Action & Adventure
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Upgrade: A Novel
"Mysterious, fascinating, and deeply moving-exploring the very nature of what it means to be human."-ALEX MICHAELIDES, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient and The Maidens
"You don't so much sympathize with the main character as live inside his skin."-DIANA GABALDON, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Outlander series
"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 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.
"You don't so much sympathize with the main character as live inside his skin."-DIANA GABALDON, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Outlander series
"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 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.
Editorial Reviews
"Amazingly gripping and totally immersive, with brilliant (near-future) worldbuilding and impeccable plot You don't so much sympathize with the main character as live inside his skin."-Diana Gabaldon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Outlander series
"From the first page, it's clear you're in the hands of a master storyteller; Upgrade is by turns mysterious, fascinating, and deeply moving-exploring the very nature of what it means to be human. Spellbinding."-Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient and The Maidens
"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 has a mind like Crichton and a heart like King-Upgrade is riveting, tense, scrupulously researched, and deeply heartfelt."-David Koepp, author of Cold Storage and screenwriter of Jurassic Park
"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 Ro...
"From the first page, it's clear you're in the hands of a master storyteller; Upgrade is by turns mysterious, fascinating, and deeply moving-exploring the very nature of what it means to be human. Spellbinding."-Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient and The Maidens
"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 has a mind like Crichton and a heart like King-Upgrade is riveting, tense, scrupulously researched, and deeply heartfelt."-David Koepp, author of Cold Storage and screenwriter of Jurassic Park
"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 Ro...
Short Excerpt Teaser
1
We found Henrik Soren at a wine bar in the international terminal, thirty minutes from boarding a hyperjet to Tokyo.
Before tonight, I had only seen him in INTERPOL photographs and CCTV footage. In the flesh, he was less impressive-five and a half feet in his artificially distressed Saint Laurent sneakers with a designer hoodie hiding most of his face. He was sitting at the end of the bar with a book and a bottle of Krug.
I commandeered the stool beside him and set my badge between us. It bore the insignia of a bald eagle whose wings enveloped the double helix of a DNA molecule. For a long moment, nothing happened. I wasn't even sure he'd seen it gleaming under the hanging globe lights, but then he turned his head and looked at me.
I flashed a smile.
He closed his book. If he was nervous, he didn't show it. Just stared at me through Scandinavian blue eyes.
"Hi, Henrik," I said. "I'm Agent Ramsay. I work for the GPA."
"What am I supposed to have done?"
He was born thirty-three years ago in Oslo but had been educated in London, where his mother was a diplomat. I could hear that city around the edges of his voice.
"Why don't we talk about that somewhere else?"
The bartender was watching us now, having clocked my badge. Probably worried about getting the bill paid.
"My flight's about to board," Soren said.
"You aren't going to Tokyo. Not tonight."
The muscles in his jaw tightened and something flickered in his eyes. He tucked his chin-length blond hair behind his ears and glanced around the wine bar. And then beyond it, at the travelers moving through the concourse.
"See the woman sitting at the high-top behind us?" I asked. "Long blond hair. Navy windbreaker. That's my partner, Agent Nettmann. Airport police are waiting in the wings. Look, I can drag you out of here or you can walk out under your own steam. It's your call, but you have to decide right now."
I didn't think he'd run. Soren had to know the impossible odds of eluding capture in an airport crawling with security and surveillance. But desperate people do desperate things.
He looked around once more, then back at me. With a sigh, he polished off his glass of champagne and lifted his satchel from the floor.
We drove back into the city, with Nadine Nettmann behind the wheel of the modified company Edison and I-70 virtually empty at this hour of the night.
Soren had been installed behind the passenger seat with his wrists zip-tied behind his back. I'd searched his carry-on-a Gucci messenger bag-but the only item of interest was a laptop, which we'd need a federal warrant to break into.
"You're Logan Ramsay, right?" Soren asked, his first words spoken since we'd escorted him out of the airport.
"That's right."
"Son of Miriam Ramsay?"
"Yes." I tried to keep my tone neutral. It wasn't the first time a suspect had made that connection. He said nothing else. I could feel Nadine looking at me.
I stared out the window. We were on the outskirts of the city center, doing 120 mph. The dual electric motors were almost silent. Through the wraparound NightShade glass, I saw one of the GPA's new billboards shoot past-part of the latest public awareness campaign.
