Christian Retailing

Bonus Web Review: Listen Print Email
Written by Bonnie Bruner   
Sunday, 07 February 2010 11:00 PM America/New_York

Suspense author Gutteridge tells a convicting story of small-town gossip that mysteriously turns into public information on the Internet. Her latest novel, Listen, reveals the dangers of negative words.

As a columnist for his local newspaper, Damien Underwood makes his living through the power of words. With love for his safe and picturesque hometown of Marlo, he writes to influence his friends and neighbors in positive ways. Though his family, complete with a wife and two teenage children, is not perfect, they fit quite normally within the quiet town.

Strange happenings in Marlo begin with a few domestic incidents that catch the attention of Officer Frank Merret. As outbreaks of violence increase daily, the only evident source for all the conflict lies with a Web site where private conversations of the town's residents are being published for everyone to read. Though at first the site is only a menace, hardly warranting a serious police investigation, it eventually turns the town down an unforgettable path of hurt, resentment, fear and violence.

Listen offers readers a gripping plot and a significant message that spoken words carry more weight than anyone can know.
-Bonnie Bruner

Listen

Renee Gutteridge

Tyndale House Publishers

softcover, 432 pages, $12.99

978-1-414-32433-3