The Never-Open Desert Diner

Ben Jones delivers packages in a remote region of Utah. His clients are odd, unsociable people. He owes money to many, and very little is coming in. And then he meets Claire, a beautiful mysterious cello player, and suddenly he is lost, much more lost than he has ever been.

The characters in this story feel as deeply real as they do desperately strange, and they seem perfectly suited for this desert region. I liked Ben Jones. I liked all the characters, in fact, and it was these peculiar characters that are the charm of the book.