‘You are the next step in human evolution . . .’
What if you were capable of more?
Your concentration was better, you could multitask quicker, read faster, memorize more, sleep deeper.
For Logan Ramsay, it’s happening. He’s beginning to see the world around him, even those he loves the most, in whole new ways.
He knows that it’s not natural, that his genes have been hacked. He has been targeted for an upgrade.
Logan’s family legacy is one he has been trying to escape for decades and it has left him vulnerable to attack. But with a terrifying plan in place to replicate his upgrade throughout the world’s population, he may be the only person capable of stopping what has already been set in motion.
To win this war against humanity Logan will now have to become something other than himself . . .
Intricately plotted and epic in scope, Upgrade asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity – and our boundless potential. Are you ready for the impossible?
Title : Upgrade
Author : Blake Crouch
Format : eARC
Page Count : 341
Genre : Thriller
Publisher : Pan Macmillan
Release Date : July 7, 2022
Reviewer : Micky
Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★.5
Micky’s 4.5 star review
Headlines:
The arrogance of humanity
Futuristic thriller with a shade of dystopia (or reality)
All the science goodness
“We don’t have an intelligence problem. We have a compassion problem.”
I could not put this book down and for 24 hours, the themes of this book have truly invaded my thoughts. The subjects of environmental demise, political and international inertia to make change and the break neck speed of scientific and genomic progress felt close to where we are in 2022. So, this story set in a future felt utterly believable.
This story started and ended with the arrogance of individuals, thinking they knew best and being sure their intelligence superseded others. The sacrifice of some outweighing the many was part of this arrogant belief. Imagine if you could upgrade the intelligence and strength of humans…would that be the answer to all our problems? Logan the protagonist was the epicentre of this conundrum and this whole problem was through his eyes over a number of years.
The story was fast-paced, immediately gripping and it kept the reader’s attention throughout. The science was fascinating, not beyond my grip and I’m no geneticist. Nevertheless, this kind of science dominance of the story was right up my street, I could see how much research and expertise was sought to make this story work so well.
This story provoked the reader to consider individual morals and societal ethics and yet, this was not a heavy read. The pacing, the plot and characters kept the reader moving through the story as fast as their normal-speed mind could manage.
The triumph of this book was in how it ended, basically as well as it started. When a book tackles such a big plot and dilemma as this storyline presented, there’s always the risk that it’ll disappoint as it culminates. Crouch finished this superbly, with some bittersweet-ness and a bang.
Thank you to Pan Macmillan and Black Crow PR for the review copy.
A Take from Two Cities 