Upgrade

Set in the near future, Upgrade is a 2022 science-fiction thriller by Blake Crouch that imagines a world in the initial stages of catastrophic climate change. Simultaneously, the novel examines how genetic engineering can go awry and wreak a catastrophe of its own. At the heart of the novel is a central question: As humanity becomes increasingly endangered by the effects of climate change, is it ethical to pursue solutions by altering the human genome, sometimes with deadly consequences? Known for science-fiction and thriller titles—one of which, Wayward Pines, was adapted into a 2015 TV series—Crouch blends elements of both genres to weave a suspenseful and thought-provoking plot that examines the emotional impacts societal and personal catastrophes have on individuals and relationships.

The edition used for this guide is the 2022 Kindle edition.

Content Warning: The source material includes discussion of suicide.

Plot Summary

Logan Ramsay is a law-enforcement official for the recently created agency Gene Protection Agency (GPA). As the novel begins, he and his partner, Nadine, have tracked down a man who is suspected of associating with illicit-market genetic-engineering operations. This is a routine raid in a world where all such engineering has been banned in response to a global catastrophe known as the Great Starvation, in which an attempt to genetically fortify crops caused a global famine that killed 200 million people.