Lullaby Road

Ben Jones #2

by James Anderson

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.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary, Adult Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 16, 2018

About the author

James Anderson was born in Seattle, Washington and raised in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. He received his undergraduate degree in American Studies from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and his Masters Degree in Creative Writing from Pine Manor College in Boston Massachusetts.

Undergraduate thesis: Word-man/Poet: The Poetry and Poetics of Lew Welch
Masters thesis: The Never-Entered Kingdom: Beyond Linguistics in the Rendering of the Literary Child in Adult Fiction

His first publication in a national magazine, a poem entitled Running It Down, occurred at age nineteen, in Poetry Northwest. The poem was later anthologized. His poems, short fiction, essays, reviews and interviews have appeared in Northwest Review, New Letters, The Bloomsbury Review, Solstice Magazine and many others.

In 1974, while still an undergraduate, Anderson founded Breitenbush Books, a book publisher specializing in literature and general interest trade titles. From 1974 to 1991 Anderson served as publisher and executive editor. Breitenbush received many awards for its books, including three Western States Book Awards, juried by Robert Penn Warren, Elizabeth Hardwick, N. Scott Momaday, Jonathan Galassi, Jorie Graham, Denise Levertov, William Kittredge and others. Notable authors published include Mary Barnard, Bruce Berger, Clyde Rice, Naomi Shihab Nye, Michael Simms, William Greenway, John Stoltenberg, Sam Hamill and Gary Miranda.

From 1995 to 2002 Anderson co-produced documentary films, including Tara’s Daughters, narrated by Susan Sarandon. The film, which won Best Documentary at the New York Film Festival, chronicled the plight of Tibetan women refugees as carriers of Tibetan culture in the diaspora.

Reviews

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm between 4 and 4.5 stars.

Some books seem tailor-made for sequels. While you're reading them you get the sense that there's so much more to the story, and in some cases, the author leaves you hanging. But some books seem complete when you've finished them, and although you enjoyed spending time with the characters and found the story compelling, you'd never expect a sequel. (Of course, there are other times you dislike a book you couldn't imagine reading a follow-up, but that's another story.)

I really enjoyed reading James Anderson's The Never-Open Desert Diner (see my review) last year. The story of a trucker in the Utah desert whose solitary life is turned upside-down by the appearance of a mysterious woman was tremendously satisfying and even a little quirky, and I loved the characters Anderson created. But I was surprised to see that Anderson had written a sequel, Lullaby Road (not that it stopped me from grabbing it), because I thought Ben's story was told.

Boy, was I wrong.

Ben is still working as a trucker on Route 117, which most of the year is either affected by back-breaking heat or treacherous snow and ice. He's trying to pull his life back together to some semblance of normalcy after he was shaken to the core by tragedy. All he wants to do is make his deliveries, get paid, and survive.

One snowy morning, making his routine stop for diesel before getting underway on his route, the proprietor of the truck stop tells Ben someone left something for him. It's not just "something"—it's a small Hispanic child who refuses to speak, and the child is accompanied by an over-protective dog. A note is pinned to the child which says:

"Please Ben. Bad trouble. My son. Take him today. His name is Juan. Trust you only. Tell No One. Pedro."

Pedro was the tire man at the truck stop, but he seems to have disappeared. No one will give Ben answers; in fact, everyone from the truck stop has disappeared. He can't leave the child alone in the snow, but the last thing Ben needs is a child to worry about, especially one which appears to have a penchant to take off running in an instant. He needs to find Pedro, but he also needs to start his route before weather conditions get too treacherous.

That split-second decision changes everything for Ben. Everything seems out-of-sorts on his route, even the people and customers he knows all seem a bit different. And in the course of the next several days, he'll realize just how much danger is around him, danger that threatens those he knows, as well as him and the child in his care. It's as bleak as the road that lies ahead of him.

Lullaby Road has a lot of twists and turns—some which make sense and some which confuse, so I'm being purposely vague in my plot summary. Ben is used to encountering people who have taken to the desert because they're not interested in social interaction and are on the run from something, but Ben finds a lot more about those he's known only casually and encounters some new personalities along the way. Barely anyone is particularly friendly, and some are downright deadly.

I love the way Anderson tells a story, and I love the hardscrabble characters he has created. I never quite understood why so many people are quick to dislike Ben, except for incidents they refer to in his past, since he doesn't seem much different than the rest of them, and his reactions to the situations he's in seem to be fairly natural, yet many people call him out for his behavior. But beyond that I was fully engrossed in this story, even as it got a little confusing, and ultimately darker than I had anticipated.

I'd definitely recommend reading Anderson's first book before this one, as Lullaby Road refers to things that occurred in, and characters from, that book. But this one is a truly worthy sequel. I'm not sure if another book is in store, but now I'm hoping there is.

NetGalley and Crown Publishing provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com, or check out my list of the best books I read in 2017 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2017.html.

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw this was a sequel to The Never-Open Desert Diner I quickly grabbed it up. And while it wasn't the 5 star review the first book was for me, I still loved it and revisiting some old friends.

A momentary silence was all that marked the passing of summer into winter. After living most of my almost forty years in the high desert of Utah, twenty driving a truck, I had come to the conclusion there were really only two seasons: hot and windy and cold and windy. Everything else was just a variation on the two.

