Upgrade

[Kristie]

We will be reading Upgrade by Blake Crouch beginning April 3rd. Everyone is free to join us. Please use spoiler tags as needed.



Logan Ramsay is about to get the brain he always dreamed of. But will he be transformed into something more than human…or something less? The mind-blowing new thriller from the 'New York Times' best-selling author of 'Dark Matter' and 'Recursion'.

When the SWAT team gives the all-clear and Logan Ramsay steps into the basement, he has no idea that everything's about to change.

Then there's the hiss of aerosol. The explosion. The shrapnel that punctures his hazmat gear. Logan wakes up to find himself in a hospital bed, attended by doctors in their own hazmat suits, his wife and daughter looking on from behind the glass.

The doctors say he's been infected by a virus--one designed not to make him sick, but to modify his very genetic structure. In a world where the next-generation gene-editing tool known as Scythe is widely available--and has already reaped disastrous consequences--the possibilities are too many and terrifying to count.

Except that after the fever, the pain, the fear...the virus is gone. And according to his government bosses, Logan's got a clean bill of health.

But the truth is that with each day that passes, Logan's getting smarter. Seeing things more clearly. He's realizing that he's been upgraded in ways that go beyond even Scythe's capabilities--and that he's been given these abilities for a reason.

Because a holy grail of genetic engineering--one that could change our very definitions of humanity--has just been unearthed. And now it's up to him to stop it from falling into the wrong hands.

Logan’s becoming something more. Something better. Even with the whole world hunting for him, he might be able to outthink his opponents and win the war that’s coming.

But what if it’s at the cost of being himself?

[[deleted user]]

Thanks for setting up this thread, Kristie.

Reading it will be around the beginning of April but we will confirm as the date gets closer.

Looking forward to buddy reading this with everyone.

[Kristie]

Earlier the month works for me too, Karen. Looking forward to it.

[Elyse]

Great!

[Tasha]

Keeping my fingers crossed I get approved for this one.

[Kristie]

I hope so too!!

[Tasha]

thanks!

[Vicki Willis]

I am in for this!

[Kristie]

Vicki Willis wrote: "I am in for this!"

Yay!

(Come on Tasha!!)

[Tasha]

LOL! 🤞🏼

[[deleted user]]

How does the first week of April look for everyone? Start date April 3rd. ...

[Tasha]

Another one of my books just hanging around in 'not active'. lol If I get it by then, I'm in.

I just finished the Wayward Pines series/trilogy and would love to read another book by the author soon. I also wish he would keep that series going, it ended on a total cliff hanger and then he leaves us all hanging!! Not playing nice. ;)

[[deleted user]]

Here's hoping 🤞

As for Wayward Pines .. the book ending is obscure! I watched the series a couple years ago .. ( free on Amazon Prime) and that took it where the books did not!

[Tasha]

I do wonder if I should watch that series. Do you recommend it?

[Elyse]

KarenK2 wrote: "How does the first week of April look for everyone? Start date April 3rd. ..."

Sounds good for me!

[Elyse]

Tasha wrote: "I do wonder if I should watch that series. Do you recommend it?"

I watched it when it was on TV and it was really good! I enjoyed both the show and the books, they do diverge but in a good way. They're like companions to each other, filling in blanks.

[Tasha]

Great to know, thanks!

[[deleted user]]

Tasha wrote: "I do wonder if I should watch that series. Do you recommend it?"

Yep. I agree with Elyse. They compliment each other.

[Kristie]

I can start on the 3rd too, if that works for everyone else.

[Kristie]

I have still not finished the Wayward Pines trilogy. I read the first book and bought the next two, then never got to them. I have to go back to those... though, I do not like the idea of ending on a cliffhanger.

[Tasha]

It was mean.

[[deleted user]]

Tasha wrote: "It was mean."

🤣🤣🤣

[Vicki Willis]

I can start about that date too. So sounds like a plan.

