★I’m Starting To Worry About This Black Box of Doom. Jason Pargin. St. Martin’s. Sept. 2024. 400p. ISBN 9781250285959. $30. THRILLER

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.