As a longtime reader of Jason Pargin's (and formerly David Wong's materials) both on Cracked and John Dies at the End novels, I was excited for another standalone novel. As an internet writer, Mr. Pargin's been astute at keeping up with the internet zeitgeist, creating numerous on point commentaries on Tik Tok and you see a lot of those same themes from his Tik Tok in this novel.

The premise begins as advertised about the protagonist encountering a strange woman who offers him 200k in cash (100k now and another when they arrive) to drive her cross country from Southern California to Washington D.C. As part of the bargain, he has to ditch his cell phone and all tracking devices and also transport this black box accompanying her and he cannot open or ask her what's in the box. What appears to be a potential Bonnie and Clyde adventure soon unfolds in a unique manner told through a variety of related and peripheral characters. Abbott Coburn, the main character isn't the most sympathetic nor is he sadly a rare archetype in 2024 either. Early twenties, lives at home, has no sable job prospects or income, and otherwise streams himself playing video games and reviewing fast food to his online community. The story unfolds through the introduction of other characters along with snippets of the vast conspiracies that unfold online as snippts pick up from his adventure online.

Told from the third person perspective with a variety of related characters that we're slowly introduced to along the way, there's a lot of jam packed commentary from the characters, particularly the female character who makes the offer, Ether, that seems to be a mouthpiece for many of Mr. Pargin's Tik Toks. At times it appears Mr. Pargin's speaking to Abbott through Ether with her rants with Abbott serving as a sort of proxy for many isolated young males living only online today. .We also meet Abbott's father, Hunter, a workaholic roofer who owns his own company. Joan Key, a retired FBI agent who follows Abbott and Ether. Malort, an ex-biker chasing the box, and more. Nonetheless, the adventure plays out with the aforementioned colorful characters and ends a uniquely satisfying way that I won't endeavor to spoil any further. If you're a fan of any of Jason Pargin's works, humor novels, adventure, or a story that's keenly attuned to American attitudes in 2024, I highly recommend this novel.

This book was quite the roller coaster. A biting social commentary on the social media age while at the same time entertaining and fun. It is a quick read and quite the zany adventure. Multiple POVs were done well but the author definitely had a point or two to make, all of which are true.
This was my first book by Jason Pargin and I'll definitely look up his other books. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom is a new novel from Jason Pargin that is outside of the John/Dave and Zoey universes. The story focuses on Abbot and Ether as they transport a black box across the country. Who are these people? What are their intentions? And what is inside that black box? A satirical take on the power of social media disinformation where nothing and everything is simultaneously true. Schrödinger would approve. 4/5 stars

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

When Abbott Coburn accepts a trip for Lyft, he finds himself at Los Angeles International Airport. His passenger, Ether, seated on a large black box, insists the box must be in Washington, D.C. in four days . . . and won’t he drive her there with the box?

Abbott is understandably reluctant, but she offers two hundred thousand dollars . . . and how could Abbott possibly refuse, even if she won’t allow him to ask any questions?

But what makes the box so important? And, oh my goodness, WHAT IS IN THE BOX?

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Filled with complicated, very human, and sometimes unlikable characters, the telling of this dark tale imparts is message concerning social media, internet trolls, and mob mentality. At times the narrative is extremely political; Abbott is given to rants and diatribes that can be frustrating for the reader. Filled with both anxiety and hilarity, crux of the narrative is the control social media holds over peoples’ lives.

Readers will find much to consider as the story plays out . . . much more than the simple [?] transport of a woman and a box across the country. At times, it closely resembles a comedy of errors; other times, the story is thought-provoking and spot-on in its observations.

Recommended, especially for readers who enjoy Jason Pargin’s writings.

I received a free copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
#ImStartingToWorryAboutThisBlackBoxOfDoom #NetGalley

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.

I liked this book a lot. It is definitely a departure from his other books. It is a comedy and crazy stuff happens but the zany things that normally happens weren't there. I'd say it's his most "normal" book so far. Four stars. It is my least favorite of his but I do enjoy his ridiculous zaniness present in his other work. Definitely worth a read especially of you're a Pargin fan.

The premise of this book was so promising, but I couldn't seem to get into it. Abbott is unlikeable and a hard character to root for. I found myself struggling to stick with this one, despite wanting to know what everyone wanted with the box.

Hard not to compare this to John Dies at the End, but I think to enjoy this it has to be held in a different regard. Put his previous works out of your head, and this is a fun thriller/satirical note on our weird tech and connection obsessed world. Flawed in a lot of ways (weird mid story choices, in my opinion) with some stuff that's hard to swallow when you're not expecting it (suicidality, for one). A solid 4 star read.

