Blake Crouch returns with another fun, high-concept premise in this follow-up to his brain-twisting 2019 hit, Recursion. Where Recursion was a time travel novel, Upgrade tackles the perhaps more imminent question of what might happen should humanity develop the means to fully edit its genome. This imminence is both a strength of the book and a weakness. Crouch's envisioning of the future feels all too close - a wildfire-destroyed west, a flooded lower Manhattan, a reference to the Covid-19 pandemic - which tilts the book ever so slightly into preachiness. It's structure, action sequences and characterization also feel written specifically for translation to the big screen, and indeed Crouch sold the film rights to Amblin Entertainment before the book was even out. His main character is a well-meaning and well-fleshed out figure whose experience of being genetically upgraded offers interesting insights into the questions of what make us human. The other characters' motivations, extreme as they are, seem less validated. While it's still great fun to read, one can't help but wonder if this is a book that should have been a movie to begin with.

"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.
The truth is, Logan’s genome has been hacked."

Having never read any of Blake Crouch's previous books I wasn't sure what to expect. The description certainly drew me in, however, and I am grateful to NetGalley for giving me a chance to read Upgrade. The premise is a simple one - in a future world, where gene engineering is rife, Logan Ramsay's DNA is 'upgraded', making him smarter, stronger, faster. So far so good ... or is it? Logan soon finds out that the plan is for everyone to be re-engineered - and Logan isn't so sure that his re-engineering is all good. It's a race against time to try and stop the upgrade being shared across the globe. This really was a book that I didn't want to put down - part dystopian/sci-fi novel and part thriller - I was sucked in at an early point and really wanted to know whether Logan succeeded in his self-set mission. An excellent read

Blake Crouch is one of my new favourite sci-fi writers. He takes current scientific theories and achievements and says, ‘What if…?’
I read Upgrade in a day, and thought it was brilliant. Crouch does his research and the science is all too believable.
The story explores the consequences of unchecked genetic experimentation, told in the first person by Logan Ramsay,
Logan has spent years trying to atone for events which occurred when he was a young man. He believes in the work he is doing, until a series of events change his life in ways he could never have imagined. Logan is an extremely well written and relatable character. In fact he became a real person to me for the duration of the story, and I love it when a writer achieves that.

What a bl@@dy brilliant thriller! Set in the not too distant future of this century when genetic upgrades (tampering) by outlaw labs and scientists are heavily policed. What happens when one man slowly discovers his DNA has been given the ultimate upgrade? Suddenly Logan Ramsay has perfect recall, sharper concentration, needs little sleep and wins chess games against his daughter. We discover Logan is the son of a prodigious female scientist, held in high esteem until an experiment goes horribly wrong causing famine and death. Logan serves time for assisting his mother (assumed dead after driving off a cliff) and now works for an agency preventing unlicensed incidents from happening. So when he discovers that both he and his sister have been involuntarily upgraded their lives change forever and potentially the path of humanity with it.
Upgrade was an utterly compelling, sharply written thriller. Well plotted, with excellent characters and plot twists you won’t see coming. I’m no Sci Fi fan, but I genuinely loved this offering and will read more by this author. Very clever and extremely thought provoking.

Blake Crouch is one of my favorite authors.
The guy's a wizard at making you feel with and for the main character.
The book itself flew by really quickly. The specialized terminology used wasn't cumbersome.
The story is somewhat heartbreaking.
Overall, Crouch's latest work has a different feel compared to Dark Matter or Recursion. This one feels more personal.

I quite enjoyed Crouch's previous work, so I was really excited to read this new one. "Upgrade" tells the story of Logan Ramsay, who once helped his now-dead brilliant scientist mother unintentionally cause a great famine that killed millions of people. In a world ravaged by climate change, gene editing is the new big scientific breakthrough - one that is now outlawed because it allowed for DNA manipulation that can easily be abused, and has been abused many times. The risks outweigh the gains. Logan works for the government agency tasked with tracking down and arresting rogue geneticists - until one raid goes wrong and he suddenly starts to gain almost superhuman capabilities like vastly enhanced intelligence. He's been genetically upgraded, hence the name of the book.

