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A review by mechee91
The Never-Open Desert Diner by James Anderson
4.0
Starting out at a slightly slow clip, The Never-Open Desert Diner is a clever story about the lives of the people who choose to live away from modern life. Their link to the outside world is Ben Jones. As a narrator, Ben is clever and observant. As a protagonist, he seems to be lacking. While the perfect protag is often just as annoying and often borders a “Mary-Sue,” Ben has a tendency to go when he should stop and stop when he should keep moving. This make him frustrating but not horribly so. (Besides the peeing on houses, and peeping at naked cello players.) The internal conflict of trying to be a good man and yet, having some sort of hero complex leading him to try and defend Claire, our mystery woman can confuse the reader but I think it shows a human side to this literary character.
I wouldn’t really consider this a mystery novel, so much as I would call it a humanity piece. I really felt like the characters were whole, each with a backstory that understandably brought them out to that stretch of desert. I would recommend this to people looking for something a little different but very well written. You might not like the ending but like life, some stories end in unexpected ways. With a diverse cast of characters, and a worthwhile 295 pages, The Never-Open Desert Diner, is luckily getting a second push from Crowne Publishing and I have to thank Blogging For Books for getting this one out to me to review.
I wouldn’t really consider this a mystery novel, so much as I would call it a humanity piece. I really felt like the characters were whole, each with a backstory that understandably brought them out to that stretch of desert. I would recommend this to people looking for something a little different but very well written. You might not like the ending but like life, some stories end in unexpected ways. With a diverse cast of characters, and a worthwhile 295 pages, The Never-Open Desert Diner, is luckily getting a second push from Crowne Publishing and I have to thank Blogging For Books for getting this one out to me to review.