The Never-Open Desert Diner can best be described as Noir fiction in the vein of stories like The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca to name but two. For those of you that are not quite sure what this means here is a definition: A genre of crime film or fiction characterized by cynicism, fatalism, and moral ambiguity. Yep this novel has them all. Ben Jones scrapes out a living as he traverses a short, desolate stretch of Utah Highway 117 making deliveries to a cadre of citizenry living for the most part under the radar and no cell phone service. The highlight being stops at The Never Open Desert Diner - or is it? Who are these people? What is their story? What happens to Ben? I really, really enjoyed this book. It is very atmospheric in its portrayal of the desert. The characterizations felt honest. I cared about what happened to Ben and disliked his nemesis. I hope you will give this one a try. You won’t regret it. -Amy O.