I'm Starting to Worry About this Black Box of Doom

A welcome return to form for author Jason Pargin, the artist formerly known as David Wong. His novels in the John Dies at the End series have been among my favourite books since I cracked the first one open in late 2012, but the disappointing sunk cost of his Zoey and the Suits series had led to me fearing what would become of the author when his well of John and Dave stories ran dry. Fortunately, I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom, Pargin's first standalone novel, possessed many of the fine traits of the John Dies at the End series. That alone would be grand enough, but even more encouraging is that the book also shows it has learnt from some of the mis-steps of the Zoey series.

As with the best of his writing, Pargin's show more story in Black Box of Doom is outlandish and yet disconcertingly believable. Absent the eldritch horror of the John and Dave series, Black Box of Doom elevates the pop-culture lectures which are a (welcome) feature of this author so that they become an essential part of the concept and the plot. Crucially, these pop-culture soliloquies, a carry-over from Pargin's Cracked.com background, are more balanced than the clumsy rants of the Zoey stories, which evidenced a definite authorial finger on the scales. As unusual as it may sound, I even began to respect Black Box of Doom as a legitimate piece of literature, its satire of our contemporary online culture – incels, cancel culture, viral events – more fully realised than any other book I know of, and considerably less po-faced. It's a breath of fresh air to read a writer who roots out folly rather than indulges it – and, more importantly, knows how to skewer it. Pargin has ideas on how we can break out of this self-imposed media prison cell – another 'black box of doom' – but delivers them to us rather than force them on us. This is a story, a piece of entertainment, first and foremost.

The plot is that of a Lyft driver contracted to drive a mysterious young woman, and an even more mysterious black road-case, across the United States. The internet gets a hold of the story and invents all these outlandish conspiracies as to what is in the box, from an alien corpse to a nuclear bomb, and then things start to get out of hand. Pargin is particularly believable when mimicking the ADHD-drenched theories of the Reddit crowd and the sanctimony of the online mob, and the book draws you into its world completely. Remarkably, Pargin keeps you guessing as to what is in the box – in part by not always making it the centre of attention – and when you do finally find out, it manages to not be a disappointment.

The book is funny, engrossing and well-paced; whenever I put it down, I picked it up again with ease, and could read for ages without tiring (which, for various reasons, is a rarity for me lately). And to top it all off, it's an American road-trip story, which we don't get enough of anymore. All the old affection for Wong, now Pargin, that I remember from the early John Dies at the End novels has returned in waves. show less

Jason Pargin has a real talent for funny, often self-referential, book titles, like John Dies at the End, and If This Book Exists, You're in the Wrong Universe, and Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick. His latest is the satirical thriller I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom. It is written in a restricted third-person voice with a half dozen viewpoint characters, supplemented by blog entries, reddit posts, and twitch stream chat logs. The story takes place over the course of five summer days, with each day covered in a section of about eighty pages.

I have seen the book tagged as science fiction, but it is set in the mid-2020s with no hypothetical technology. It also entirely lacks the sort of supernatural horror found in show more the author's John, Dave, and Amy books. The amusing afterword is a humorously embroidered version of the standard fictionality disclaimer, cautioning that "what was depicted in this novel should not govern your future behavior in that specific scenario or any other" (391). More than any other book I have read by Pargin, this one reminded me quite vividly of early Chuck Palahniuk, and to a lesser degree, Aidan Truhen.

While the afterword declares that the text favored entertainment over factuality whenever there was a need to choose between them, it was nevertheless full of useful neglected facts regarding contemporary culture and recent history in the voices of various characters. For example, a retired FBI agent gave the genuine outlooks and motivations of the Columbine shooters (130). And a disgraced internet influencer fingered AmIHotOrNot.com as ground zero for "teaching machines how to hack human insecurity" (318-9).

