Author: Rene Gutteridge

Rene Gutteridge turns overheard speech into a community crisis in Listen. Conversations from kitchens, offices, and parked cars begin appearing online word for word throughout the town of Marlo. Private remarks lose their context, damaging friendships and encouraging neighbors to look at one another with suspicion. Newspaper columnist Damien Underwood and his friend Frank Merret investigate how the postings are gathered while consequences reach their own families. Tyndale House issued Listen during 2010. Although an unknown listener drives the mystery, Gutteridge keeps attention on what exposure does to ordinary relationships. Gossip, restraint, forgiveness, and responsibility matter as much as the technical means behind the disclosures. The story asks whether careless words remain the speaker's burden when another person reveals them without consent, and whether a town can rebuild trust after secrecy becomes impossible.