Listen by Rene Gutteridge

The town of Marlo has been thrown into confusion and crime all because of words that appear on a website. Someone has recorded conversations of the townspeople, word for word, onto the website. The words found there are shocking and devastating. Neighbor has turned against neighbor, friend against friend, husband against wife, all because of careless words spoken when they thought no one was listening. Their private conversations have just gone public. The police are scrambling to control the insanity the town is descending into, but they themselves are caught in the undertow. Marlo Sentential writer Damien Williams is trying to get to the bottom of the problem with his police officer friend Frank. But when words on the site begin to hit his own home and family, the police try to pin it on him and Frank. Damien resolves to find the culprit, or else.

When I first heard the description for this book, I knew it had to be good. Unlike most plots, there's no way this book can't be original. The foundational idea is very strong. The plot makes the reader think rather than only be entertained. The message is cutting and convicting because this type of thing could happen anytime anywhere, and it's all because of our words.

As usual with Rene Gutteridge, the characters are complete with personalities and imperfection. Damien is not the type of lead one would expect from this type of book. Since this plot is all about imperfection, there is no way it can be crafted without imperfect characters. Not even the seemingly typical mentor character is innocent of serial speaking.

The best parts of the plot are who is writing the website and how they are capturing the conversations. This was the area of concern I had because Rene could have easily reverted to a sensational supernatural explanation, bringing down the rating a bit. But she kept the book in reality and gave a good explanation for how the eavesdropping was taking place. But the person who is doing it is the icing on the cake. Not many authors would have taken the leap she did in making the culprit close to home. There is also a key character death near the end to serve as a deep consequence of words.

Listen

is the type of plot we don't get to read very much-one that is centered around choices of the leads. I love these types of plots not only because they are realistic, but also because they make the reader think. Fiction should be about making the reader think about how they can make their life better rather than entertaining him, but doing this through using examples and not being preachy. Rene Gutteridge is one of the most prolific authors on the market because she has mastered this difficult goal.

5 stars

Troubled Waters by Rene Gutteridge

Macey Steigel returns to her birth town in Kansas upon her aging father's death. She is reluctant to do so but does because she feels the need to reconcile her past. But when she arrives, she becomes sidetracked off of her original goal by her mother's disastrous financial situation. She immediately takes it upon herself to teach her mother basic work skills in order to land her a steady office job at a local corporation. During her entire stay, Macey is plagued with memories of her past mistakes and with urgings from her boss to return to her job as an anchor at a TV station. The entire time, her mother keeps trying to share something with her about her past but continues to cave before revealing her secret. However, she must do so before time runs out.

As usual, Rene Gutteridge demonstrates her flair for originality in Troubled Waters. There are good characters, which has become a positive staple to Rene's novels. Not only are most of them imperfect, but most have believable personalities. The one mistake Rene makes in this area is creating an unnecessary perfect male lead. His role never comes to anything and therefore shows that he was unnecessary. His part could have been improved by being given a personality or at least being imperfect.

Several realistic things happen throughout the book. In this type of confronting-your-past book, not many authors explore realistic side topics such as financial issues like Rene did in this book. Macey's personality makes her want to fix her mother's situation, which is something that could happen any day. These are the kinds of issues fiction needs to be based upon-realistic, everyday life situations that can serve to teach the reader how to avoid the mistakes the characters make.

As another plus, Macey's troubled past is her fault, as the reader finds out near the end of the book. Even though the situation is slightly overused, it is still realistic and something that could happen every day.

And to top things off, the end is realistic, as it should have been. Not all things work out, but the things that do work out work out in a realistic way. If Rene had just given the male lead a personality and some imperfection, we could be looking at a five star novel here. But since she did not, she will fall short of that honor.

However, this is not a book that should be overlooked. Troubled Waters is a prime example of the kind of fiction that should be on the market. I hope many authors learn this in the future.

4.5 stars

Storm Gathering by Rene Gutteridge

When Mick Kline wakes up on the floor of a woman's apartment he barely knows with no remembrance with what happened the previous night, he is immediately accused of her murder. No one believes him when he says he didn't kill her. Everyone just wants someone to blame, and he's the most convenient target.

Evidence continues to mount against him and implicate him with her murder, so Mick finds himself literally on a run for his life. With no one on his side, he must find the evidence he needs in order to prove himself innocent.

The whole idea behind this plot is pretty lame to start with. Mick Kline is the ultimate downtrodden character who no one likes. No one believes his story. Poor, poor, Mick. Mick is portrayed as a victim the entire time. The sickening part is, evidence is actually found in the end in his favor. Not that I didn't see it coming, though.

There are many stereotypical circumstances throughout the plot like a crooked detective who strives for evidence against Mick, a woman who used to love Mick but now loves his brother, and a typical enemy character who has the same kinds of thoughts that most other murderer characters do. There aren't any good characters, of course. They are all either perfect or evil. As with most "suspense", there are no ambiguous characters.

The problem with books marketed as suspense is that they aren't really suspenseful. The reader knows all along that the good guys are going to win out. That's not suspense. Suspense is truly not knowing what's going on or what's going to happen at the end. That's why suspense has become a mediocre genre.

At the end of the book, there are several unrealistic convenient connections that help the heroes solve the mystery and that help Mick get off clean. This makes the situation even worse because if Rene Gutteridge had actually come up with a good reason for why Mick was innocent, that would have been one thing. But since she resorted to cheesy pieces of Literary Trash like convenient connections, this makes the book even worse.

