UPGRADE by Blake Crouch

It’s exciting starting another Blake Crouch novel, akin to heading to the theater for the latest summer blockbuster, anticipating the spectacle and excitement. This new novel is set in the near future where genetic engineering has reached a dangerous height and genetic study and practice in general has been deemed illegal. And after a raid gone sour, Genetic Protection agent Logan Ramsay starts to notice that he’s changing…

While the concept is fun and much of the material here is pretty thought-provoking, I couldn’t help but feel that this one fell a bit flat for me. It was thrilling to read how Logan's ability kept evolving and I was constantly pausing to Google genetic science shit and do more research. But I’m used to his novels hitting hard in the emotional feels just as equally as the cerebral ones, and the attempts here at sentiment just didn’t work for me and felt tacked on. The book is still fascinating in concept and has the excitement that I’ve come to expect. In general though, it felt a little “paint-by-numbers.” In other words: “Crouch-lite.”

GRADE: B-