Ben Jones, protagonist of the glowingly reviewed Never-Open Desert Diner, returns in a devastatingly powerful literary crime novel about parenthood, loss, and the desert in winter. Winter has come to Highway 117, a remote road through the Utah desert trafficked only by oddballs, fugitives, and those looking to escape the world. So when local truck driver Ben Jones finds an abandoned, mute Hispanic child at a lonely gas station along his route, far from any semblance of proper civilization, he knows something has gone terribly awry. With the help of his eccentric neighbors, Ben sets out to help the kid and learn the truth. In the process he makes new friends and loses old ones, finds himself in mortal danger, and uncovers buried secrets far more painful than he could have imagined. Author bio: James Anderson was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He is a graduate of Reed College and received his MFA in creative writing from Pine Manor College. His first novel was The Never-Open Desert Diner. His short fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews have appeared in many magazines, including The Bloomsbury Review, New Letters, Solstice, Northwest Review, Southern Humanities Review, and others, and he previously served as the publisher and editor in chief of Breitenbush Books. He currently divides his time between Colorado and Oregon.
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“Anderson offers intrigue, suspense, a few good fist fights, and some Mormon quips that would give Joseph Smith himself a hearty chuckle. But it is his underlying thread about the human need to hide and to be found…This book is absolutely worth your time.”
— Desert News
“Anderson rewards…with deadly adventure and the most poetic prose this side of Salt Lake City.”
— New York Times Book Review“In a genre saturated with tough-talking heroes in New York and LA, a vulnerable character like Ben Jones in a setting like the Utah desert is a welcome addition to the shelf of any reader looking for an exceptional mystery read.”
— Mystery TribuneBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
James Anderson grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He is a graduate of Reed College, and received his MFA in creative writing from Pine Manor College. His short fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews have appeared in many magazines, and he previously served as the publisher and editor-in-chief of Breitenbush Books. The Never-Open Desert Diner is his first novel.
Graham Winton is a television, film, and voice actor who has won the Audie Award for Best Narration. He has appeared on such television shows as Blue Bloods, Law & Order, All My Children, and As the World Turns.