The "Black Box" of the title is a large locked case with unknown contents being transported via a frantic road trip full of mishaps. But it is also explicitly the dismal psychic confines of the digitally-mediated society. For all that, the book is essentially a comedy with an upbeat message and the sort of hope that was more credible in 2024 and more necessary in 2025. show less

Abbot is an insecure 26 year old, still living at home with his dad who he doesn’t get along with. His life is lived almost exclusively on line with the occasional job as a Lyft driver. On one trip, he picks up a young woman who offers him an exorbitant amount of money to drive her across the country with a strange black box. He’s hesitant but eventually agrees. She tells him her name is Ether but refuses to say what is in the box, only that it must be at the destination in four days and he has to leave his cell phone and any other devices behind. He stops at home to pack and, while there, he lets his online chat group know that he’ll be offline for a few days and why. Soon, the internet blows up with conspiracies about what’s show more in the box and who Ether is, attracting the attention of a retired FBI agent. They are also being followed by a huge nasty looking biker who knows what's in the box and will do anything to get his hands on it.

Jason Pargin is a master at combining exciting thrillers with dark humour and insightful social commentary and I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom is no exception. This is one hell of a wild and crazy cross-country ride. But, along with all the excitement and the mystery of the black box are some very interesting and thoughtful looks at social media including incel culture, influencers, and the ease of spread of toxic rumours and conspiracies. Despite all of this, though, it ends on a surprisingly hopeful note. Definitely one of my favourite books so far this year Oh, and just as a kind of side note, whatever you think is in the box, that ain’t it.

I read an eARC provided by St Martin’s Press while listening to an audiobook from Macmillan Audio narrated by Ari Fliakos who does an amazing job of ramping up the tension as well as the humour. Thanks to both publishers as well as Netgalley. All opinions are my own. show less

First, I've got to say it's pretty bold of Jason Pargin to write such a controversial book. And (just to remind myself) it's "Par-jin". Like gin you drink. Which he probably had to do a lot of.

The concept is simple to grasp. A young woman employs a young man to drive her and a big black box from California to Washington, D.C. But he can't bring any cell phones or laptops or anything that could be tracked. And he can't ask any questions about it or tell anyone where he's going. And it has to be now.

Thematically, this book is about the difference between reality and the reality perceived through a lens. I think there must be a term for that. Maybe we haven't invented it yet, but we will. It's like Josh says in "The Blair Witch Project". show more It explains why they keep filming even when they're starving and lost and suffering.

"I see why you like this video camera so much. It's not quite reality. It's like a totally filtered reality. It's like you can pretend everything's not quite the way it is."

But somehow, because people are nosy or have too much time on their hands, word gets out. And because no one's saying anything, their imaginations run away with them, and with social media, it spreads. The whole thing is about how no one can do anything anymore without being farmed for engagement.

I love his writing because it's always thought-provoking and darkly humorous. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we put stupid pictures on the Internet and farm for likes? Like they're points, like there's some place to trade them in after we die, like prizes in an arcade? It's a thriller, but it's also social commentary. The fact that the Internet has been a communication revolution and no one seems to care, and all they use it for is posting cat pictures. It's become some kind of competition for engagement. What's more, no one can leave anyone alone, no one can let anyone have any secrets, no one can disappear. A private life isn't just hard to have, people wonder why you'd even want that.

The book seems to be an argument against the constant filming, against the "always on", being like a Snow Crash "gargoyle". But personally, I think the surveillance is better to have than not to. I mean, bodycams provide all kinds of evidence, no longer turning crimes into a "he said, she said" ordeal. They've uncovered loads of police corruption. England has CCTVs and when they premiered, people talked of Big Brother. But I didn't hear any complaints anymore when they could see the guy who mugged you or track the rapist's car.

"Ask the American public if they want a wiretap and they'll say 'No.' If you ask them do they want a feature on their phone that helps the FBI find their missing child, they'll say, 'Yes.'"
-Lois Freeh

In any case, this is the best most fantastic thing I've read all year and I highly recommend it. Also it's not science fiction, no matter what GoodReads says. show less

I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin is a very highly recommended unique, humorous thriller and road-trip novel set in the digital age featuring a mismatched couple. I love everything about this highly entertaining novel!
When Abbott Coburn heads over in his father’s Lincoln Navigator to pick up a Lyft fare he encounters a young woman sitting on a large black box. The woman, who later introduces herself as Ether, offers Abbott $200,000 cash, $100,000 now and the rest when they arrive, to transport her and that box across the country, from California to Washington, DC. There are a few rules: don't look inside the box, no questions, he can't tell anyone, they must leave now, and all trackable devices must be show more left home.

