Please Note:  I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

“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.

Review:

Upgrade, by Blake Crouch, was a fun, fast-past thriller.  In a world where it's become easy to alter your DNA, doing so is illegal, and for good reason.  Logan's own mother was the architect of a scheme to alter DNA to help increase food production, but it had world-wide disastrous results.  Now, to alleviate his guilt, he has become part of a special law-enforcement unit to catch people changing DNA.  This could be done for profit (there's a market for genetically enhanced animals), or for terrorism.  Either way, it's almost impossible to put that genie back in the box. 

How do you get past the baggage of your family?  And what are you willing to give up in order to save the world?  I really enjoyed this book, and could easily see this as a highly entertaining movie.  If you enjoy thrillers and speculative fiction, you are in for a treat.

What I Liked:

Set-Up:

Logan lives in a world where scientists (specifically, his own mother) have tried, and failed, to use DNA splicing to fiddle with Nature.  Changing DNA has become easy, and many people would love to use the technology to do anything from create enormous alligators, to obtain super human abilities.  I loved all the science, gadgets, and back-channel government organizations.  This is a world where one should be paranoid!

Characters: 

Logan has tremendous guilt over his part in starting a global disaster.  He blindly followed his charismatic mother, a scientific genius, as she tried to play god.  Now, after doing prison time for the incident, he is doing what he can to mitigate the damage he has done.  But it will never be enough. 

Logan is the ultimate people-pleaser.  First, he worships his brilliant mother, seeing (too late) that she is an egomaniac.  He also can't match his sister, who is a badass military officer.  He is constantly trying to be someone he isn't.  He even does this to his wife and child.  The guilt is killing him.  I loved that Logan didn't have all the answers.  He is the sidekick who tries, and fails to become the hero.  But, in doing so, he has the one thing his mother and sister don't, a moral compass.  

Story:

There's a lot of twists and turns in this story, which I loved.  You often don't know who the good guys are?  And I don't think the "good guys" really understand if they are doing anything wrong.  It's that old adage of the ends justify the means.  Which never really absolve one of accountability.  If you have to use that excuse, you've already lost the argument.  

This was  a quick and absorbing read, and would make a perfect summer vacation escape. 

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  July 12th, 2022

Author:  Blake Crouch

Publisher:  Ballantine Books

Genre:  Speculative Fiction

Page Length:  352 Pages

Source:  NetGalley

Format:  E-Book

Recommendation:  This was a really fun thriller filled with science, genetics, and family ghosts.  If your in the mood for some escapism, you will love this book.