Book Review | Upgrade by Blake Crouch

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.

So. Much. Science. That was all I asked for, and that's what I got!

Upgrade is Blake Crouch's latest science thriller. I enjoyed Dark Matter and I loved Recursion so I was really excited to read Upgrade.

All I knew going into Upgrade was it dealt with genetic engineering. This was correct, but it was quite different than I was expecting! I loved all of the science in Upgrade. One could argue there was too much science, but I love the way Crouch introduces all of the science in his books. He makes it so accessible. He can make the most complicated science understandable.

My biggest complaint with Upgrade is I just didn't care about the characters. There were high stakes and there was a lot of action - I just didn't have that connection with anyone that would have made the action and the stakes so much more suspenseful for me. Even with the entire world at stake, I kind of feel like I've already been living that since 2020. It's not Blake Crouch's fault, but I don't even want to read about viruses or pandemics anymore. I'm over it.

Overall, I enjoyed Upgrade. I got just what I was asking for, but it's not going on my list of favorites for the year. I need more character development so I can root for someone. I will still be standing in line for the next Blake Crouch science thriller, though. The science is certainly something I will continue to want more of. 

⭐⭐⭐★★
3/5 stars

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Book Review | Recursion by Blake Crouch

Recursion is the latest thriller from Blake Crouch.

Memory makes reality.

That’s what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.

That's what neuroscientist Helena Smith believes. It’s why she’s dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious memories. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.

As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face-to-face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.

But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them?

I wasn't sure what I would get with Recursion, but I hoped I would get something similar to Dark Matter. Thankfully my wish was granted! I hope Blake Crouch is able to give us a few more releases in this realm of Quantum Physics. I love it!

I'll be honest - Recursion broke my brain a little, but it sure was fun. If you loved Dark Matter, Recursion is a must read.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review copy provided by publisher

Book Review | Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Dark Matter is a science fiction thriller from Blake Crouch.

“Are you happy with your life?” Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”

In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable--something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Why did I read Dark Matter?

Blake Crouch. The science was a complete surprise. You'd think the title "Dark Matter" would have clued me in, but no. I didn't give it much thought past it being a new Blake Crouch. I enjoyed his book Run, and then I loved the Wayward Pines trilogy. I need to make some time for some more of his back titles, too.

The Strengths

SCIENCE. This is how I love my science - mixed with a page turning thriller. Dark Matter is not hard science either. It's heavy science if you consider the fact that it deals with quantum physics, but it is presented in a way that's accessible to everyone.

It's a fun read which I'm coming to expect from Blake Crouch.

The Weaknesses

It's hard to articulate what makes it a 4 star and not a 5 star read for me, but part of it has to do with how the story progressed. It could go any way at any time which is fun, but it's hard to lose myself or care more than just at a superficial level as I'm stepping through short chronological events. You're mileage may vary here.

Would I recommend Dark Matter to others?

Yep!

8/10: Great Read

Book Review | Pines by Blake Crouch

Pines is the first book in Blake Crouch's Wayward Pines trilogy.

Book Description

Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a clear mission: locate and recover two federal agents who went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. But within minutes of his arrival, Ethan is involved in a violent accident. He comes to in a hospital, with no ID, no cell phone, and no briefcase. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but something feels…off. As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation into the disappearance of his colleagues turns up more questions than answers. Why can’t he get any phone calls through to his wife and son in the outside world? Why doesn’t anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what is the purpose of the electrified fences surrounding the town? Are they meant to keep the residents in? Or something else out? Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan further from the world he thought he knew, from the man he thought he was, until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive.

Book Review

Well, that was a quick and fun read.

The beginning of Pines is normal enough. A guy has amnesia after a crash. You get pulled in wondering "Who is he? What's going on?". You know you are in for a bit of a mystery surrounding a strange town, but then Pines quickly becomes a mishmash of a book. It's all over the place, really, but it's intriguing and it's entertaining so you just hang on for the ride.

The most astounding thing to me is the way the ending manages to pull the entire mishmash of a Twilight Zome experience back together into a really solid read.

I was already excited about the TV series (due to M. Night Shyamalan's involvement), but now I can hardly contain myself. I'm a Lostie, and I'm hoping this series is going to fill some of the void.

It's rare that I finish the first book in a series and immediately start reading the next one, but that's exactly what happened when I finished reading Pines. I shouldn't have taken so long to start the series in the first place.

8/10: Great Read

75 Free Ebooks | Big Kindle Boogie

If you haven't heard about the Big Kindle Boogie, today is the day to check it out.

Bestselling thriller writers J.A. Konrath, Blake Crouch, J. Carson Black, Lee Goldberg, and Scott Nicholson team up to give away 10 Kindle Fires, 75 ebooks, $300 in gift cards, and a $500 library donation.

You can find all of the details at http://bigkindleboogie.blogspot.com.

Some of the free books available on Amazon include:



Are you taking part in the Big Kindle Boogie? I am!

TBR: Run by Blake Crouch

It's Blake Crouch week over at The Man Eating Bookworm.  I was super lucky enough to win myself a copy of Run!  Woohoo!  It sounds like an excellent thriller.  Check it out:

For fans of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Thomas Harris, picture this: a landscape of American genocide...

5 D A Y S A G O A rash of bizarre murders swept the country… Senseless. Brutal. Seemingly unconnected. A cop walked into a nursing home and unloaded his weapons on elderly and staff alike. A mass of school shootings. Prison riots of unprecedented brutality. Mind-boggling acts of violence in every state.

4 D A Y S A G O The murders increased ten-fold…

3 D A Y S A G O The President addressed the nation and begged for calm and peace…

2 D A Y S A G O The killers began to mobilize…

Y E S T E R D A Y All the power went out…

T O N I G H T They’re reading the names of those to be killed on the Emergency Broadcast System. You are listening over the battery-powered radio on your kitchen table, and they’ve just read yours. Your name is Jack Colclough. You have a wife, a daughter, and a young son. You live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. People are coming to your house to kill you and your family.

You don’t know why, but you don’t have time to think about that any more. You only have time to….

R U N

This 80,000-word novel also contains a bonus interview with Blake, and excerpts from his other work.

I can't wait to dive into this one! Have you read any of Crouch's books yet?  He sounds like someone I really need to be reading!