During a quick stop at his house to pack a bag for the trip, Abbott, who is a Twitch streamer, uploaded a short video to let his followers know he’d be offline for a while. This sets off a hilarious maelstrom of commentary, speculation, rumors, and conspiracy theories on social media regarding what Abbott is doing, the identity of the green sunglasses girl (GSG), and what is really in the black box. Reddit and subreditt communities are created to follow the pair online and theorizing about what is in the box. Also following them is an aggressive, huge tattooed man named Malort and a retired FBI agent Joan Key.

I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom is an exceptionally well-written, fast-paced novel/social satire set the modern age of anxiety and social media rumors. The narrative follows Abbott and Ether, Malort, Key, some of Abbott's followers, and many of the Reddit hypotheses along with comments on the threads. As they travel across the country, the increasingly dangerous narratives online followers imagine/create out of very little information are hilarious but also true to life in many ways.

As they travel, Ether and Abbott get to know and understand each other, which stands in sharp contrast to the out-of-control social media. The conversations between the characters feel authentic and relatable. This is especially effective because Abbott and Ether don't know they are trending online and that a host of people are trying to track their every move. Beyond the mystery of the contents of the box, the plot also follows discussions on culture, society, and the influence of technology on our lives.

Everyone in the novel has tunnel vision in some form or another as they follow their own assumptions, expectations, and theories as the trip heads into mad-cap comedy territory in the action-packed climax. By the way, the contents of the black box of doom will surprise you. Thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2024/09/im-starting-to-worry-about-this-black.htm... show less

I PASSIONATELY LOVE Pargin’s other books, and have been looking forward to this release since it was first announced. That made it all the more disappointing when I finally realized I wanted to DNF the book at 52%, because I could not stand either of the main characters, so much so that I didn’t really care anymore what was in the freaking black box, as long as they just stopped talking.
The sunk cost fallacy always gets me, though, and I finished the book out of sheer will.
I think this would have made a great novella, or benefit from being cut in half. Apart from the very beginning and ending, I felt like I was on the road trip with them in the worst way: bored out of my mind and carsick. It took me too long to get through and my show more hold almost lapsed because I had a hard time wanting to pick it back up - never a good sign.
I didn’t like the political/social commentary and constant mentions of various social medias - however, that may make it the perfect book for other readers. But when I choose weird fiction like this, it is because I want to escape reality, and this just threw me right back in to our modern hellscape and stressed me out (and the characters in this hellscape weren’t even vaguely likable).
REVERSE COMPLIMENT SANDWICH: I did appreciate the representation of anxiety and disability, and I smiled/laughed a couple times here and there, because Pargin is naturally and effortlessly hilarious. Now back to the insults?
I found there was a lot of potential in making the main character a hateful, paranoid, chronically online incel who the reader despises, but I never felt like his arc was complete. He just ranted and raved the entire time and ended up with one female friend (who also rants and raves) by the end of the book. Is that supposed to teach us something? He never explicitly apologized or changed his worldview, and as far as I know, will continue ranting about women on his next Twitch stream.
Near the beginning I was thinking it would be a very impressive writing tactic to introduce this awful of a character and then make me understand and like him - so I was looking forward to that as well - but nope, he stayed awful and I never liked him for a second. It doesn’t help that he is paired with the most annoying character I can remember encountering in recent history. Whenever they had a conversation with each other I wanted to jump out the window.
I am glad, unfortunately, that our road trip is now over, and I never have to see either of them again.

PS - I think I went into this with the wrong expectations, and that severely impacted my enjoyment of the book. If you are looking for a weird, humorous adventure with obvious commentary and themes of technology dooming mankind, this may be just the book for you. I don’t understand Abbott, but I DO understand how others have enjoyed this book, and why it has such high ratings.

PPS- if this was your first book from this author and you hated it, PLEASE give the others a chance; I am obviously a harsh critic at times but thoroughly love John Dies at the End. This one is far different from that series and Zoey Ashe, which I also enjoyed. show less

A Lyft driver agrees to drive a mysterious woman with a mysterious box from California to just outside of DC in time for July 4. For understandable reasons, a subset of the internet generates conspiracy theories about it; a retired FBI agent is also concerned; and also it turns out there’s an ex-con after them, willing to do substantial harm to get the box. It’s all Pargin’s unique combination of not-quite-satire and “barely plausible absurd thing happens,” and I enjoyed it despite being the kind of always-online person he suggests is likely in deep trouble.