Late in the evening I lay half-awake in my single bed and knew the silence meant the season had changed. I like to think maybe I know a thing or two about silence. Real silence is more than just absence of sound: it is something you feel. A few heartbeats earlier a steady wind scattered the leftover sounds from evening-a car a steady wind scattered the leftover sounds from evening-a car passing, neighbors talking from behind closed doors, somewhere a dog barking-all the usual muffled racket of nearby lives. Then there was nothing, nothing at all, as if the desert and everyone in it had vanished and left nothing behind but an indifferent starless light.

I loved coming back home to the characters from Route 117. I don't know what it is I love about this story but it just gets me. I guess the idea of people just living in a small place. Some of them coming together to help each other when they can.

This book is full of evilness and some murder. And I don't like what happened to a couple of animals and one of my favorite characters.

Ben is heading out one morning to start his haul. He's getting gas when the owner tells him there is something for him down a few lanes. Then he locks himself away in the gas station. Ben thinks it's some kind of a joke until he finds a child and a dog out in the winter cold. Of course he has to take them with him. There is a note pinned to the child's shirt asking for him to watch the child. He has no time to try to figure it out and off they go. He ends up with his neighbor's baby as well. So here he is with a child, dog and baby driving the winter roads and hoping nothing will happen to them on the treacherous roads. Sounds like an ordinary day. Not!

This ends up being a journey that no one should have to take, but there are evil people in the world and the people on Route 117 have to ban together to try to help one another. Oh, and not get killed in the process.

I enjoyed the book and the people so much. Like I said, it wasn't as good as the first one but that's okay. It was still great!

*BloggingForBooks*

Happy Reading!

Mel ♥

MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List

[Justin Tate · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Never-Open Desert Diner wasn’t an incredible book, but it was good enough for me to be excited about this sequel. I loved Ben and his long stretch of highway. The characters and setting were ripe for a continuation, perhaps many, many further adventures.

Unfortunately Lullaby Road didn’t work for me. About a third of the way through I realized I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Characters blended together, unanswered questions lingered on too long, so that I forgot I cared. The sequence of events wasn’t clear. I -think- a lot of the plot requires advances knowledge of the first book, but I remembered it pretty well and it still didn’t make sense so I dunno.

There are some charming moments where Ben gives us delicious social commentary from his unique point of view. Even while I had no idea what was happening with the plot, the book has some charm. Still, I hated it overall.

[Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

In “Lullaby Road,” Ben Jones is still making deliveries to the inhabitants of an isolated stretch of Utah desert. The people there all seem to be hiding out from something or someone, but they are Ben’s life and livelihood and they are equally dependent on him. The story begins with Ben stopping to buy fuel before beginning his route and finding a young child wearing a note asking Ben to take care of her, and Ben being Ben, can’t refuse. As Ben tries to learn the little girl’s story and find her father, he and the people along his route face misfortunes, danger, and tragedy. But it’s not all bleak. There are powerful moments of compassion, redemption, and people rising above their sense of being permanently damaged and hopeless; a potential romance; and the forging of human connections and making a family. Anderson writes unforgettable and richly developed characters, and his description of the austere beauty of the desert is brilliantly evocative. The haunting image of a child’s shoe with lights flashing in the heel has lodged in my brain and heart.

“The Never-Open Desert Diner” and “Lullaby Road” are so much more than crime fiction (much like James Lee Burke’s novels) and I think Anderson addresses that issue sagely in a recent interview. “I read a lot of poetry, and always have, and I find that my love of poetry informs my prose in ways that are distinctive and not often found in crime fiction, or fiction in general. Still, though, I try not to go overboard lyrically and keep the focus on the story and the voice of Ben Jones as much as I can. I don’t think I actually “turned” to crime, and I am not certain my novels can be accurately referred to as “crime” novels. I had a very precarious childhood and young adulthood and crime, particularly violence of various kinds, was a part of my daily life, as a victim and as a witness—in that sense crime, or crimes, as they appear in my novels, are a part of life, part of the fabric of Ben’s life, and not the central focus. Overall, as a novelist, I am much more concerned with the effect violence has on us, directly and indirectly, that can manifest itself over time—a kind of personal geological time that results in seismic events.”

After a brilliant first novel, some authors suffer a “sophomore slump,” but James Anderson is certainly not one of them. His first novel “The Never-Open-Desert Diner” was a book I was telling everyone about, and I’ll be doing the same with “Lullaby Road.” While it can be read as a stand-alone, I encourage readers to read “The Never-Open Desert Diner” first - both to gain familiarity with the characters and the events that shaped them, and because I think nothing Anderson writes should be missed.

Thank you to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

You really need to read the author's first book, "The Never-Open Desert Diner", before reading "Lullaby Road" because there are a lot of references to things that happened in the first book and I think that it would be frustrating not to know what all those references mean. Frankly, I wasn't crazy about the first book, which couldn't decide whether it was literary fiction (with a few mysterious undertones) or a thriller. It didn't do either particularly well, the beginning was like watching paint dry and when things finally began to happen, they just weren't interesting to me. The good news is that I enjoyed "Lullaby Road" a lot more.

