I quite appreciated this book. It is admittedly a tad confusing at times (particularly if you have not read the first book), but the writing style and descriptions were very compelling and strangely made me wistful. The main character slash narrator is a compelling protagonist, and his perspective was one I was very willing to dive deeper into. The main downside I would say is that the introversion did not help clear up the overly mysterious nature of the plot slash premise, but I felt the atmospheric nature of this book largely made up for that.

I quite appreciated this book. It is admittedly a tad confusing at times (particularly if you have not read the first book), but the writing style and descriptions were very compelling and strangely made me wistful. The main character slash narrator is a compelling protagonist, and his perspective was one I was very willing to dive deeper into. The main downside I would say is that the introversion did not help clear up the overly mysterious nature of the plot slash premise, but I felt the atmospheric nature of this book largely made up for that.

Lullaby Road is one of those few books that has an underlying calm to it that I couldn't quite shake. I felt it in other books I've read by James Anderson and I don't know if it's his writing or the main character. The calm is almost otherworldly, adding to the nuance and echoing the ghostliness of being on the road. It's almost like the feeling I get when I'm driving at night and I love it. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves atmospheric fiction and well-written novels that occur under mysterious circumstances.

When I requested this book I did not know it was a sequel, and I found it too confusing to read without having read the first book. I only got through about a quarter of the novel, but I did find Anderson's writing quite compelling so I may go back and read the first book in the series.

Lullaby Road is a sequel to James Anderson’s “The Never-Open Desert Dîner”, and although I didn’t read the first book, Lullaby Road is an excellent stand-alone novel. As a matter of fact, James Anderson’s writing is SO GOOD that I intend to read the first book in the series, and if the series continues, I will continue to read any follow-ups! The descriptions of Highway 117 across the Utah desert, and the strange inhabitants of the two small towns at either end are vivid and enthralling. Anderson’s writing is lyrical, original, and his character’s occasional observations on life and human nature are so true and direct that it literally takes my breath away. This is a novel to savour, to enter into and to give your full attention so as to capture the beauty of the words and the world the author creates. The characters are strange, broken, secretive and as untamed as desert they inhabit. Go along for the journey in Ben Jones’s big rig; it’s a ride you shouldn’t miss!

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!

4.5 stars

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 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, as 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!

Ben Jones hauls freight on the lonely highway of Route 117, through the desert of Utah. The few people he meets are reclusive at best, possibly dangerous at worst. And winter is coming to 117, covering everything in a blanket of snow and ice.

When Ben finds a small, mute Hispanic girl abandoned at a gas station with a note pinned to her shirt that reads “Please Ben. Watch my son. His name is Juan. Bad Trouble. Tell no one,” he is unprepared. He has no idea what’s going on, but he knows it’s bad, so he takes the girl. And finds himself in the midst of dark circumstances he’s not sure if he can find his way out of. But he’s determined to keep the girl safe, even when she’s set on disappearing into the snowy wilderness without a trace.

Lullaby Road, like the first book, The Never-Open Desert Diner, is set in a startling and memorable place and filled with characters that are…quirky and frequently scary and sad at the same time. Ben is both an awesome character and a hateful one, with his temper and his lack of impulse-control. The land is as much a character as any of the people, and this compelled me from the very first page. But I don’t think I’ll be visiting Utah anytime soon.

(Galley provided by Crown Publishing in exchange for an honest review.)

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 on and I enjoyed being along for Ben's ride.

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.

This was a dud read! :( I was very intrigued by the premise when I picked this up. There's a mysterious child left alone at a truck shop to be picked up by a local truck driver, so I thought the book would revolve around the child! But sadly that was not the case. 4/5th of the novel explored other plot lines. :(

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.

My review was posted on Goodreads on 1/24/18

I don't like to give negative reviews, but I was less impressed with Lullaby Road than I was with the first title, The Never Open Desert Diner, which I loved and recommend often. In this title, the elements of the open road and various characters Ben encounters just didn't seem to come together in a cohesive manner. There were parts about his road-trip with the baby, child and dog that had me scratching my head. For example, the wreck at the beginning of the book, where his 18 wheeler is hit and is pushed up onto the wheels of one side of the truck , almost overturning, before landing back on the road - a huge impact - doesn't seem to affect the baby, child or dog, who would have been thrown around the cabin due to physics! I can suspend my belief when it is warranted, but that is just one example of how things just didn't seem to work. The children are left in the truck many times to move the story forward, and that bothered me. Ultimately, most of the characters in the books have tragic lives , have bad things happen to them, end up in bad situations, and there is very little redemption for anyone. Like I said, just not in the same league as the first book. Sorry for the negative review. I had been looking forward to the book....

