Ben Jones drives a truck down a long stretch of nearly abandoned highway through the Utah desert, making deliveries to people who, for one reason or another, prefer to be left alone. When he meets Claire, he finds he’s drawn to her, not really caring what she’s running from, and she’s obviously running from something. As the mystery unfolds, it seems to all be connected to what has become known as The Never-Open Desert Diner, and something that occurred there years before. But Ben doesn’t realize just how deep he’s gotten himself, and how he, and those few he cares for, could be hurt.
This is James Anderson’s debut novel. With the exception of a few transitions that felt abrupt, or a little confusing, the novel is very well-written. It’s definitely more literary than entertaining. It starts off slow, and I may have stopped reading had this not been a book I was reading for review. However, once I was about one third of the way in, the story finally grabbed me. I think the problem, for me, is that there doesn’t seem to be a clear plot at the beginning. It’s not until the last half of the novel that everything starts to fall into place, and you realize that everything had a purpose.
I think the saving grace of this novel is the character of Ben Jones. I really cared what happened to him.
For my Christian followers, this book may not be for you. There is lots of cursing, a mild sex scene, and some crude humor.
1) Overall Plot = 3.5
2) Characters = 4
3) Flow/Pace of the story = 3.5
4) Is the story easy to follow? = 4.5
5) Overall Enjoyability = 3.5
Average of score 3.8 out of 5
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Blogging For Books in return for an honest review.
Jess Boudreaux 