Ben Jones is an almost 40 year old Jewish/Native American orphan raised in Utah by a Mormon couple. He's a trucker delivering packages to "desert rats, hardscrabble ranchers and other assorted exiles who chose to live off 117". He keeps stumbling upon bad situations. One morning before he starts his route an acquaintance leaves him a note at a truck stop requesting that Ben take charge of his small child because of some unspecified danger. The child is accompanied by a large dog. On the same morning, Ben's 18 year old friend and neighbor dumps her 4 month old infant on him so she can go to class. Instead of taking the day off from work like any sane person would do, Ben piles the whole group into his truck and heads off into a snow storm.

The author creates wonderful characters and descriptions, like the man who has invented a solar-powered doghouse complete with reading light. Unfortunately, they all seem to be armed. However, he insists on introducing mysteries that get in the way of the character studies at which he excels. This book has a hit-and-run, an abandoned child and several murders. That's a lot of crime for a town with almost no residents. The mysteries are all resolved by the end but I confess that I was flummoxed by the child's story. It was too subtle or cryptic for me. The bad guy just appeared out of the blue and I have no idea what happened with the kid at the end of the book. Some better editing would have helped here, and elsewhere in the book as well. (If you use term "desert rat" 4 times in 3 pages, you've used it too much.") I also could have done with fewer vehicle descriptions.

Ultimately, I liked the writing style very much. The people felt real and I wanted to know what happened to them. I would read more by this author, but I wish he would skip the mysteries next time.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Still · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superior sequel to the author's first novel featuring truck driver Ben Jones, The Never-Open Desert Diner .

For 20-30 pages I felt like putting this book down. I'd just come off of Ken Bruen's In the Galway Silence and there's hardly anything written in the new century that can rival a Ken Bruen novel.

Somewhere around page 30-35 something clicked and this book had me hooked tighter than two-dogs caught ....forgive me my trespasses.

This book has the same ambling, reader-friendly cadence as the first entry in the Ben Jones saga. Too many characters to count. Some are decent, some are bad, some are angels disguised. Ben's the kind of guy working on his wings as far as that goes.

There's a bad guy out on Highway 117 in Utah near the high desert. He drives an old cab-over White Freightliner -an antique these days but quite the sporty model back in the seventies. This bad guy dodges the scales, avoids roadblocks and state trooper checkpoints. Why he's dodging the law is another mystery. What he's hauling is even more of a mystery.
But this trucker-outlaw has managed to almost kill Ben, sideswiping his trailer while passing him at a high rate of speed on an icy highway.

There's also a mysterious cargo Ben Jones finds awaiting him at the last truck-stop before descending into the flat desert. A huge dog and a kid that the guy Pedro who handles truck tires for the truckers who pass through has left for Ben to carry along with him. A note pinned to the kid's coveralls reading, "Please Take Care Of My Juan... I Trust In You Ben"

Things get weirder. People get even more so.

Warning: sudden and deadly violence erupts every 40-50 pages.
Revenge is slow coming if it arrives at all.
Ben Jones is more a philosopher than a gear jamming Mike Hammer.

Softboiled, poetic, mystery built upon a foundation of memorable characters.
I loved every line of this novel.

My delivery days were generally spent without the luxury of man-made signs and addresses, no numbers or arrows, or mailboxes, or even fences or mile markers. My customers liked it that way and lived the roadless, dead-end life with a kind of fierce passion for isolation that few would want and even fewer would survive for very long. For the most part their philosophy was "make do or do without", and even some essentials, especially water when and where it was needed, were considered luxuries.

This one is worth searching out. Borrow it from a library... search eBay... buy it new on Amazon. I don't know what to compare this one to. I mentioned the great Harold Adams in my review of the 1st novel by James Anderson. Steinbeck'll work too. You like Craig McDonald or Frank Gruber, this is your kind of mystery novel.

I've come to think that the only thing you can count on with people is that they will always be human - good and bad - usually both, and occasionally at the same time.

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars Thank you to First to Read books and Crown Publishing for this ARC. Expected publication Jan 16, 2018.

I again sit in judgement of Ben Jones' life. He is the truck driver from the novel The Never-Open Desert Diner. He is still in Price Utah, running his tractor trailer delivery service on Rt 117 to a group of misfits and miscreants, still befriending and protecting Ginny and her daughter Annabelle.

In this novel Ben gets involved with a child smuggling ring, one of his ex's and her new boyfriend, and a child that is mute, but way older than her years. There are a number of accidents - both truck and person - and a few murders. A number of new people join the cast, as well as characters from the Never Open Desert Diner resurface.

A number of places I had to laugh and a number of places in this book made me sad. Character development is done well and the changes in the main character, Ben, from one book to the next, are probable. This novel is wrapped up well, while leaving the opening for a followup novel, possibly using Walt's son as its main villain.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out in the high Utah desert there's not a whole hell of a lot of anything - mainly there's one road, highway 117, and miles and miles of sparsely populated brush and canyons. It's not country for normal folk, but it's sort of the edge of the known universe where various oddballs and eccentrics and hermits have decided that they are done moving and planted themselves, jealously guarding their acres of broken down trailers and rotting car parts with shotguns or walking the mountain roads carrying giant crosses. In the summer it's bitter heat dehydrating your very bones, but in the winter, it's like another episode of Ice Road Truckers. Ben Jones is the lone fool driving that route through snowblinding icy hell, a route even FedEx and UPS gave up on. This is be of those novels where the setting is almost another character so powerful is it.

