9/24/24; 400 pages
St. Martin's
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 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.
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