Somehow this book is typical Jason Pargin and yet not at all. The humor throughout is ridiculous and pure gold, but this was also a story that made me feel uncomfortable. Uncomfortable in a way that hit too close to home on the realities of being too connected to our social media, smart tech world. It was definitely an unexpected ride!

The premise of the book is undeniably compelling. The author is a masterful explainer of the intricacies of modern living - check out his Instagram/TikTok page for a taste of what I mean. I have followed him since he was back at Cracked.com and make it a point to listen to podcasts he is interviewed on because he always has a fresh perspective on things. His other books are genuinely unique in their storytelling and invention and he has a keen eye for believable character motivation.

That being said, I don't think the payoff quite rises to the level of the set-up. Part of the issue I feel comes from telling the story from the perspective of so many different characters, while remaining in third-person narration. We never get enough of many of the characters to really get a grasp on how their perspectives differ or why we are seeing it from their perspective instead of just telling the story through straight third-person. It is a bit confusing as a framing device - especially in a macguffin style mystery - because we need to constantly be keeping track of what information each character knows and tracking their actions in relation to those facts.

It is super interesting how he tackles the zeitgeist in relation to the intersection of social media, news, internet infamy, and misogyny. I applaud him for his insights on the big questions of our moment in history, however it is difficult to truly separate the characters from the author creating them. They end up thinking and talking in ways that seem centrally controlled and conceived, instead of out of the improvisation of life. In his other books where the narrative and perspective is less fragmented between characters, the unmistakable voice of the author is better obscured or at least more attributable to the singular protagonists.

ok so… i loved most of this book HOWEVER during the mid 200 pages it had a weird habit of breaking off into long ramble rants about society, capitalism, etc that kind of took me out of the book. also like this book is the most gen z thing rive ever read, like bitcoin, furry porn, and buc-ees all make an appearance (seriously). nitpicking aside, i was very impressed how well the 6+ povs were managed, and thought most of the book was lots of fun, especially the climax "fight". solid 3/5

When you previously had a stellar experience with an author’s work, you’re naturally going to compare everything else he writes with that initial book, or in this case, books. I’m a big fan of the “John Dies at the End” series, or JDATE, for short. As I read each of those I went on an adventure with well crafted characters I cared about and found myself astounded by the brilliant twists and turns of the story. I also appreciated the laugh out loud humor throughout.

This one was….very different. I hate to give Pargin a bad rating in general, but I just didn't enjoy this book and had a hard time even finishing it. (More on that, later.) So I have to be honest. The basic concept is interesting and sounds like a fun, wild ride, but instead the story was just stressful, too steeped in political ranting and populated by characters that were nearly impossible to like. (*I don't hide from politics in art, but I generally don't seek them out when I'm trying to decompress or be entertained, is what I'm saying!)

I'm going to try to keep this part short, but my biggest problem was the main character, Abbott. I think he's meant to be the primary protagonist, but he's actual garbage. A woman-hating Incel, (*the book's word, not mine*), a lot of his dialogue consists of long, volatile diatribes. It’s very difficult to go along on this journey with him. It's a very different experience than JDATE, where the characters have flaws for sure but they’re still worth rooting for in the end. In those books the characters are self-proclaimed assholes, but at times they can be assholes with hearts of gold despite themselves. Abbott is insufferable. It got to a point where whenever I saw that he had an entire paragraph of dialogue, I skipped over it. Do I do this often with books? Hardly ever. His partner for the roadtrip, a girl named Ether, was also sometimes working my last nerve but I think she was designed that way. And she at least had redeeming qualities. (But oh boy, was she chatty!)

There are moments in their journey when, despite his personality and extreme anxiety, Abbott just can’t HELP but assist strangers, including women. I was not buying it. Especially since this was sandwiched around the scenes of Abbott in the car spewing hateful rhetoric at Ether for pages worth of dialogue. He wasn’t learning to be a better person, and there was not a better person lurking somewhere underneath. As I stated before with JDATE, the author absolutely knows how to write layered characters though. What was the point of Abbott? He wasn't funny or charming. The anxiety was relatable at first, but he lost me with the whining. Did I buy the possibility that he was even capable of a character arc? Sadly, no. Maybe I'm being too harsh and unforgiving. Wicked sad, I hate that for me.

The read eventually became tedious. If Abbott wasn’t ranting about everything being awful then Ether was going on and on for pages about nonsense that I didn’t care about. I wasn’t invested in a single one of these people. The only character that I kind of liked and found to be interesting was Key, the ex FBI agent, and in the end another character that I can't elaborate on because it's kind of a spoiler. I’ll be completely honest: I skimmed through the last 20% just to see how the story ended. I didn’t want to completely DNF it, (okay, I did), but I figured I should at least see the resolution. I was left with an empty feeling.

