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Book Summary and Reviews of Upgrade by Blake Crouch

Upgrade by Blake Crouch

Upgrade

A Novel

by Blake Crouch

  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • Readers' Rating (6):
  • Published:
  • Jul 2022, 352 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The mind-blowing new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter and Recursion.

"You are the next step in human evolution."

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. And there's a reason he's been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy.

Worse still, what's happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large—at a terrifying cost.

Because of his new abilities, Logan's the one person in the world capable of stopping what's been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he'll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human.

And even as he's fighting, he can't help wondering: what if humanity's only hope for a future really does lie in engineering our own evolution?

Intimate in scale yet epic in scope, Upgrade is an intricately plotted, lightning-fast tale that charts one man's thrilling transformation, even as it asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity—and our boundless potential.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"[A] nail-biting near-future science thriller...Crouch fully develops his alarming concept and its implications along with delivering masterful characterizations. This is the best yet from a creative and gifted author." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"High-octane action, some moral complexity, and a surprisingly emotional ending elevate this novel. Recommended—even for reluctant science fiction readers." - Kirkus Reviews

"Mind-bending...an excellent follow-up to Crouch's other dark-science novels...Will appeal to readers interested in climate fiction or superhero origin stories, as well as those who enjoy smart thrillers." - Booklist

"Imaginative, perfectly paced, and extremely clever, Upgrade walks the fine line between page-turning thriller and smart sci-fi. Another killer read from Blake." - Andy Weir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary

"The incomparable Blake Crouch has, once again, completely blown my mind. Upgrade is more than a brain-bending thriller; it's a siren in the night, warning us all of the dangers of playing God with the human species." - Justin Cronin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Passage Trilogy

"Blake Crouch doesn't pull any punches in this taut and evocative examination of what humanity really is—and how it fails us. A hugely entertaining and emotionally resonant thriller that you'll be thinking about long after you turn the last page." - Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Chosen Ones and Divergent

This information about Upgrade was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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techeditor

It's not nice to fool Mother Nature
Blake Crouch is the only science-fiction writer I will read with any regularity. That is because his plots and subject matter are never ridiculous. That is more true of UPGRADE than of any of his other books that I've read. He succeeds in making his main character and narrator sound like a scientist when he talks about genealogy and DNA.

Logan lives happily with his wife and child and never wishes for more. He is a scientist but now works as a special agent for the Gene Protection Agency. It is his job to find and arrest anyone who tries to modify genes.

On one of Logan's raids of a "dark gene lab," he is impaled with a virus that will upgrade his own genes and make him an almost superhuman. He discovers that this was a deliberate plan of his previously-thought-dead mother, also a scientist but far more brilliant than he is.

What follows is Logan's adventures as he attempts to prevent his mother and then his sister from infecting the world with this virus. They feel that the human species can only be saved by this upgrade. But Logan knows that he can't stand by and watch millions die from the virus's negative effects.

This all happens in the 21st century, only a few years from now. Crouch could be implying that this is something we need to worry about but warns that "it's not nice to fool Mother Nature" (which you may remember if you're old enough). He could also be saying that our intelligence doesn't need to be upgraded. Maybe his final letter to his wife and daughter explains it.

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Author Information

Blake Crouch

Blake Crouch is a bestselling novelist and screenwriter. His novels include Recursion, Dark Matter, and the Wayward Pines trilogy, which was adapted into a television series for FOX. Crouch also co-created the TNT show Good Behavior, based on his Letty Dobesh novellas. He lives in Colorado.

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