Skip to main content

Review: The Never-Open Desert Diner by James Anderson



Review: The Never-Open Desert Diner
James Anderson
Crown Publishers
2015

If you haven’t read this one, I think you are missing a good book.  Feels like a flashback to an earlier time when reading was enjoyable, the story absorbing, tender but authentic, and well spun.  The title says much more than I first thought.  Lots of other things are not open in this desert.  Doors are locked and behind them the pasts that hold people in the desert.  
 
The dust cover front leaf says, “The Never Open Desert Diner powerfully evokes an unforgettable setting and introduces readers to a cast of characters who will linger long after the last page.”  Generally, these descriptions go overboard, but this one describes what I found in this book.  Ben Jones and Walt will remain with me for a long time.  They might be archetype characters.  The author does have an MFA after all and has done some editor type work.  He probably knows a little about that sort of thing.  Whatever or whoever they are, the reader becomes involved immediately with them.

A brief synopsis of the story line is that Ben Jones stumbles across an archway in the desert that he’d not seen in his 20 some years of delivery truck driving this route.  He decides to check it out since he needs to answer the call of nature anyway.  He discovers a house behind the arch that he assumes is deserted.  It isn’t and the story goes from there.  The scene where he meets the resident of the house is laugh out loud humor.  This book has plenty of wit, humor, danger, and pathos.  The bad guys are really despicable, too.  All that teamed with the cast of characters mentioned above make for a good read and it is.  Find a copy and see what you think.   

It’s the most satisfying fiction read I have run across in quite a while.  Action, dialogue, story all worked for me. Good work, James Anderson.

I received this book from the publishers in return for a review.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: When God’s Ways Make No Sense by Dr. Larry Crabb

Review: When God’s Ways Make No Sense Dr. Larry Crabb Baker Books 2018 I chose this book because the title intrigued me.   When God’s Ways Make No Sense.    There have been plenty of times when that seemed truer than I’d like to admit.   Are we even allowed to say something like that?   Even if we think it.   So, an author willing to take on that topic had my attention. And mostly because I wanted his take on what to do about it? As it turns out Crabb pretty much gave away his case very early on in his book with a single scripture quote.   The basic idea is God is GOD and we are not.   His motives and actions are incomprehensible to mankind and He owes no explanation for them either.   Crabb admits near the end of his book that he is not a theologian which I knew going into this book, but his arguments are theology.   Or at least I think so.   I found his repeated circling the topic a bit frustrating. ...

Buntings and Books

Time to blog says the calendar. So OK let's blog. What about? Oil spills? Court nominees? Euro problems? Weather? The last one is the easiest to go with it looks like. Cold and windy again. What is this about? Not more than a week ago it looked like summer. Even needed fans to cool the place. Well, the fans are off now. Nature has provided some pre-cooled forced air for a few days now, complete with humidity adjustments ie rain. Keeps the ground cold and the urge to garden at bay. Protection for those of us who aren't in the best physical condition. The weather has the birds on the feeder more often and that included a new one in the area. We've decided to call it an indigo bunting. Matches the picture in the book so that's got to be who he is. Pretty little guy, all decked out in his breeding plumage. Haven't seen those colors since the last peacock came around. Just read that cowbirds like to use them to raise their chicks. Yet another reason t...

Review: A Hole in Our Gospel

The Hole in Our Gospel Richard Stearns Thomas Nelson 2010 Disturbing is the best word I know of for this book. There are already hundreds of reviews for this book in its hardbound version and now the soft cover release invites more. The paperback added color photos and a study guide to the text. So for my money that is a plus. Why did I decide to call the book disturbing? I could have called it challenging just as easily but challenging is easier to dismiss. Disturbing gets into your soul and is much harder to root out. If that’s what you want to do after you read this book. Mr. Stearns tells his story to the reader while motivating that person to consider what action the reader could take to join in the world wide efforts of World Vision or another similar organization. For those that believe there’s more to Christianity than staring at the back of someone’s head for an hour on Sunday morning this is a great place to start a quest for whatever that something more might be. On...