Henry Leyva's energetic, no-nonsense style is a natural fit for the cutting-edge science and rising action in this mystery. Logan Ramsay is a genetic scientist whose mother, also a brilliant geneticist, was responsible for a global catastrophe after altering the genetic makeup of rice. Now Ramsay works for the government monitoring agency that guards against rogue genetic interventions. During a raid, Ramsey is exposed to a possible mutation, causing an upgrade to his own biological composition that gives him near-superhuman ability. He must flee to avoid detection. Leyva's performance is an irresistible mix of intellectual prowess and ever-rising tension. He conveys both the relevant science and the mounting action, giving listeners a thoroughly wrenching experience. S.P.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Upgrade: A Novel
Narrated by Henry Levya
Blake CrouchUnabridged — 9 hours, 47 minutes
Upgrade: A Novel
Narrated by Henry Levya
Blake CrouchUnabridged — 9 hours, 47 minutes
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Overview
“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
“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 Maiden
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, She Reads
The mind-blowing new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter and Recursion-currently in development as a motion picture at Steven Spielberg's Amblin Partners
“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
★ 05/16/2022
In this nail-biting near-future science thriller from bestseller Crouch (Recursion), the world is still recovering from the Great Starvation, which killed hundreds of millions of people, the unintended consequence of the hubris of Miriam Ramsay, the discoverer of a “revolutionary, biological DNA modifier system.” Seeking to eliminate a leaf blight decimating a rice strain in China, Ramsay inserted a virus into locusts intended to infect the rice to create increased resistance to the disease. Unexpectedly, the modified insects ended up targeting other crops, depleting the world’s food supply. That catastrophe led to draconian measures, including harsh restrictions on biological research. Now, Ramsay’s son, Logan, who assisted her before the Great Starvation, has found a new purpose working for America’s Gene Protection Agency, tracking genetic scientists deemed risks. During a raid on an illegal lab, Logan becomes infected by something that hacks his genome, transforming him in frightening ways that seem to match his mother’s vision of an upgraded version of homo sapiens, whose enhanced intelligence supposedly will preserve the species. 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. Agent: David Hale Smith, InkWell Management. (July)
If Michael Crichton had written a superhero novel, it would look a lot like Upgrade. . . . Sleek and propulsive, a page-turner with unexpectedly beautiful passages that give you pause amid the thrills.”—Amal El-Mohtar, The New York Times Book Review
“A lot of fun . . . Crouch knows how to do a chase, when to blow stuff up and when to bring the house lights down. . . . But what makes Upgrade special is that his path is unique. He takes turns that are unexpected [and] explores some stunning vistas along the way.”—NPR
“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 Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Chosen Ones and Divergent
“[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)
“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
“High-octane action, some moral complexity, and a surprisingly emotional ending elevate this novel. Recommended—even for reluctant science fiction readers.”—Kirkus Reviews
07/02/2022
Crouch's latest thriller (following Recursion) takes on the practical and ethical concerns of genetic modification. Twenty years ago, Logan Ramsay's mother, a renowned scientist who pioneered technology to modify DNA, sought to rid a rice plant of bacteria using her genetic system, but instead it ruined much of the world's food supply, causing a Great Starvation that led to the deaths of hundreds of millions of people. Now out of prison for his role in the catastrophe, Logan is working for the Gene Protection Agency, where he hunts for rogue genetic engineers. In the course of his work, Logan gets exposed to a virus whose chief side effect is an "upgrade" to his human genome that presents the most flawless version of himself: a sharper memory, a rapid reading rate, an analytical mind like a computer. His superiors want him contained, but there are others who want to break Logan out to access his new genetic code, and his family history has him asking a key question: Is it worth potentially destroying humanity in order to perfect it? VERDICT This accessible, swiftly paced, thought-provoking novel should garner Crouch's widest readership yet. Recommended for fans of science fiction, crime, or spy thrillers.—Michael Pucci
Henry Leyva's energetic, no-nonsense style is a natural fit for the cutting-edge science and rising action in this mystery. Logan Ramsay is a genetic scientist whose mother, also a brilliant geneticist, was responsible for a global catastrophe after altering the genetic makeup of rice. Now Ramsay works for the government monitoring agency that guards against rogue genetic interventions. During a raid, Ramsey is exposed to a possible mutation, causing an upgrade to his own biological composition that gives him near-superhuman ability. He must flee to avoid detection. Leyva's performance is an irresistible mix of intellectual prowess and ever-rising tension. He conveys both the relevant science and the mounting action, giving listeners a thoroughly wrenching experience. S.P.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
2022-04-27
When a government agent is exposed to a virus that modifies his genetic code, he must consider whether to share these enhancements with the world or eradicate the virus.