I missed Anderson's first installment in this trilogy and will have to go back and pick up The Never- Open Desert Diner at some point, but that did not impede my enjoyment of Lullaby Road. While I realized I had missed a great deal of backstory covered in the first book, Lullaby Road and the episodic adventures of trucker Ben Jones--half Indian, half Jew, raised in foster homes, and inclined to trouble--was engrossing.

Most of Ben's customers in Utah's high desert are a breed apart. Eccentric, independent, unorthodox, outcasts--from Cowboy Roy to Preacher John and more--the "desert rats" that Ben supplies with everything from water to propane are human curiosities.

Ben is basically a decent man who gets involved in situations even as he chastises himself for doing so. Already saddled with taking his neighbor's infant with him on a run, when he stops to fill up his truck, the owner says someone has left a package for him at one of the pumps. What he finds is a five-year-old child with a note saying that the father is in bad trouble, but trusts Ben to care for his son Juan. The owner of the station has locked up and won't respond to Ben who demands some answers. Now he has an infant, a young child who doesn't speak, and a dog on his journey.

This novel is not a straight-forward narrative, it moves from one location and event to another--each populated by oddball characters. The journey becomes dangerous for several reasons as Ben does his best to deliver infant and child to safety. A picaresque novel that has some humor and some grim situations and as many stories as Ben has customers.

The conclusion doesn't answer all the questions, and there is one question that will stay on my mind until the third installment. The answer better be there!

NetGalley/Crown Publishing

Mystery? Jan. 16, 2018. Print length: 320 pages

Character, character, character. It says something about how well James Anderson writes character that I would pay good money to spend a day with his leading man, Ben Jones. That might not seem odd, there are loads of interesting protagonists out there. But Ben Jones has what might seem to be an interminably boring vocation. He owns a trucking service that delivers necessities to the "desert rats and eccentric exiles" of the remote Utah desert, spending his days on State Highway 117, traveling "through the heart of a hundred miles of nowhere." Snooze-fest, right? Ha. Not even close.

Ben is intriguing in his own right. A half Jewish, half Native American orphan raised by Mormons, he seems hard-pressed to avoid trouble. Well known by local law enforcement and hospital staff, Ben is simply guided by a strong moral compass that sometimes requires a little blood be shed. (There are also times Ben feels his face has been mistaken for a suggestion box.)

Add in the aforementioned "eccentric exiles" (a preacher who wanders the highway toting a huge wooden cross on his back, an oft-married dirt house-dweller whose manner and manner of dress "made you afraid to get too close for fear of attitude contamination, and your own good hygiene," a Rolls Royce-driving "countess" who moved to the area in an effort to avoid the FBI--a not uncommon reason, the owner of Ginger's Glass, Whatnots, Handmade Soap & Ballroom Dance Emporium, who abandoned her Subaru and its "Just Divorced" sign at the city limits when she arrived, and a gun-toting entrepreneur who has invented the doghouse of the future, to name a few) and you've got yourself a trucking route bursting with great stories.

James Anderson mines these stories to perfection, with language so lovely I often read passages multiple times and the wonder never ceases. The dialogue is often so smart or funny I marvel at it, wondering how it is people aren't screaming about it from the rooftops. Lullaby Road is the second in a planned trilogy about Ben and the inhabitants of Route 117 and it more than lives up to the remarkable series starter, The Never-Open Desert Diner. I highly recommend the series, and also starting with TNODD. Lullaby Road picks up after the events in the first book and there is backstory you won't want to miss or have spoiled.

Lullaby Road finds Ben unexpectedly saddled with two young children, one of whom is a mystery and potentially in danger, all while trying to come to the aid of a local icon in trouble and deliver necessities to his customers in the midst of a raging winter. Filled with charm and despair, humor and grace, Lullaby Road is another perfect piece in what will surely end up as one of my favorite series of all time.