This is Anderson's second novel drawing upon this crazy desert world. It's a story more about the settings and the characters than the mystery which is kind of more in the background. But, there's some strange goings-on out on 117 as Ben finds himself bequeathed a most unusual traveling crew, a seemingly mute child, the child's overprotective dog, and a bawling infant.

Overall, it turned out to be a most enjoyable, albeit unusual read. Anderson really does a great job of bringing an unusual world alive.

I received this book in a Goodreads Giveaway.

[Karen R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good follow-up to Anderson’s The Never Open Dessert Diner and Ben Jones hard-working life as a delivery service trucker making stops 5 days a week for the past 20 years along a dusty isolated desert road. This time, he takes to the road in wintertime when the road is treacherous and with a couple of children plus a dog along for the ride.

The story is meandering, laced with humor, surprises and solid characters. Old favorites from the Diner reappear and new ones come into the mix, like the mysterious child left with Ben by Pedro, the tire man at the local truck stop, carrying a pinned note that read “Please Ben. Bad Trouble. My son. Take him today. His name is Juan. Trust you only. Tell no-one.” This mystery propelled me to read and I enjoyed being along for Ben's ride.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, how it pains me to write this review. I loved the author's debut novel and the proof was that the very next book I read was its sequel, Lullaby Road. I'd anticipated another gripping, enchanting tale along the remote stretch of highway that is Ben Jones' world. If only.

What I read, instead, was a struggle. Not in terms of reading it, or of finishing it, but in terms of determining what the hell Mr. Anderson was trying to accomplish. The plot was, well, disjointed at best, and at times, scattered as so much litter along a highway's shoulder. The first, and most important, thing a prospective reader should know is that one must read the first book in this series before having a go at this one. The familiarity with the characters, place, and writing style will be invaluable and, perhaps, essential, if you are to glean any sense from this story.

Whereas the previous book, The Never Open Desert Diner was a masterpiece of prose, storytelling, and characters with whom one could fall in love, this one seemed more like a collection of story ideas that were thrown together in hopes they'd all form a coherent, completed puzzle by the final page. For this reader, at least, that effort fell woefully short.

In defense of the author and book, I will say that sections of the book were very engaging and enjoyable if, for no other reason, they reminded me of the first novel. In many ways, the beautiful manner in which Anderson crafts phrases and paragraphs still serves this up as a delicious offering. But the lack of direction, of coherence, of a thread that could knit everything together really dropped my rating from 4 to 3 stars. Perhaps with better editing, or more time before releasing this to press, it could have been the equal to its predecessor. I have a fondness for some of the characters, so it was still enjoyable, but it just could not live up to the standard or expectations set by that which gave it life.

[Arlena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: Lullaby Road: A Novel
Author: James Anderson
Publisher: Crown
Series: Ben Jones # 2
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:

"Lullaby Road" by James Anderson

My Thoughts...

Now, this was quite a interesting read about Ben Jones who runs a tractor trailer delivery service [truck driver] that traveled on Highway 117 that was a desolate Utah desert making deliveries to people in isolated areas. Ben was known to deliver packages to 'desert rats, hardscrabble ranchers and other assorted exiles who chose to live off 117." Now, this route that Ben took I found it interesting to know that Fed Ex and UPS would not drive on this snow-blinding road.

What Ben finds while on his journeys will definitely keep your interest as it seems he kept getting himself involved in bad situations like finding a note that leads him to take charge of a small child [mute] and a large protective dog and also ending up when a friend and neighbor who leaves their young [bawling] infant with him so she could go to work. Now, I really found this rather strange when Ben piles them all in his truck and takes off to work going his normal route however, he ends up in a snow storm.

This story will continue on as this author gives the readers one intriguing and entertaining story ...from hit & run, bad weather [snow drifts], interactions with gun toting customers, abandoned child, child smuggling ring, preacher who carries a cross along the highway, accidents, three witches, Mexican women with food truck, and even some murders that happen along route 117. As every truck stop was made this author gives us a complete unfolded story with there being a lots going on with there being just a small group of people that are involved.To fully understand this entire story you will have to pick up "Lullaby Road" to see just how this author brings it out to the reader.

Be ready for a story will some laughable, scary and sad twist and turn parts of the read that will definitely keep you turning the pages to see what was coming next in this good read where in the end you will also find it 'engrossing, heartwarming and heartbreaking.'

I received a copy of Lullaby Road from the publisher through Blogging for Books.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this wonderfully written novel by James Anderson. "Lullaby Road" really captures that feeling of long road trips through middle of nowhere America. The eccentricities of small town life are there n spades. Each character is revealed through their relationship with Ben, our protagonist and truck driver who knows the lonely stretches of desert far too well. He is handed over a few mysteries and other hurdles to deal with, and also Ben seems to be a character who becaude of his background, likes to insert himself into situations out of a need to belong somewhere.