It's a very fast-paced read, engaging as usual and playing with important themes. Climate change and the human failure to actually do enough to save the planet and humanity are at the center of it, as well as moral questions about how far you would go to actually change things. It's engaging and exciting, though it didn't blow me away completely. I quite liked our protagonist and I liked how the changes in him were very clearly shown in the prose too. I also liked the motivation of the antagonist, although to be honest, for people supposedly being brilliant they did come to some very wonky conclusions, but oh well. Generally, the book feels like an action film put into words. It's fun to read, although I personally didn't like the way it provides information for the reader. Basically, some character says something along the lines of "They put blurbablob enhancers around the premise", which is then followed by a paragraph starting with "blurbablob enhancers are...", which is a bit of a lazy way to explain these things and just happens all the time during the book, Personally, I also don't need every gun and car labelled and exlpained, but I'm the kind of reader who is satisfied with just being told that the protagonist is now holding some gun and he's driving a blue car. But that's just subjective taste.

In conclusion, this is another fast-paced scifi read with interesting themes, and fans of Crouch's previous work will most likely enjoy this one too. It didn't engage me completely and the writing wasn't entirely my cup of tea, so I'd give this 3 stars.

I am a huge fan of all things Blake Crouch. I’m not sure how he does it but he’s pulled out another amazing science-fiction thriller that had me gripped. It’s always page-turning and really stretches my mind scientifically in a way that I love.

Logan Ramsay is a child of the late Miriam Ramsay, a genius geneticist whose attempt to edit the gene of locusts to help crops in China does just the opposite and causes a global famine. It kills millions and changes the landscape of the planet. Gene-editing as a result becomes illegal and the Ramsay name synonymous with hubris and manslaughter.

After some time in jail for his young, naive part in it, Logan now works for the GPA (Gene Protection Agency) which tracks down individuals who continue to edit DNA. Whilst out on a raid-gone-wrong, his DNA is radically altered. It seems has been targeted. Now he must fight to find out who did this to him and why, flee the powers that want to lock him up whilst adjusting to who he is becoming now.

I give this one 4.5. A few moments of lagging towards the end, but brought back to brilliance with a beautiful epilogue and food for thought!

Can’t wait for the next one!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It starts off sensibly with tweaking a DNA strand here or there to prevent a hereditary illness. Who could argue against that? However, it is not long before people realise that they can use the same tools to make sure that a child has their father’s eye colour and Mother’s hair. Why even bother picking and choosing from what the parents have when you can tweak the DNA to do as you wish? You can upgrade your child to have the best of everything. In Blake Crouch’s Upgrade you can even change your DNA as an adult. You could even infect someone else and force their DNA to change.

Logan Ramsey is an agent for the newly formed GPA, an agency assigned to deal with genetic crimes. A routine raid has unforeseen consequences when a trap is triggered. Suddenly Ramsey finds himself infected with a virus that could be doing anything to his DNA. He starts to be able to concentrate better, remember more and exercise for longer. Is Ramsey changing? Could it have anything to do with his deceased mother and her infamous work into gene manipulation?

Science Fiction comes in all forms, and I do enjoy a good cyber thriller. Upgrade is set in the near future, but it has a lot in common with the fact-based science fiction of the likes of Michael Crichton. This is a future that could happen, were humans have unlocked the secrets of DNA and then made it illegal to manipulate it. A vibrant underground market has formed to sell hybrid creatures or cures for disease. Lab designed viruses are a danger to all humankind as they could be designed to kill or alter their victims from within.

Upgrade is at its base a great thriller. An everyman, even with his extraordinary past, is caught up in events that he cannot control. Ramsey is forced towards danger and away from his family. This being sci fi means that as Ramsey alters, so does the book. His evolution allows him to take more control of his actions and start to fight back. The character of Ramsey at the start of this book is very different from that at the end.

The science in the book feels like it could happen, giving the story a gritty feel to it. This is our world sometime soon. Crouch does an impressive job of easing the world building into the story with the use of future technology, but fundamentally the people are like us.

