I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin was the 199th official Sword and Laser Book Club selection.
Reading Period: January 1, 2026 to January 31, 2026
How/Why was this book chosen: Tom chose it because he heard Jason Pargin do an interview on the Political Orphanage Podcast about internet addiction and algorithms
And of course he talked about his latest novel, "I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom" which is a description of the plot but also a description of our current relationship to tech.
Goodreads Group Discussion of I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom
I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by 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.