Blake never disappoints. Totally recommend reading this gorgeous thriller.

This is a fast paced sci-fi thriller, which is action packed and full of a lot of technical information. I really enjoyed it and I found it very interesting.

The story is about a man called Logan Ramsey, who works for the Gene Protection Agency. His job is to seek out illegal gene therapy labs and their scientists, and one day when he is on a mission, he gets infected with a virus, as someone sets him up. The virus upgrades his dna to make him stronger and more clever. His bosses come after him, as what has happened to him is a threat to others, so he has a lot of people after him. The person who created the virus is on a mission to upgrade humanity with this virus, so Logan has to try and stop them. Will he be able to do so on time?

This is a great book, which I highly recommend.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

This was a completely unique and complex thriller with a fantastic premise. This author knows how to write an engaging and compelling plot!

The story starts with a bang and I found this book hard to put down till around the 50% mark where it slows down for a bit. Set in a near future where genetic manipulation has been outlawed due to a man-made failure in the rice crop and subsequent global famine. Logan works for a small government agency who enforces this law until one day he is purposelessly infected with what at first seems like flu and everything changes.

Like most of Blake Crouch’s books it reads like an action movie. Told in the first person from our protagonist’s point of view this book is obviously very plot driven but, Logan’s character is totally well rounded and believable. All other secondary characters however are seen through his lens and seem a little thin in comparison.

I love how we get to watch the transformation of Logan’s mind and body from the inside, in real time and even though on the outside it seems like a really cool thing to happen to a person, there’s a huge price.

The ending is bittersweet and satisfyingly ties up all loose ends. This is also a book with an eco-agenda and the solution that is found at the end is one that I hope we will find in reality. This book didn’t quite touch me emotionally but it was a great ride.

This book was insanely clever! Genetic modification literally blows my mind, and this was really well written, like... I could see this happening. I think this is why sci-fi thrillers like this tick all my boxes!

This was fast paced and engaging, I saw it going so many different ways. I think you have to have a really vivid imagination to be able to capture this genre so well, and that Mr Crouch does. Great read!

At first, Logan Ramsay isn’t sure if anything’s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep.

But before long, he can’t deny it: Something’s happening to his brain. To his body. He’s starting to see the world, and those around him—even those he loves most—in whole new ways.

I was already sold on Blake Crouch as I've read Dark Matter and Recursion, so I was pretty excited to receive a copy of Upgrade. I wasn't disappointed! I can always rely on Blake to give me a science fiction thriller that really makes me think (and sometimes frightens me!!) Upgrade tackles such an interesting topic, what if we can tinker with genomes to 'upgrade' ourselves, what would we do and how would it pan out? Fab story, it was an absolute page turner for me.

I love Blake Crouch, he always really intrigues me and I'm not a huge sci fi person. However, I did find upgrade to be very disappointing. I think maybe I went in with my expectations to high because I really struggled to get into this book. I think it didn't have the same draw as his other works.

I'm not usually a fan of Sci-fi but as soon as I saw the name Blake Crouch I knew I needed to read this book. I was only recently introduced to this author when I read Dark Matter and it just blew my mind. How Blake thinks up his ideas is beyond me, his creativity doesn't disappoint.

I highly recommend Upgrade, it is essentially about upgrading the human race who are on course to extinction, include some emotional heartbreak, and some wild ideas this will keep you guessing all the way.