What did Pargin do well here? Good mock-ups of Reddit posts, usernames, etc. (A Hellscape, basically.) Although, I think that adding typos to the posts would have made them even more realistic. Abbott is a Twitch streamer and my personal experience as a participant in the chat rooms on that app is very different from the one depicted in this book, but I also mainly watch content creators who are funny, creative and amazing and most of them are also part of the LGBTQA+ community so that makes a big difference. Pargin did a decent job of portraying the frightening mob mentality of humanity. This is a very political book. It's about the stupidity of internet trolls, about letting negativity and fear (and pessimistic media) control your life. Oddly enough, it's also about how you can never fully tell who the good guys and the bad guys are just by their appearance. I liked that one. (I’m sorry to keep harping on this, but I think Abbott was the worst character even at the end of the book and so were his followers.)

I still think Pargin is very creative and has a great sense of humor, but personally I recommend reading the JDATE books.

Biggest TW: Suicide, Substance abuse, Domestic terrorism, Incel ranting, Sexism, Mention of animal harm, Mention of child harm

OH MY GOODNESS but I LOVED this book!! I have had "John Dies at the End" on my TBR list for years, yet somehow it always seems to sit on the shelf. No more. Now that I know the wonder that is the snark of David Wong/Jason Pargin, I'm immediately going in search of John, then Zoey, then anything else he's written...

This man gets it.

I'm so over social media and the whinging and whining and over-analyzing that surrounds it, yet I can't seem to avoid it. Pargin has taken on the topic of the madness that is online rage and grievance and absolutely nailed the challenges, problems, and idiocies associated with it - and he's done it in an entirely engaging, entertaining, hilarious way that drops pearls of insight on every other page but without ever losing sight of the main objective of the book: to tell a hilarious journey-adventure story.

I loved absolutely everything about this one. The pacing, the characters, the language - it's all spot-on perfect for the tale he's trying to tell. It doesn't hurt that I, too, am a Gen Xer who seems to relate intrinsically to the type of story he is telling. I share many of his character's inherent concerns/biases/confusion about certain aspects of the modern world, such that the way he crafted his fictional world resonated with me on so many levels.

This was a hilarious, dark, scary and spot-on look at the way the internet has opened up so many potential caverns under the feet of the unwary (which, unfortunately, seems to be most of us in the end). It was an incredibly fun read and I can't say enough good things!

This book takes so many twists and turns it was a wild ride. It starts with the simple task of transporting a box and then the wild journey continues. This book is the perfect example of how a simple concept can be so entertaining. I highly recommend this book because of the wild ride it takes you and the twist and turns that occur.

"I'm Starting to Worry about this Black Box of Doom" by Jason Pargin offers a darkly humorous take on modern America's age of anxiety through a thrilling road trip narrative. In this standalone novel, a driver outside Los Angeles encounters a young woman with a mysterious black box. She offers him $200,000 to transport her and the box to Washington, DC, under strict conditions: no looking inside the box, no questions, no telling anyone, and they must leave immediately without any trackable devices.

As they journey across the country, speculation swirls on social media that the box is central to a terror plot aimed at destabilizing the nation. Pargin expertly mixes suspense with dark humor, crafting a story that is as engaging as it is reflective of societal fears and conspiracies. The plot thickens with each chapter, building to a revelation that challenges the reader's perception of reality. This novel is a clever, satirical look at trust, truth, and the power of secrecy in a hyper-connected world.

Spoiler free review

So, this nook is a hard one to review... I enjoyed it enough to finish it. However, I felt it was lacking.. something. The characters didn't have much growth or depth to them. The plot was good, a little slow at times.

I would recommend this book to my followers because I know there are people who will thoroughly enjoy this novel.

The cover is BEAUTIFUL!

Thank you net galley for the arc in exchange for a honest review.

I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin may be the weirdest book I've ever reviewed. And thats saying something! I received this book early from Net Galley and the publisher. I just finished reading it and as always, here are my thoughts on the book as spoiler free as possible.

This book, I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom, is about a young woman who gets a young man driving for Lyft to take her across the country to Washington D.C. by giving him a bunch of money. She has with her a big black box. He can't ask whats in the box and no she won't open it either. And off they go on the wildest road trip ever! Yes, wilder than Thema and Louise.

And thats all I'll tell about the story. The road trip is head spinning though, with so many bizarre things happening. Sometimes its funny, sometimes its just plain weird. Its also a very thought-provoking book. It has a message and its not subtle about it at all. Some will agree with what the book is trying to say and others might think its being a little too heavy handed. The book will make you think and it'll keep you very entertained.

This is a really good book. Once the story gets fully into the road trip, you won't want to put it down. Things get especially insane near the end of the book.

Jason Pargin does a great job developing the characters along with all of the insanity. I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom would make a really great, crazy movie!

