Malort (Richard Little): Bitter Pursuer in I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom

Overview

Malort, whose legal name is Richard Little, is a 275‑pound, bald, heavily tattooed biker with mirrored sunglasses. His nickname comes from a tattoo of a Jeppson’s Malört bottle on his bicep—the famously bitter Chicago liquor. Introduced as a secondary antagonist, Malort is driven by a single obsession: reclaiming a black road case he believes holds the only tangible remains of his late friend Sundae Greene. His relentless cross‑country pursuit of Abbott Coburn and Ether creates much of the novel’s tension, but his tragic backstory gradually recasts him as a broken man whose loyalty has become a painful burden.

Plot Role

Malort enters the story in Chapter 1, investigating a burned desert shack on Phil Greene’s property and discovering a secret tunnel. He is the first to realize the box has been taken. For most of the novel, he acts as a pursuer—tracking the white Navigator via an AirTag hidden in the box, confronting Abbott and Ether at a Flagstaff Circle K (Chapter 7), and later surviving a fire at Sokolov’s mansion (Chapter 28). Though initially framed as an antagonist, his grief and sense of injustice make him a complex figure. He is both a threat and a victim of the same forces that propel the main characters.

Motivations and Traits

Malort’s primary motivation is grief. He lost Sundae to cancer while he was in prison, and he cannot let go of the mementos—her photo albums, skin‑magazine portfolios, his own letters to her—sealed in the box by her father Phil. He believes Sokolov stole these items out of spite. Beyond possessiveness, Malort acts from a sense of cosmic injustice: Sundae deserved the fortune, not Sock. He is impulsive, physically intimidating, and quick to violence, but he also shows a strange code. In Chapter 7 he refrains from shooting a child wielding an AR‑15, and in Chapter 14 he admits the box’s value is “more about principle” than money. He perceives modern society as soft and inauthentic, calling Abbott a “pod person” who lacks a real sense of consequence.

Chronological Arc

Malort’s arc begins when he discovers Phil Greene’s body and realizes the box is missing. He leaves a threatening voicemail for Sokolov and begins a desperate road trip. Tracking the box via its AirTag, he buys a Buick Grand National from a tweaker and drives from California toward the East Coast. In Flagstaff he nearly kills Abbott but misses. He later reaches Sokolov’s mansion just as it is being burned to conceal the box, suffering severe burns. In the aftermath he steals Joan Key’s rental car and continues to pursue Sock, comparing himself to a freight train that cannot stop. By Chapter 28, with sirens approaching and his injuries mounting, he realizes he has “lost Sundae for the second time.” The narrative leaves his fate ambiguous, but his journey as a wounded man clinging to a relic of the past is complete.

Relationships

• Sundae Greene: The emotional center of Malort’s life. He and Sock both fell in love with her when she worked at their titty bar, but Sundae chose Sock. Malort was always “like a brother.” He kept every magazine and video she appeared in, and she regularly visited him in prison. Her death from cancer while he was incarcerated is the defining trauma that sets his quest in motion.

• Gary “Sock” Sokolov: Once a close friend and partner in crime, Sock became a rival after winning a Bitcoin fortune in 2012. Malort resents Sock’s abandonment of Sundae and his transformation into a public figure who “wanted to decide what kind of world it was going to be.” The pursuit of the box is as much about confronting Sock as it is about recovering Sundae’s belongings.

• Abbott Coburn: Malort sees Abbott as a symbol of everything wrong with modern manhood—pale, medicated, unable to meet his eyes. He nearly kills him during their first confrontation and later dismisses him as a “pod person.” This animosity reflects Malort’s broader disgust with a world he no longer recognizes.

• Joan Key: He briefly steals her car after the mansion fire, but otherwise has minimal direct interaction. Key treats him as a tragic figure when she learns his backstory.

Key Decisions and Consequences

1. Ransacking Phil’s compound hastily – Instead of searching the escape shack thoroughly, Malort leaves the box behind, allowing it to fall into Sock’s hands. This single impulsive choice drives the entire plot.
2. Tracking via AirTag – He uses the tag Phil (or Sundae) hid in the box to follow the Navigator. This gives him a persistent advantage but also leads him into ever‑more‑dangerous situations.
3. Engaging Abbott at the Circle K – His attempt to reclaim the box results in a missed shot and a police standoff. This escalates the online frenzy and solidifies Abbott’s role as public enemy.
4. Pursuing Sock to the mansion – He arrives only to be burned in the fire set to conceal the box. This nearly kills him and leaves him without transportation, forcing him to steal Key’s car.
5. Continuing the chase despite injuries – His refusal to stop illustrates both his loyalty and his self‑destructive stubbornness.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Malort embodies several of the novel’s central themes:

• Social atomization and isolation – He is utterly alone after Sundae’s death, with no family or close friends. His only community is a memory.
• The search for meaning in a cynical age – The black box becomes a grail that gives his life purpose. Without it, he is adrift.
• Revenge, bitterness, and the cost of grudges – His hatred for Sock consumes him and ultimately leads to more loss.
• Online radicalization and hive‑mind misinformation – Malort is a foil to the internet mob; he acts offline, yet his story is co‑opted by conspiracy theorists who paint him as a hero or villain.

His name itself—Malört, the bitter liquor—serves as an apt symbol: tough to swallow, but memorable and honest in its ugliness.

Malort: Questions and Answers

For a broader look at the novel, return to the main book page, or explore our ending explained and questions and answers sections.