“The great tradition of hard-boiled crime novels finds new and promising territory in the Utah desert. Carrying its own cult following after having been published independently last year, this debut novel is a stirring, atmospheric, and even mildly surreal variation on the “mean streets” detective fiction of Raymond Chandler… a witty, rollicking, and somewhat bent mystery/romance… the beginning of a beautiful series.”
“Anderson’s first novel…is a great one…(with) genius in creating characters that stay with you…They creep into your brain and settle in for a lengthy visit. You have not read a book like The Never-Open Desert Diner in a long time, if ever. Once you open its pages you will know you are in for something surprisingly enjoyable.”
“James Anderson’s unusually literary crime novel takes its atmosphere from the shifting power of the desert light on a quiet highway in central Utah.”
“In this fine debut, James Anderson’s graceful prose and evocative look at the desert elevate this untraditional mystery that would be kin to novels by James Sallis and the late Jim Crumley…”
ABOUT JAMES ANDERSON
James Anderson was born in Seattle and raised in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. He is a graduate of Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and received his Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from Pine Manor College in Boston. For many years he worked in book publishing. Other jobs have included logging, commercial fishing and, briefly, truck driver. He currently divides his time between Ashland, Oregon, and the Four Corners region of the American Southwest.