A final element that gives the book deeper layers is family. There is a mystery about Ramsey’s past and the relationship he had with his mother. An accident of her doing led to the formation of the GPA and banning of genetic science. Ramsey must live under this cloud. We also meet his sister, the recluse. The relationship between the siblings and how they view humanity plays a vital role in the book and could have consequences that effect the whole human race.

With its fast pace and thrills, Upgrade is a highly enjoyable slice of cyber action. It is accessible to all types of crime and thriller readers, but also has an interesting take on science that will appeal to the science fiction fan. With its broad appeal, this is the type of book you can see selling well and becoming a popular film in the near future.

This was my first Blake Crouch read and it was such a whirlwind! I was absolutely hooked from the first 10% and read it in only 3 settings.

This was one of those books that really made me think and one that I couldn’t stop thinking about once I put it down.

I will definitely be picking up more sci-fi thrillers and more from Blake Crouch.

Thanks to Netgalley for access to the eARC.

Our hero, Logan, has a lot of baggage. His mother caused a global famine and he was working in her lab. That's the kind of stuff that you don't get over. Luckily for him he gets infected with a virus that makes him pretty much superhuman. So at least he has that going for him.

I really had to suspend my disbelief with this book. I have a PhD in bioengineering so I know none of the plot is possible, but it could be one day. Not any day soon, but one day. Maybe.

Before I tell you how great the story is (and it is), I want to talk about the writing. It's mostly fantastic, but the sheer amount of gene names is overwhelming for me! I have no idea what it's like when you haven't spent your entire adult life working with them. Scientists don't talk to each other like a Wikipedia page. Honest.

Once I looked past that and let the story happen, it became the fun that I expected from Blake Crouch. His sci-fi plots are always interesting and plausible, in a similar way to Dean Koontz's early stuff. Really just off the wall stuff woven through with tense action!

Overall, I think any fans of Crouch's other sci-fi will love this. If you're a fan of fast-paced action you'll love it too. Your mileage may vary if you have a PhD in bioengineering, but that one is pretty specific so you'll be alright.

Upgrade is my first Blake Crouch novel. His books are very popular so when I saw this book I requested it immediately. Upgrade has an amazing promise and it definitely delivered it. This book was a page-turner. It was full of action and never had a dull moment. I really enjoyed it and I'll definitely check his other works too.

“You are the next step in human evolution. . ."

My thanks to Pan Macmillan for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Upgrade’ by Blake Crouch.

I found this an intense high action SF thriller set in a mid-21st century USA that is struggling with climate change, economic stresses, pandemics, and other possible end-of-the-world scenarios. Yet alongside this technology has also considerably advanced. There are new prohibitions and gene editing is now a federal crime. The GPA (Gene Protection Agency) has been established with broad powers to enforce these laws.

Following an incident during the execution of his duties as an agent for the GPA, Logan Ramsay begins to feel different. At first, he wonders if it’s just his imagination as his concentration is better, his memories sharper. Even his body seems to be changing. He realises that his genome has been hacked!

The reason for this lies in his past and the dark legacy of his family. Yet he is not the only one who has been upgraded and this is just the first step in a much larger plan. Plus, inevitably there are shadowy groups keen to get their hands on Logan as well as the federal government. Yet Logan is the only one capable of stopping what has been set in motion. Still he wonders if this plan might be humanity’s only hope for a future…. No further details to avoid spoilers.

Blake Crouch is an author that I trust to deliver on this kind of science fiction action thriller that also considers ethical questions about progress and humanity’s future. I ended up zooming through it in a single day.

I consider Crouch’s novels to be a worthy successor to the works of the late Michael Crichton in that they pose serious questions about technology and the environment while providing plenty of thrills.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Good story, good character, good writing. It won't be to everyone's taste, but this story and this kind of writing calls for a certain character to carry it, to make it believable. Personally I thought it was done very well, and I would recommend this book to anyone who likes thrillers, dystopian or scifi. Also to anyone with an interest in genetics or medical matters! So a pretty broad spread of readers. And the book itself? Worryingly plausible!

