Review: Lullaby Road: A Novel by James Anderson

Review: Lullaby Road: A Novel

James Anderson

Crown

2018

I’d read The Never-Open Desert Diner from this author, and when I found this book I knew I had to read it too. This author has a way of constructing his stories that really works for me. Easy reading narrative, simple narrative, belies its power. I have not read any other I like better in quite a while. He can weave so many colors and patterns without losing a thread or the reader along the way.

Ben, a single, amiable, independent trucker with a bit of a past who lives in a Utah desert town, lets himself be talked into babysitting for a neighbor girl who is OK with him taking the baby with him while he makes his deliveries. She was desperate, and Ben couldn’t say no. Sounds a bit unusual, but they have the history that makes it work. Within a few minutes he also has gained two more passengers for the run, an abandoned child and a dog. Then things begin to happen. I didn’t want to put this down.

Anderson’s desert setting is never far from the reader’s mind. Constant references to its hostile yet beautiful presence permeate the book, and in some fashion that is nearly mystical oversees the entire book. It defines the characters as well. Mysterious, deadly, beautiful, complicated.

I liked this book and it will stick with me for quite a while. His bad guys are very bad, and the good guys are--- well they bloom when the time comes. I like those kinds of stories.

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

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