In black letters against a white background:
GENE EDITING IS A FEDERAL CRIME
Downtown Denver loomed in the distance.
The megatall Half-Mile Tower soared into the sky-an arrow of light.
It was one a.m. here, which meant it was three back in D.C.
I thought of my family, sleeping peacefully in our home in Arlington.
My wife, Beth.
Our teenage daughter, Ava.
If all went smoothly tonight, I'd be back in time for dinner tomorrow evening. We were planning a weekend trip to the Shenandoah Valley to see the fall colors from the Skyline Drive.
We passed another billboard:
ONE MISTAKE CAUSED
THE GREAT STARVATION
I'd seen that one before, and the pain hit-an ache in the back of my throat. The guilt of what we'd done never failed to hit its mark.
I didn't deny it or try to push it away.
Just let it be until it p...
We found Henrik Soren at a wine bar in the international terminal, thirty minutes from boarding a hyperjet to Tokyo.
Before tonight, I had only seen him in INTERPOL photographs and CCTV footage. In the flesh, he was less impressive-five and a half feet in his artificially distressed Saint Laurent sneakers with a designer hoodie hiding most of his face. He was sitting at the end of the bar with a book and a bottle of Krug.
I commandeered the stool beside him and set my badge between us. It bore the insignia of a bald eagle whose wings enveloped the double helix of a DNA molecule. For a long moment, nothing happened. I wasn't even sure he'd seen it gleaming under the hanging globe lights, but then he turned his head and looked at me.
I flashed a smile.
He closed his book. If he was nervous, he didn't show it. Just stared at me through Scandinavian blue eyes.
"Hi, Henrik," I said. "I'm Agent Ramsay. I work for the GPA."
"What am I supposed to have done?"
He was born thirty-three years ago in Oslo but had been educated in London, where his mother was a diplomat. I could hear that city around the edges of his voice.
"Why don't we talk about that somewhere else?"
The bartender was watching us now, having clocked my badge. Probably worried about getting the bill paid.
"My flight's about to board," Soren said.
"You aren't going to Tokyo. Not tonight."
The muscles in his jaw tightened and something flickered in his eyes. He tucked his chin-length blond hair behind his ears and glanced around the wine bar. And then beyond it, at the travelers moving through the concourse.
"See the woman sitting at the high-top behind us?" I asked. "Long blond hair. Navy windbreaker. That's my partner, Agent Nettmann. Airport police are waiting in the wings. Look, I can drag you out of here or you can walk out under your own steam. It's your call, but you have to decide right now."
I didn't think he'd run. Soren had to know the impossible odds of eluding capture in an airport crawling with security and surveillance. But desperate people do desperate things.
He looked around once more, then back at me. With a sigh, he polished off his glass of champagne and lifted his satchel from the floor.
We drove back into the city, with Nadine Nettmann behind the wheel of the modified company Edison and I-70 virtually empty at this hour of the night.
Soren had been installed behind the passenger seat with his wrists zip-tied behind his back. I'd searched his carry-on-a Gucci messenger bag-but the only item of interest was a laptop, which we'd need a federal warrant to break into.
"You're Logan Ramsay, right?" Soren asked, his first words spoken since we'd escorted him out of the airport.
"That's right."
"Son of Miriam Ramsay?"
"Yes." I tried to keep my tone neutral. It wasn't the first time a suspect had made that connection. He said nothing else. I could feel Nadine looking at me.
I stared out the window. We were on the outskirts of the city center, doing 120 mph. The dual electric motors were almost silent. Through the wraparound NightShade glass, I saw one of the GPA's new billboards shoot past-part of the latest public awareness campaign.
In black letters against a white background:
GENE EDITING IS A FEDERAL CRIME
Downtown Denver loomed in the distance.
The megatall Half-Mile Tower soared into the sky-an arrow of light.
It was one a.m. here, which meant it was three back in D.C.
I thought of my family, sleeping peacefully in our home in Arlington.
My wife, Beth.
Our teenage daughter, Ava.
If all went smoothly tonight, I'd be back in time for dinner tomorrow evening. We were planning a weekend trip to the Shenandoah Valley to see the fall colors from the Skyline Drive.
We passed another billboard:
ONE MISTAKE CAUSED
THE GREAT STARVATION
I'd seen that one before, and the pain hit-an ache in the back of my throat. The guilt of what we'd done never failed to hit its mark.
I didn't deny it or try to push it away.
Just let it be until it p...