[Kristie]

That's great! :)

[Tasha]

I also got approved for this one! It's my lucky day, 3 approvals today...and I'm not even Irish. lol

[Kristie]

Oh, that's excellent, Tasha! It is your lucky day!

[Tasha]

I'm really happy I got i!

[[deleted user]]

Great Tasha!

[Tasha]

thanks :)

[Thereadingbell]

I got approved for this one today!

[[deleted user]]

Fantastic! .. This will be a great group read!

[Tasha]

We are going to have a nice sized group reading this one. Wonderful!

[Kristie]

I love when there are a lot of us buddy reading. :) This will be fun!

[[deleted user]]

I'm excited to start this.

[Kristie]

Me too. Is everyone still ready to start on the 3rd?

[Tasha]

I'm ready!

[Thereadingbell]

Yes, I am ready

[Vicki Willis]

Ready!

[Elyse]

I'll be ready as well. Couple of books I want to finish today.

[Tasha]

This is so good, and so freaky with things going on now. All these sci fi stories feel really scary now! I'm sucked into this one though, immediately. I think this will be a fast read.

[Vicki Willis]

I am going to start this today.
I might put it on hold though depending how it starts.

I started another sci fi - Rabbits ) - which is coincidental considering I only ever read one or two sci fis a year.
So if they are too brain frying for me I will do one at a time.

[Elyse]

I'm at Ch 4 (22%). Crouch's sci fi is always mind-melting! lol. But I'm definitely already sucked in. The chapters are quite long which I don't like. lol. I was like oh I'll just get to Ch 4 but Ch 3 was so long!! So it took me like a half hour to get through that one chapter. lol.

Vicki, that's smart, I don't think I could read 2 sci fi at the same time either! Especially if they're heavy on the sci!

[[deleted user]]

I read this last night. I got sucked in. Signature Crouch story, full of mind bending and time warping events. It started out strong with all of my empathy for Logan and what was happening to him through no fault of his own.

[Tasha]

I read up to 41% yesterday (in the middle of ch 6), totally sucks you in. I agree, Elyse, these chapters are much longer than you would expect.

It's such a scary time in this story! It really freaks me out bc it could really happen, at least the (view spoiler)[ genome manipulations, maybe not yet what's actually happening to Logan, per se. His sister is bad ass freeing him from that vivarium. lol (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Kristie]

Wow! You ladies are flying through! I'm reading it now, but still just starting.

[Thereadingbell]

ha ha i haven't even started yet. I had yard work to do all weekend and just finished today so now i have time to catch up on my reading.

[Kristie]

Oh good! My mom had surgery today (knee replacement) and I figured I would have hours to read while I was waiting at the hospital. But a very loud, very chatty man sat down next to me and would not stop talking. He did not take any social cues and just decided that he was going to chat to me about nothing for hours. When I finally left, the nurse leaned over and quietly said, "you're very nice," to me. lol His wife was in surgery and I guess he just needed to talk. I didn't have the heart to be too rude to him. So... that is my long explanation of why I am still at the beginning of the book instead of halfway through. lol

[Tasha]

Aw, that is so sweet, Kristie. He is lucky he found you to sit next too, even though it did distract you from your reading. I agree with the nurse, you are very sweet. lol. Hopefully you got some reading done last night although I imagine you were probably wiped from the stress of the day. I hope your mom did well and recovers quickly!

[Tasha]

A google car keeps getting mentioned here so I'm assuming in this time an EV car was produced by google! Honestly, again, not surprising and this book feels all too (possibly) real.

[Tasha]

I'm at the end of ch 8 and (view spoiler)[ it's really freaky and scary, a virus that hits the town in Glascow. This is interesting to read right after our pandemic. I wonder if Crouch had this book in mind prior to our pandemic or if it was the pandemic and all the issues surrounding it that sparked this story. I guess it's very likely that it's a bit of both too. (hide spoiler)]