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

A Novel

By: Jason Pargin

Narrated by: Ari Fliakos

A standalone darkly humorous thriller set in modern America's age of anxiety, by New York Times bestselling author Jason Pargin.

Outside Los Angeles, a driver pulls up to find a young woman sitting on a large black box. She offers him $200,000 cash to transport her and that box across the country, to Washington, DC.

But there are rules:

He cannot look inside the box.

He cannot ask questions.

He cannot tell anyone.

They must leave immediately.

He must leave all trackable devices behind.

As these eccentric misfits hit the road, rumors spread on social media that the box is part of a carefully orchestrated terror attack intended to plunge the USA into civil war.

The truth promises to be even stranger, and may change how you see the world.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

©2024 Jason Pargin (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Strident and timely, the dark humor of this wild standalone adventure from Pargin evokes satirists like Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Adams for a new age... It’s a raucous roller-coaster ride."—Publisher's Weekly

"A road trip through America that is equal parts hilarious and terrifying. Jason understands humanity better than most, and it’s inspiring that his diagnosis is ultimately optimistic."—Daniel O'Brien, Senior Writer, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

"I was hooked from the first page. If I'm honest, from the first sentence or two. Jason has a rare gift for delivering High Weirdness coated in a sticky layer of real life, deeply relatable shit that forces you to see yourself in whatever weirdo or maniac he introduces. It's a rare gift, but he's got a lot of those. You should read this book."—Robert Evans, Host of Behind the Bastards

Good writing, interesting take, disappointed with ending for me at least

I'm a huge fan of The John Dies series and I've expected a certain bit of cosmic horror from this offer along with dark humor or strange viewpoint. The writing is good but it's a bit mundane for my taste, if you're looking for a psychological thriller with mundane problems and the effect of overall socal panic then this is a good book.

Best read in years

This is a masterpiece. Endlessly engaging, mercilessly satirical, and really thought-provoking. Wonderfully quirky and diverse cast of characters, too. Oh, and it did change how I look at the world.

btw, wish every character switch in the audio book was coded as its own chapter.

Beautifully, Wonderfully Human

Pargin's deep understanding of the human condition has shone through his work since the Cracked days, and this book is the ultimate expression of that. It can be dark and cynical, but also empathetic and optimistic, it captures the breadth and depth of mankind in the digital age better than most media.

I firmly believe this book and the Zoey Ashe series should be required reading for people growing up in the internet age. I came away richer for the experience, and I can't praise it highly enough!

If you like Chuck Palahniuk - this will be your favorite Jason Pargin book!

I adore Jason Pargin in his own right, but I really feel like he fell down a Palahniuk type hole with this one, and it totally works. It’s not as dystopian, as Palahniuk, but that’s because that’s just not Jason Pargin, but his concept was def out of CPs world.

If you love EITHER of these authors you will love this book. There are basically no true good or evil characters, just characters being human in a weird situation. It’s a great examination of modern society and how far off the rails it has all gotten, based entirely on misunderstandings between humans.

If you weren’t sure about this one since it doesn’t belong to a series, I’m begging you to give it a read/listen

Side note - Ari Fliakos did an amazing job, taking on the strong character traits of a number of these characters is a lot of vocal switching, but he was convincing. He really helped solidify the image of all of these characters in my mind’s eye.

Best narration I've ever heard

This book is fantastic. Don't even read the blurb, just buy it. You won't regret it.