Rose's best friend, Axton, is a geek and a pothead but when
he disappears, Rose is compelled to search for him. Rose
and Ax both came from wealthy families. When Rose turns her
back on her family, struggling to put herself through
college and working as a waitress in a small diner.
Ax left his backpack with Rose before he disappeared. She
discovers a hard drive in it. With the help of two of Ax's
co-workers and a couple of her own, Rose is drawn into a
world of illicit gambling. Threatened by a man and his
thugs for the return on his property, Rose is kidnapped,
threatened, and has everything in her apartment destroyed
but she can't fail her friend.
DINERS, DIVES & DEAD ENDS contained a mystery with a
secondary sub-plot.
The major plot revolves around Ax and his disappearance.
The secondary plot focuses on Rose. While I enjoyed the
mystery, the acrimonious exchanges between Rose and her
mother diminished my enjoyment of the story.
As a struggling waitress and part-time college student, Rose
Strickland's life is stalled in the slow lane. But when her
close friend, Axton, disappears, Rose suddenly finds herself
serving up more than hot coffee and flapjacks. Now she's
hashing it out with sexy bad guys and scrambling to find
clues in a race to save Axton before his time runs out.
With her anime-loving bestie, her septuagenarian boss, and a
pair of IT wise men along for the ride, Rose discovers
political corruption, illegal gambling, and shady
corporations. She's gone from zero to sixty and quickly
learns when you're speeding down the fast lane, it's easy to
crash and burn.