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 September 1, 2024

In "John Dies at the End" series author Pargin's stand-alone, driver Abbott Coburn thinks he is picking up a routine fare. Instead, his customer offers him a lucrative opportunity. A young woman named Ether needs a cross-country lift from California to Washington, DC, in order to deliver a package by July 4. Abbott could earn six figures for the drive, as long as he abandons his electronics, doesn't inquire about the mystery luggage, and tells no one. Abbott is usually a risk-averse person, but he accepts the offer, and the pair venture on a cross-country route leading to infamy. They are soon pursued by a tattooed thug while tracked and traced by law enforcement and an army of speculating internet sleuths. Pargin combines a funny take on the odd-couple road-trip premise with biting commentary on the dehumanizing effect of social media and the internet. Abbott and Ether are a mismatched pair who learn to understand each other more and more with each passing mile. VERDICT This novel is effective in innumerable ways, particularly with its attention to the generational gap and the emotional disconnection created by the internet. Pargin's deft combination of mystery and satire will appeal to the YA audience and to older readers.--Philip Zozzaro

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2024
A comical road trip that may end in mass destruction. Abbott Coburn drives his father's Lincoln Navigator for Lyft and spends his free time in online chat groups. A young woman named Ether asks him to take her and her black box from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., almost 3,000 miles out of his normal range. He wants to say no, but she doles out an incredible wad of cash to entice him. Money doesn't matter that much to Abbott, but Ether reads his mind well and is quite persuasive: "What you're about to do," she tells him, "this is every downtrodden schlub's dream come true." So off they go, but someone with a cellphone notices their cargo bearing a sticker that looks like a radiation symbol. No one knows what's in the box, by the way; Ether is delivering it for someone else. But soon the rumors are "all over Twitter. The cops found nuclear material at a gas station." Word spreads to internet chat groups that a dirty bomb will detonate in the nation's capital. The story bubbles over with quirky characters, like Tattoo Monster and a scary dude named Malort who chases Abbott and Ether because he wants the box. There's retired FBI agent Joan Key, whose colleague is a "boxy LEGO figure of a man who had probably looked like an FBI agent in his mother's ultrasound." A lot happens quickly: Chat rooms go nuts with gossip as the box progresses eastward. Along the way, Abbott and Ether are snagged into helping two women find a lost bunny named either Petey or Dumptruck, depending on which woman you talk to. But that's the least of the problems as the story builds to a screwball, action-packed climax. Meanwhile, Abbott and Ether have some great conversations. He says he learned how to shave from the internet instead of from his father, while she makes insightful observations about the nature of friendship. Wacky, thoughtful, and fun.

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