Content Warning: The source material includes discussion of suicide.

Logan is the first-person narrator of the novel. He is a complex character with strengths, faults, and obvious inner turmoil going on throughout the novel. As the son of a genius mother, Logan has spent much of his life trying to follow in her footsteps—without much success. He recognizes that he does not possess her level of intellectual brilliance, leaving him with a sense of deficiency that the upgrade, unwanted as it is, allows him to finally overcome, though at the cost of everything he holds dear.

Logan is a loving father and husband. He taught his daughter, Ava, to play chess when she was young and plays with her frequently, even though she wins most of the time. Crouch does not examine Logan’s marriage with any real depth; however, he indicates that it is a solid and loving relationship and that he and Beth generally get along well. When Logan’s life is turned upside down, he makes the ultimate sacrifice of giving up his family to keep them out of harm’s way—an action that stands in opposition to Miriam’s career path, in which she always chose work over family and took risks even when they could—and did—cause great harm.