Logan's mother was a geneticist who released a strain of modified locust that caused a famine and millions of deaths. She tries to make amends by upgrading the human genome so that human behaviour will change and stop the species from wiping itself out.. Her first subjects are Logan and his sister Cara - she thinks its a great idea and service to mankind while Logan thinks its a crime and must be stopped, so they are at each other's throats from the word go. Its a clever plot idea, on the verge of possibility and a fast and action packed thriller.

I have loved and hated some of Blake Crouch’s books, this one falls somewhere between the two.

I thought the premise for Upgrade was intriguing and that it had the bones to be a really great story, however, I found that the end result didn’t grab me as much as I had hoped it would.

I’ll be on the lookout for future works by Crouch, as I love sci-fi and he’s a great author, but this book wasn’t for me.

Many thanks to Blake Crouch, Pan Macmillan, and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Blake Crouch is masterful at keeping you on that edge of suspense, wondering if and how the MC is going to overcome all the obstacles in his way to save the day/achieve his goal. He’s done it again with Upgrade.

During a failed mission where he was setup, Logan is infected with a virus that upgrades his dna making him more intelligent and stronger. Problem is the augmentation is highly illegal and the govt agency he works for is now after him. Compounded by that, the person behind the virus wants to upgrade the rest of humanity in a bid to cure apathy and to get them to care about Climate Change. Problem is it could kill about 13% of the population. Natch, with his new body and brain, Logan is really the only person capable of stopping them.

I enjoyed this a lot - it was a quick and easy read. Logan is likeable and you route for him. The plot is fast paced and the action/theory is easy to follow. The baddies are a little 2 dimensional and climate change seemed a little on the nose. Some of the scenes seemed a little far fetched but it was easy to suspend my disbelief. Overall I enjoyed it and would recommend to someone who wants light and breezy science fiction.

I loved this book. From all the technical details to make you feel like you were there together with the main character to the plot of the book. Definitely, Blake Crouch didn't disappoint writing this book. Loved the way it made me question what would I do if I were the one to get the upgrade.

Who can write a sci-fi thriller better than Blake Crouch?
My answer - NO ONE.
This was genius, extremely mind-bending and definitely should be in everyone's TBR lists.

Title - Upgrade
Author - Blake Crouch
Release Date - July 7th 2022
Page Count - 352
Read/Listen Time - 10hrs
Rating - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/4 stars


Action packed, entertaining, emotional rollercoaster ride. When given the opportunity to read Blake Crouch’s new book I didn’t hesitate, his previous works of Dark Matter and Recursion are some of my favourites, so I was chomping at the bit to get my hands on this one.

Logan Ramsay works for the Gene Protection Agency hunting down illegal and black market gene therapy labs and scientists. He does this job, although he hates it, as a kind penance for the terrible atrocities carried out by his brilliant mother. When, what appears to be, a standard raid goes terribly wrong, Logan finds himself seriously injured. In the weeks to come he is changing; he is stronger, faster and has a clarity of thought unlike anything he has experienced before. Unfortunately he is now on the opposite side of the law in a race against time to save the world.

There is lots of pseudo science in this book but it’s mostly make believe so no need to understand the techie speak, it just adds to the amazing narrative, storyline and gives the characters depth. There are no wasted pages here, always something going on pulling you in making you want just one more page.

A thoroughly enjoyable read that I would recommend to fans of sci fi, fast paced thrillers. 4 Stars

This science fiction thriller hurtled through action sequences. While this kept the pace fast for large sections of the book, too often did I feel like the story was a few steps ahead of me, making me work hard to figure out what was going on. This meant that instead of becoming a ‘page-turning’ read, the effect was rather jarring.

Once I did decipher what was happening, I found the plot to be rather interesting. However, it did drag in the middle. It didn’t help that I never felt deeply invested in his mission. This possibly correlated with the genetic ‘upgrades’ taking effect on Logan as these made him less ‘human’ and thus less sympathetic. As the novel was told from his perspective and I didn’t really feel that connected to him, my enjoyment of the story was unfortunately capped.

However, it did raise some thought-provoking points about the world’s current state. I liked the author’s concluding message and appreciated the satisfying epilogue.

OVERALL: This was a smart and fast-paced sci-fi novel which you could totally picture on the big screen. Unfortunately, I never properly connected with the main character so wasn’t fully invested in his arc.