This book was very slow paced, but beautifully rendered. The imagery was absolutely gorgeous.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author.

Please excuse typos. Entered on screen reader.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 stars
I enjoyed this novel more than I had anticipated. As Ben traveled along the desert highway in his big rig, I met some of the interesting individuals he regularly encounters as he makes his deliveries. Ben has been driving the desert for around twenty years, and although the scenery hardly ever changes the individuals, the weather, and the drama that makes up are hardly ever the same.

As Ben fills up his truck to begin his day, he finds that someone has left something for him at the pump. It turns out that this something is a someone, a boy who looks to be about 6 years-old. Pinned to his shirt is a note asking Ben to take care of him for the day, from a man Ben hardly knows. Confused and now stuck with company, Ben takes the boy who is now accompanied with a dog, into his rig and gets ready for a long day on the road. He’s stopped again by a close friend who shoves a baby bag and an infant in his rig. I started to wonder what type of person Ben was, a pushover or a person with a big heart who helps people out all the time? With a full rig, Ben now has to decide whether to call off this full day of deliveries or does he take everyone with him as he makes his deliveries with the winter weather outside becoming nastier by the minute.

I got to know Ben as his mind wanders over the highway, his thoughts taking in the years he has traveled this countryside. The individuals he has met, the relationships that have been maintained, the ones that have been forgotten, and the ones that he has lost. As he makes his regular deliveries he looks out for his customers, some more carefully than others. There are rules of the road and I liked how not everyone respected one another yet there was this bond that put everyone on the same page.

I thought Ben tried to keep to himself, yet he was there to make sure no one took advantage of others who had no voice. I think Ben tried to think he was a loner but he had friends, he had others who thought highly of him and would come to his aid if he needed it. He had a big heart but I don’t think he wanted others to know it. I really enjoyed this novel. I liked the drama on the road, I liked the countryside and the characters. I will continue reading this series but I need to go back and read the first novel in the series to see what I have missed.

I received a physical copy of this novel from a Goodreads Giveaway, thank you!
I also received a copy of this novel from Crown Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

[AnisaAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an ordinary night for Ben at his usual truck stop until he finds something left behind on Island 8. A pile of clothes. A dog guarding a small mute child. Pinned to the child is a note begging Ben personally to look after this child in the midst of a father’s strife. ”Bad trouble…Tell no one.” Reluctantly he places the child in the cab of his truck along with the dog and drives off onto his usual Route 117… into the unforeseen dangers of the Utah desert.

Lullaby Road is a clever and intriguing story told by Ben in present day. The main story unfolds in a backdrop of the quirky people and small isolated businesses scattered along his route. As Ben makes his deliveries, we learn his endearing backstory through his relationships with other people in the story. Many events happen along the the 117 which all culminate towards the saga’s end.

Although the original description for the book promises to deliver a thrilling mystery the main story line gets lost at first in all of the eccentric characters in the book (each personality a novel within themselves). I was expecting this mystery to barrel down the highway but it slowly unfolded with each interesting stop the truck made. The ending did deliver the mother load in the last few chapters and left me thunderstruck. Overall, a great second novel by James Anderson.

As a post script, Lullaby Road offers a continuation of Ben’s story from The Never-Open Desert Diner, Anderson’s first book. I might have to take a closer look at Ben and his story.

Thank You NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[R J Mckay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from Goodreads for an honest review.
Ben Jones is a unique anti-hero. He reminds me somewhat of the Indiana Jones of truck drivers. He just keeps sticking his nose into things that most of us would leave alone. By doing so, he has acquired both admirers and enemies. His story revolves around the small towns and quirky people on Route 117 in Utah.
I loved the story-telling style that James Anderson uses. It sounds like you’re sitting in the diner or beside him in the truck. It’s a real, gritty life that brings him upon some truly strange loners who will shoot first and not even bother to ask questions. But Ben knows how to read people and does whatever is necessary to make his deliveries and stay alive.
This story revolves around a young Mexican girl who is left for Ben at a truck stop. There’s no one else to take care of her and he can’t leave her outside in the cold winter desert, so he takes her and her dog into his truck. From this point on, his world goes completely crazy.
The people Ben deals with are peculiar, dangerous, and mysterious. It will take James Anderson many more books to tell us who they really are and why they’re actually living on route 117. I look forward to meeting them soon and hearing their stories.

[Patricia Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was so much I enjoyed about this book – the eccentric cast of characters, the convincing descriptions of the desert and a desert winter, Ben’s insight, Ben’s own life, the easy writing style, the story itself, and the very clever humor – wry and sardonic at times – throughout.

Many situations occur, each interesting, each with no eye-rolling from me. The ending was terrific, nothing contrived, nothing hard to believe.