Logan Ramsay works for the Gene Protection Agency in a world where genetic modification has wreaked havoc on the ecosystem. His mother, a brilliant scientist, was responsible for the “Great Starvation” nearly two decades before, when she tried to improve the resistance of a rice plant to a particular virus and instead devastated the world’s rice supply. Two hundred million people died, and Logan went to prison for his role in the catastrophe; his mother took her own life. Now he investigates and takes down people who are running “dark gene lab[s]” and otherwise seeking to change the human genome. During a raid, Logan is exposed to a virus, and while the initial side effects seem to ease after a few days, he soon begins to notice unusual things: the fact that he can read incredibly complex books in just a few hours and retain all of the information; the fact that he can beat his daughter in chess, which hasn’t happened for years; the way he can remember every moment of his life in perfect detail. Government agents lock him up and run test after test as Logan becomes stronger and more intelligent by the day. It is revealed that, before her death, Logan’s mother promised to release “a viral gene drive” that would offer a “significant upgrade” to the human species. When someone arrives to break him out of the containment facility, Logan will be forced to make a decision: allow the genetic upgrade to spread through the human species, even though a certain percentage of the population will die horrible deaths, or destroy the virus. High-octane action, some moral complexity, and a surprisingly emotional ending elevate this novel.
Recommended—even for reluctant science fiction readers.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940176322361 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Random House |
| Publication date: | 07/12/2022 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Sales rank: | 473,254 |
Read an Excerpt
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 passed.
The Denver field office of the Gene Protection Agency was located in an unremarkable office park in Lakewood, and to call it a field office was generous.
It was one floor of a building with light admin support, a holding cell, an interview room, a mol-bio lab, and an armory. The GPA didn’t have field offices in most major cities, but since Denver was the main hyperloop hub of the West, it made sense to have a dedicated base of operations here.
We were a young but quickly growing agency, with five hundred employees compared to the FBI’s forty thousand. There were only fifty special agents like me and Nadine, and we were all based in the D.C. area, ready to parachute in to wherever our Intelligence Division suspected the existence of a dark gene lab.
Nadine drove around the back of the low-rise building and pulled through the service entrance to the elevators. She parked behind an armored vehicle, where four bio-SWAT officers had their gear spread out on the concrete, making last-minute weapons checks for what would hopefully be a predawn raid based on the intel we were about to extract from Soren.
I helped our suspect out of the back of the car, and the three of us rode up to the third floor.
Once inside the interview room, I cut off the zip ties and sat Soren down at a metal table with a D-bolt welded into the surface for less compliant suspects.
Nadine went for coffee.
I took a seat across from him.
“Aren’t you supposed to read me my rights or something?” he asked.
“Under the Gene Protection Act, we can hold you for seventy-two hours just because.”
“Fascists.”
I shrugged. He wasn’t exactly wrong.
I placed Soren’s book on the table, hoping for a reaction.
“Big Camus fan?” I asked.
“Yeah. I collect rare editions of his work.”
It was an old hardback copy of The Stranger. I thumbed carefully through the pages.
“It’s clean,” Soren said.
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