I liked this book a lot overall. I think if you want something weird and totally different, with a lot of heart and a bit of humor, then you need to read this book.

I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom comes out on September 24th, 2024. Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy of this book for review.

First, as always, a HUGE thanks to Jason Pargin, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review (as if I'd give anything but).

Being a fan of Jason Pargin, it was a no brainer that I wanted to get my hands on this one as soon as I could - especially since it's a stand-alone novel; and it didn't disappoint.

In “I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom”, Jason forgoes his usual cosmic horror and sci-fi, and wrote a terrifyingly real story about how social media controls our lives. Bear in mind that while there isn't a boogeyman, or demon, or limbs getting hacked off, or any of the other things one might associate with horror, this book has that psychological horror that can only come from the realism of "Damn, I could actually see that happening."

Of course, Jason's rapier wit, as well as his stellar story-telling ability, shines like it always does - although it is much more subdued than in his previous stories.

On the surface, it's a story of a boy driving for a ride-share, and picks up this strange woman with a box that wants him to drive to Washington DC for specific delivery by the Fourth of July. Abbot (the boy) is way outside his comfort zone, but is constantly convinced to take an additional step by this woman. In the background, is everyone wondering what's in that damn box and why it's so important to get to their destination.

However, that's only - as I said - the surface. What lurks below is just how dangerous social media can become when "mob mentality" takes hold. It only took one post "suggesting" a bomb to make Abbot's cross-country trek a nightmare. But of course, in true Pargin fashion, we also have terrorism, explosions, references to real events, and aliens (sort of).

If you haven't read anything by Jason Pargin (aka David Wong), I can't recommend this book enough as a great starting point. In fact, I can actually see this book being used in a World History, or Psychology class sometime in the future - to study just what effects online interactions, social media, and mob-rule have/had on the population.

It's taken me some time to figure out how to summarize my thoughts about "I'm Starting to Worry about this Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin. On a small scale, the characters are well written and have interesting dialogue, but this book on the whole felt a little disorganized to me. New characters are introduced constantly, and we see a lot of different perspectives, without spending enough time with characters to really get to know them. I spent a lot of this book unclear on what was going on, who I should be rooting for, and where this story was going.

Even after finishing the book, I don't understand what it was trying to say, because it shopped around for quippy things to say about a lot of various topics: tech, social media, cryptocurrency, war, streaming, privacy, gender, and policing are a few examples. Some parts made me feel like this is a person writing witty retorts to win fake arguments and competitions that he was never in.

There were several scenes that seemed to be in essence saying "by the way, the cops are allowed to take all your money/other terrible things that cops are in fact allowed to do" but it doesn't even feel like it was done to educate the reader, more like the author is proving he knows something. The former FBI agent character monologuing in her head about how people should know their rights is an interesting approach to tell the reader something. Not sure I loved it or felt convinced that this was a real true character trait, but I found it intriguing.

It felt like things kept coming up out of left field so that the author could make sure we know where he stands on a topic, and how he feels about the people who support it. For example, one of Hunter's coworkers saying "I just watched a tiktok about it, but I wasn't giving it my full attention, as I was driving and eating at the same time" tells me everything I need to know about Pargin's thoughts on the app, and didn't give the story much. These are not even necessarily opinions I disagree with! It just felt like the story was packed with signals of political and social things.

Hunter also makes a comment early on about hoping his son doesn't get a contact high from fentanyl and die—which is not possible. I took a note when this happened, and was pleasantly surprised to see the author address this point in the acknowledgements section at the end of the book. Those kinds of notes help me better understand where an author is coming from with their writing.

This book reminded me of the experience I had reading Ready Player One- the humor and approach seems similarly millennial, in a way? I didn't hate reading it by any means and was intrigued by what was going to finally be in the box, but I found my interest flagged a little towards the last third of the book. Overall it just wasn't the right read for me, but I think there are readers who will really connect with this book.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for access to an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Pargin takes the maxim “It’s funny because it's true,” and pushes it to “It’s absurd because it's true.” This is the book we didn’t know we needed to serve as an interpreter of the current reality: a thrilling road-trip tale that both exposes and extols the modern-day golem of digital culture. The hapless, Type-B Abbott is the perfect dupe for a mysterious damsel in distress who enlists him in a cross-country quest that will challenge his hermetic tendencies and ingrained lack of social intelligence. Throw in some outlandish characters, madcap situations, misunderstandings, and mortal peril - and nonstop hilarity ensues. The familiar tropes borrowed from the classic pilgrimage story allow the characters a forum to philosophize in dramatized versions of internal debates. These diatribes might have become exasperating if they weren’t so astute, inventive, and mercilessly entertaining. Do yourself a favor – grab a copy of Pargin’s latest, strap yourself in, and join his mind-opening, wild ride.