There was a little bit of a mystery throughout, but I wouldn’t exactly call it a mystery novel. This was more a tale about life in the dreary desert in the middle of a winter storm with all the challenges that go with it. It was a tale being told to me by Ben. Sometimes, I felt like someone actually was telling me a story rather than me reading it. Well done, Mr. Anderson.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book to me before its publication. I enjoyed it immensely. I wish there were decimals in the rating system, since I can’t quite give it five stars, but would give it 4.5 or 4.6.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to First to Read for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Lullaby Road was a great follow-up to The Never-Open Desert Diner by James Anderson. The story follows Ben Jones, an independent truck driver that delivers to customers out in the desert, and has a lot of the same characters from the first book. Ben is filling up his gas at a truck stop when Cecil, the owner, says something was left outside for him in the cold. He finds a young Hispanic child with a note on their shirt and a dog and the note implores Ben to take the child with him on the road because of big trouble. Trouble seems to follow Ben where ever he goes and it only goes up from there. As Ben tries to juggle the obstacles thrown at him, he also tries to find out who is causing the big trouble out on Route 117. This is great slow-burn kind of book but always rewarding in the end. Definitely recommend this series.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This probably wins the award for the most "disappointing after intense anticipation" read so far of 2018.

I just loved his first novel. This sequel is at the most a 2.5 star read that I rounded up for the desert highway. That locale with all the ominous pitfalls it holds for a trucker is done well.

Everything else I can think of, not so much.

All of my continued characters from the early "Diner" book? Well, each and every one seems like a cartoon character now.

I kept reading only because I had to see where that baby ended up. There is NO excuse for giving an infant to a driver in those conditions to go take a "test". Among other aspects that were so off here that I cannot even begin to compare them to law, social services, etc. of the real world.

And the writing was jumpy to continuity too. So bad that only because I read the former did I understand what some of the correlated "surround" or context was. And there were "holes" or "voids" as well. Kids would never sit in a cab quietly like that while he traipsed for such length of times during half the stops either. It seemed the copy skipped that reverse view entirely.

I only gave it the 3rd star because of the locale feel. Otherwise it's a real downer. Not just the prose, the entire mood. Bummer. Sad and a whimper.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I did not read the first book by James Anderson (The Never Open Desert Diner) which introduced the characters and gave background carried on in this novel, but I enjoyed Lullaby Road nonetheless.

I am quite taken with Anderson's ability to paint pictures with his words. He superbly describes the starkness of the Utah desert in winter, to the point that I could feel the wind and cold as I sat nestled before a fire. And his characters are equally well-drawn and relatable.

Ben Jones, local truck-driver, travels Route 117, making deliveries to the quirky and eccentric people who have chosen to live/hide in the isolation of the desert. Ben is a man of few words, which serves well for his customers, who trust few and prefer to be left alone. He is a man you can count on, yet one you wouldn't want to cross. The novel unfolds as Ben goes about his daily work; it is not rushed, but there is a LOT going on!

To begin his day, his young neighbor is in a tight-spot and asks Ben to take her infant daughter with him for the day. Knowing she has no other option or she wouldn't have asked, he agrees and puts the infant's car-seat into his truck and heads out on his route.

When he stops at the truck-stop, the owner tells him there's something for him out near the pumps. Immediately after Ben leaves the store, the owner locks the door and changes the sign to 'Closed'. Ben finds a small child (age 4 or 5?) huddled with a dog, with a note pinned to its clothes that say "Please Ben. Bad trouble. My son. Take him today. His name is Juan. Trust you only. Tell no one. Pedro" Not wanting to leave the child alone, he puts him and the dog in his truck and continues on his way, planning to meet up with Pedro later. Now he has an infant, a young child and a dog that looks like it would willingly take Ben's hand off if he doesn't watch how he interacts with the child.

Bad weather, a hit-and-run accident with his truck, a pedestrian hit-and-run, several interactions with gun-toting customers and multiple murders keep Ben busier and more involved than he would like. There is an awful lot going on for the small group of people involved!!

With multiple mysteries, deaths, and a child who seems to belong to no one, there is plenty to keep the reader engaged.

I would definitely read another book by James Anderson - I love the way he writes!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishers for allowing me to read an e-copy of this book in exchange for a review. The opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

[Barbara Senteney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was truly thrilling. I loved it, took my time reading it, because I wanted to absorb it.
Ben is a truck driver who recently lost the woman he loved. One early morning on his usual stop to fuel up for the days deliveries in the desert, he is told by the owner that his mechanic Pedro had left something for him in front of one of the fuel pumps. Ben is befuddled by this , since he barely knows the man, asking the owner what it is? The owner smugly with a smile answers, you'll find out, just be sure and take it with you.
Huddled in the cold is a small child huddled in the freezing desert night with very little to guard against the cold. with a note pinned to her, saying this is my son Juan please take care of him. Ben doesn't realize until later when he stops to pee, Juan is a girl. Ben is not amused, he goes back to the station and the doors are locked, he bangs and bangs but no one answers.
Ben has also been saddled with his ex girlfriends grand daughter because her mom has to work. Ben still decides to go to work and do his usual route.
This is all I will tell ou of this story, the beginning. There are so many twist and turns in this tale you might feel like the donut man, seeing yourself coming and going at the same time.Although Ben has had his fair share of trouble with the law, back in his drinking days, Ben is a nice guy with a huge heart.
This story is way more than meets the eye. Such a large story in just 304 pages. Some of the story is sad, some scary, and some laughable. I was totally engrossed in Ben's adventure trough the cold harsh desert winds, snow drifts, accidents, and murders. In the desert people have secrets, and you just don't ask questions once you know where it might lead.