STREET SENSE: Lullaby Road is part mystery, part lesson in the mastery of character, dialogue and atmosphere, and part contemplation of what it is to be human. I can't speak highly enough of Anderson's work, which always ends up making me feel more alive and glad to be a reader.

A FAVORITE PASSAGE: So many to choose from, beginning with a couple as short and "simple" as these:

With the reflecting sun tumbling off the red mesa behind us, I felt as if I had been given the chance to walk into a painting of a life I had never known.

Some men die in childbirth.

To glorious passages such as:

I went back inside and moved the end table in front of the window and put the lamp on it and turned on the lamp. The shade threw silhouettes of devils and pitchforks against the bare walls. I liked what it did to the room, though I knew there were real devils, real evil, in the world, and Ginny and Annabelle would run across them in time and they wouldn't always look like demons or carry pitchforks. They would look like friends, husbands and wives, and lovers and cops and grocery store clerks and foster parents. It would be nice if they carried pitchforks so you could identify them. Or you had a true friend to help you decide which is which--then be there when you made the wrong choice.

COVER NERD SAYS: This cover didn't wow me, I'll be honest. It would have played more to my sensibilities if it had consisted solely of the photograph of the desert road at night. Which also would have been a super match with the cover of TNODD. But it's not an objectionable cover at all and the cutout image stands out enough that it would catch my eye on a display. And to be totally up front and fair, I'm about as far from a church person as you can get and even in image of something nice like an angel sometimes makes me think twice about whether what's inside is for me. On this occasion, is it blasphemous to say "Hell yes it is!"?

There's so much to love in this book! James Anderson spins a tale well, crafting exquisite character sketches of possibly the West's quirkiest people. Descriptions are vivid, allowing readers to visualize each outcast, misfit, and miscreant introduced. His lead character is solid and wise. We become immersed in an inventive and nearly incredible adventure, rooting for the good guy. The last part of the book does seem to pull together loose ends hastily, and a few of the last Revelations were unclear to this reader. I may need to review.

I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't get into it. When I started reading this book, I was unaware that it was a sequel. I thought I might still be able to understand what was going on, but there were quite a few veiled references and allusions made that are probably referring to something from the first book, which is why I wasn't able to follow along. I would definitely recommend people read the first book before reading this one. I also didn't really love the writing style. I found it overly descriptive, especially when it came to automobiles (which I really have no interest in). I also found the plot very confusing: there were a lot of characters introduced and it wasn't always clear how everything was going to play out. I really wanted the story to focus on the child but that was not the case here. There have been a lot of positive reviews out for this book, but it just wasn't for me. I'm giving this a 2/5 stars.

The desert is a lonely place if you don't have company. Some people like it that way.

Ben drives the desert route every day. He picks up supplies and delivers them to the homes and businesses. In the winter, the road is deadly. No one will else will go there. He does it because it pays and he knows the road and it nuances. He never expected to get stuck with a child at the local gas station. The proprietor tells him he has a present at pump eight. He finds a very small child with a note on it. It's from Pedro telling him to keep his son safe. The gas station door is locked, it's snowing and he doesn't have much choice. He wasn't going to take the dog, too, but if he likes his hands he's going to have to...

Crown Publishing and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published January 16th.

I live in the desert, too, and sometimes the road looks like it never ends. The towns are small and not too close to each other. There are abandoned buildings, dead animals with buzzards on them, and ghosts out there. I could relate to this road that Ben travels on. Somehow, he never manages to stay out of trouble. He's still having problems at this point in his life.

The little boy turns out to be a little girl. She doesn't speak. He leaves her with a woman who can care for her (along with the baby he was forced to babysit) and heads back to the service station. Carlos isn't there. Pedro isn't there. He doesn't have time to look for them.

All the characters in this book are eccentric. They're odd, have their quirks, and they listen to a different drummer. Those folks were fine even if they were a bit hard to deal with. But when Ben finds out that the out-of-the-way service station was stealing tires and then moved to other endeavors, he's angry.

This is a dark tale about just how awful the world can be. Sometimes folks have to have a place to hide from the world. And sometimes bad people travel through there, too.

This book had me hooked from the beginning, it's one of those books that is so hard to put down. I loved the story, the characters, the connections that the characters shared together. I also loved the small town feel that this book has.

I liked the story okay but there were a LOT of references to his previous book, "Never open diner" that left me wondering. Good descriptions of the desert and of the fact there are seasons even there. Decent read for me