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

July 15, 2024
Strident and timely, the dark humor of this wild standalone adventure from Pargin (Zoe Is Too Drunk for This Dystopia) evokes satirists like Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Adams for a new age. Abbott Coburn, 26, is a product of his generation: his anxiety levels are through the roof; he finds solace online; and he feels disconnected from the father with whom he still lives. Then he has a chance encounter with an oddly dressed woman, Ether, who offers him a life-changing amount of money in exchange for driving her and her mysterious black box from California to Washington, D.C., in four days. The rules are simple: no phones or other devices, no questions about the box, and no looking inside. Their headlong flight is complicated by several pursuers: a mysterious, tattooed man; a retired FBI agent; and a wave of internet rumors represented by chat room messages interspersed throughout. The biggest impediment to success, however, is Abbott himself. The plot consists of a chaotic string of misadventures that feels even more out-there than Pargin’s typical fare, but ultimately leads to some harsh truths about life in the digital age and offers a surprising amount of hope for the future. It’s a raucous roller-coaster ride. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media Group.

Starred review from March 7, 2025

Pargin's (John Dies at the End) hilarious road-trip thriller is a delightful yet thoughtful satire of modern online and real-world anxieties. Lyft driver Abbott meets a mysterious woman named Ether, who hires him to drive her and a mysterious black box across the country. This job requires Abbott to surrender his credit cards, his smartphone, and his curiosity, as he is warned that he can never ask what's in the box. It turns out that many people are pursuing the box, including a scary-looking biker, an ex-FBI agent, and people on the internet who believe the box might contain a bomb, a human corpse, or even an alien corpse. Pargin forgoes cosmic weirdness, delivering a charming yet timely tale about how misinformation and paranoia spread like a virus. There are plenty of thrills, but the story's true impact stems from its quirky yet lovable characters, especially the unlikely hero Abbott, whose pathos and neuroses are perfectly portrayed by narrator Ari Fliakos. VERDICT A roller-coaster ride of a story, full of mystery and insight, recommended for fans of the author as well as Christopher Moore and Carl Hiaasen.--James Gardner

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