[Staci · Rating 5 out of 5]

The basic premise of this book – the adventures of a truck driver in the Utah desert - is not one that I would normally find all that interesting or enjoyable. I won my copy in a giveaway a few months back and I’ve been putting it off because I read the back cover when I received it and questioned myself as to why I had entered a giveaway for this book at all. As it turns out, I’m very glad I finally took the time to read it and wish I had read sooner.

This is a slow paced story but the author’s writing style is so engaging and atmospheric that I did not find myself bored at all! James Anderson’s writing makes the reader want to slow down and savor the story. Not to mention, I love a witty writer with a wry sense of humor!

The main character, Ben Jones, was impossible not to like. The entire cast of characters were interesting and, honestly, quite unforgettable. In fact, the way the author develops his characters reminds me a lot of Charles Dickens. There were a couple of instances where a character was introduced early on but then wasn’t mentioned again for many chapters. One mention of a specific detail or quirk brought that character right back to forefront of my brain.

I found the insight into the lifestyle of desert rats and small desert towns very fascinating though the description of the desert in winter was terrifying … yikes!

I was pleasantly surprised by this one and I would highly recommend it. I may even have to track down the first novel in this series.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben Jones is still in the Utah desert driving his truck. What makes you, dear reader, think that we deserve yet another glimpse into his quotidian life? Well, James Anderson once more weaves his magic upon us and in the process we loose some familiar characters from the first book.

We start with an abandoned child and dog at the gas station, soon to be joined by his teenage friend’s baby. How’s a man supposed to make deliveries with a daycare center in his cab? And the weather is terrible too. Trying to accommodate the children is the least of his anxiety as he gets involved in two hit and run situations involving the desert rats. People go missing. Bodies are found. He gets in a fist fight. He has an opportunity for love. As usual there is a dark pulse behind the scenes and it culminates at the Desert Diner in a paroxysm of violence.

Quirky as ever this series has such a strange and unusual energy. Ben is your everyday guy, not endearing but intriguing. He’ll not always do the right thing either. He can be a jerk at times. He’s a good person with a short fuse.

Hoping the morality play continues in a third book. The desert is as much a character as Ben in this charming series. But how much more trouble can Ben get into in a place where people flee to escape their troubles? I’m sure James Anderson has the answer. We patiently wait.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy revisiting Hwy 171. Some of the magic I felt in the first book is missing, but only some. Still populated with rich characters and scenery, but Ben is a colder man than first time around. I'll read more if he'll write them.

[Tonstant Weader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lullaby Road reunites us with Ben Jones, the lonesome truck driver we met in James Anderson’s The Never-Open Desert Diner. He’s still driving that lonely hundred mile stretch of Utah highway for nowhere to nothing, making deliveries to people who don’t like answering questions or asking them either. Winter has landed with its snow, fog, ice and generally scary road conditions, but Ben is heading out on that highway to deliver what people need.

Except someone left him something or, more accurately, someone. A child has been left out in the weather at the diesel pump with a note to him asking him to watch the child because the father, Pedro, has some big trouble. With no recourse, Ben puts her and her vigilant dog in the truck and heads down the road.

Heading down the road, he checks in with characters familiar to readers of The Never-Open Desert Diner. By the end of the first day, he’s had a near-collision that damaged his truck and a friend of his has been struck and left for dead in the cold. More complications develop as he begins to suspect that the accident was no accident and the man who left the child with him is missing and so is the owner of the truck stop.

I loved Lullaby Road even though it broke my heart more than once. Like Anderson’s first book, it transcends the mystery/suspense genres. it’s literary fiction with a mystery (more than one if you want to be technical.) It’s a novel with a generous heart. Ben Jones thinks he’s a bit of hardbitten tough guy and certainly, he’s physically tough and tough on himself, but he’s empathetic and compassionate, someone who understands “there but for the grace of” even with the sorriest, saddest characters.

Reading Lullaby Road will transport you to the cold, lonely highway. I turned my heat on for the first time in over a month and I am pretty sure it was not colder outside, the cold radiated from the book. The authenticity of place is vital to the story as Anderson’s stories develop out of their setting. This story and these people would not come together anywhere else.

For much of the book, there is a sinister presence out of sight–fragments that are never manifest until the end. It seems to me that Anderson struggles with realizing his villains, so we don’t see very much of them and they remain one dimensional. There are a lot of grumps, jerks, cranks, and oddballs, but the absolute villains do not get much space to be completely realized. This was true in his first book, too. I am not sure if this is a failing. It perhaps violates the Detection Club rules, but it makes for a human story that is engrossing, heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.

I received a copy of Lullaby Road from the publisher through Blogging for Books.

Lullaby Road at Penguin Random House | Crown Publishing
James Anderson author site
The Never-Open Desert Diner review

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[Darcia Helle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boo me if you must. I didn't love this book.

To start, there are a whole lot of vague references to an event that I assume happened in book 1, 'The Never-Open Diner'. When I got this book, I didn't know it was a sequel. That was nowhere in the description. I didn't read the first book. And, rather than the author clarifying these references with an extra sentence or two, he's deliberately ambiguous. So, rather than intrigued, I found myself irritated. Don't make the same mistake I did. This is absolutely a sequel and the first book needs to be read - first.

The absence of information isn't an immediate problem. And, even with that issue, I found myself drawn into the story. The setting is absolutely the author's strong point here. I felt what it was like to travel that desolate highway. The assortment of characters came to life, and I could almost see these people scattered about in this desolate setting.

The child's part is compelling. I immediately wanted to know who this child was and why the father would abandon the child as he had. This, to me, should have been the main focus of the story. Judging by the book's description, I think it was supposed to be the focus. But, it wasn't. Not really.

And, so, we drive with Ben up and down this highway, meeting random people and getting into a bit of trouble here and there. The child gets pushed to the side. We don't pursue the who and why of this situation for a very long time. It's almost as if the main character is disinterested or can't be bothered.

The book's focus is all over the place. Rather than suspenseful, I felt it was ill-defined, with too many vague subplots overshadowing the heart of the story.

Then, finally, close to the end of the book, we have a muddle of action attempting to solve the who and why of the child. Mostly, though, it's rushed and unclear. This part could have and should have been a powerful punch to the gut, but the absence of the narrator's interest in this throughout most of the book combined with the rush to explain at the end left it all feeling like a tangled mess.

I kept reading because the setting and the cast of characters intrigued me. But, in the end, the story didn't move me as it should have.

*I received an advance copy from the publisher, via Amazon Vine, in exchange for my honest review.*

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before writing this, I reread my review of Anderson's first book featuring Ben Jones, The Never Open Desert Diner, and feel I could cut-and-paste that entire review here only changing details that pertain to Lullaby Road. Four months have passed since the earlier novel concluded, and Ben still plies Route 117 delivering essentials (even water in some cases) to the sparse population, covering round-trip 100 miles in each direction. But on his first leg of today's trip he has company. A small child and dog that have been left at his gas-up place (called Stop and Gone) as well as an infant that is a holdover from his previous story. In this book, the characters are just as colorful as you'd expect from people who choose to live in the desert and semi-ghost towns along his route, and the writing is just as beautiful in places ("The closed sign hung from the front door and the place never open seemed more closed these days than in times past. The two antique glass bubble pops were just homeless old men who had run out of conversation.") There is again more than its share of humor ("Delivering propane was technically against the law for me to deliver, but I technically did it all the time for others and I technically didn’t care.") The noir elements are all in place, but they due more to weather and desert/mesa views with gorgeous sunsets and snowsqualls visible miles off. I'm so glad Anderson has made a series of this and look forward to the next installment of Ben on the road.

[Geoff. Lamb · Rating 5 out of 5]

If ever an author has enticed a reader to go walkabout it is James Anderson writing about Highway 117, a seldom used, off-the-beaten track road to not much of anywhere southeast of Price, Utah, which is itself SE of Salt Lake City. The 100+ miles of Highway 117 does not exist on any map outside of the author's imagination.

If you have never read Anderson's first novel, "Never-Open Desert Diner", please do. Ben Jones, the central character of Diner (as he is in Lullaby) is someone you will remember as if you knew him. Tall, rangy, strong (though not so strong as to avoid the occasional dust-up), intelligent if not book smart, a man who lives by dint of his routine, driving a semi (tractor trailer) delivering whatever has been ordered to the denizens that live on or near Highway 117.

Both Diner and Lullaby are stories that will envelop a reader, to the extent that one may be startled to look up and not see Ben or his truck or Highway 117. The people who people Highway 117 are characters that the word character was or should have been coined to mean.

The story of Lullaby, like that of Diner, is at once lyrical and tender and brutal. I should not want to be without either book.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben Jones spends his work week traveling up and down highway 117, delivering water, propane and other necessities for those reclusive individuals who inhabit Utah's north eastern desert. Ben stops for fuel one morning to discover a 5 year old child has been left out by the gas pumps, in the brutal cold, with a note asking Ben to watch over the child. And so begins Lullaby Road, and the nightmarish few days where nothing will go well for Ben Jones. Atmospheric and populated with a unique cast of characters, Andersons' well-paced sophmore novel takes readers on a journey through the desert that is unforgettable.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed The Never Open Desert Diner. You could say it was a surprise hit with me. The best kind of surprises. Thus I could not wait to check out this newest book from Mr. Anderson. First off, let me tell you that this book is kind of a follow up to the Never Open Desert Diner. I didn't put the connection together right away from the summary or the first couple of chapters. Once, I did, I was happy to see Ben again. So, if you have not read the prior novel, you must get a little lost reading this book.

Although, sadly the presence of Ben was not enough to really sustain this book for me and keep me interested. The story is good but there were a few potholes and the characters missed the mark for me. They were not as engaging and thus I found myself struggling some to connect with the overall storyline. Additionally, there were some unanswered questions left hanging in the story. So, I am one for one with Mr. Anderson regarding his books. I do hope the next one is as good as The Never Open Desert Diner, which I recommend readers try.

[Carine]

Je me suis rendue compte que c'est la suite d'un autre livre. Je vais faire une pause en attendant de lire le premier tome.