There is one original thing at the end that saves the book from being completely absurd but that is it.

I think Rene Gutteridge needs to stick to more non-"suspenseful" plots like Ghost Writer and Snitch in order for her to be an original author.

1.5 stars

Ghost Writer by Rene Gutteridge

Jonathan Harper is an accomplished editor, one of the best at his publishing house, but his career and life are about to unravel over an anonymous manuscript. The contents of the manuscript appear to be his life. Starting with his birth and leading up to the present day. Someone knows his life and is trying to scare him with it.

The best thing about this book is that it's not like all the other "ghost writer" stories. This isn't a horror story; it's just a normal plot about an editor. Also, there actually is a real ghost writer.

The other manuscripts Jonathan receives day to day are also very interesting. There are two others in particular that are interesting enough to be real novels and not just figments.

Though the characters are imperfect, they don't really show any kind of personality. But they are better than most.

The person writing the manuscript of Jonathan's life is not revealed until the very end of the book. It's very surprising, yet not so surprising at the same time.

There are several other original things about the book, such as key character deaths and realistic everyday life.

The one drag to this book is its length. It drags on and on mainly because the author reveals the full content of one of the manuscripts besides the one of his life.

But that's not the only thing keeping it from perfection. Several things turn out perfectly in the end, yet several things do not.

There is one disturbing issue brought up at the end. I'm not sure how much Rene believes in it, but it stood out to me. It deals with publishing houses rejecting original manuscripts just because the public doesn't like them.

All in all, Ghost Writer is one of Rene's unsung books, and it is probably better than some of her more popular ones.

4 stars

Snitch by Rene Gutteridge

Even though I read the Occupational Hazards series out of order, it still made sense because these books can stand alone. This is one of the good things about the series.
While I wasn't impressed by Scoop and liked Skid pretty good, Snitch is definitely the best in the series.
Ron Yeager is an old police officer just trying to fill out his last years with the force before retiring by sitting at a desk all day. His wife insists he do so. But when he is charged to train several new recruits on the force to be undercover officers like he was back in the day, he jumps at the chance without telling his wife. The only problem is, he bites off more than he can chew.
Mack Hazard has joined the force after her parents died. Her brother has sold their clown business off and encouraged his younger siblings to find new jobs. Undercover work is the direction she shoots for.
Jesse has been an undercover officer for some time, so he has a lot of baggage. But he wants to do undercover work his way, not the way some crotchety old man wants him to. Jesse is a bit of a maverick when is comes to dealing with criminals.
Kyle is a pastor unsure of himself and of his sermon lengths, so he's come to hang out with his old friend Ron. He joins the action temporarily and gets more than he asked for.
Kyle is one of the best characters I have ever read. Normally, his kind of personality would be an in for a perfect character, but Rene handles it very well. He's very gullible, not understanding sarcasm well. There aren't many characters out there like him.
There are many good background characters with unemphasized traits. Overemphasizing is the worst thing an author can do to their "funny" characters, but Rene controlled herself.
Mack is the one downfall to this book, since it is a character based plot. She's perfect, like all the other Hazards. She's constantly spouting off Scripture and knows what to say in any situation.
At least Rene didn't try to make this a suspense plot, because if she had, it wouldn't even be Elite.
There is only the slightest hint of a romantic subplot at the end. Otherwise, nothing!
Where there was an opportunity for one of the characters to have a last chapter conversion, they didn't!
This is Rene's best book to date, mostly because of the imperfect end.
4.5 stars

Scoop by Rene Gutteridge

Hugo Telley didn't know what he was getting into when he hired Hayden Hazard on as his executive assistant at the News Channel 7, the station he produces. But things were already going wrong before he arrival. Gilda Braun, their popular news anchor, is forever ensconced in her position at the desk. She's practically an idol in the town, having her own statue at the airport. Or used to be an idol. The problem is, she's really old. Old in age, old in wardrobe choices, old in makeup choices, and generally old-fashioned.
But replacing her will be a hard task, especially since their station has been last in ratings for the past few years. Changing anything would wreak even more havoc. But when his only good reporter gets injured while out in the field, things start to take a turn for the better, believe it or not.
Hayden Hazard comes from a big family who used to make up a clown business. But now, their parents have died, and the oldest son has sold the business, leaving the seven siblings to fend for themselves in the big world. That's why Hayden is eager to step in when Gilda mysteriously disappears from the desk and her home.
There are several things keeping this comedic book off the Elite List. First of all, Hayden is perfect. As perfect as she can be. She has no flaws at all. However, most of the other characters are funny and believable.
Second of all, ends are not Rene's forte, so to say (pardon the rhyming). By the end, she had created four romantic subplots. She hooked every significant female with every significant male and they were all happy. Everything turns out perfect at the end.
I think it would have been better if Gilda would have remained missing and if Hayden had just stayed at the desk.
Also, surely Rene could have worked on Hayden's character more. She worked on all the others and they were just fine.
Those are the only black spots that keep this book off the Elite List. Otherwise, it's a fine read.
3 stars

Skid by Rene Gutteridge

Danny McSweeney never knew what he was in for when he agreed to be first officer on flight 1945, Atlanta to Amsterdam. Between an eccentric, aloof pilot, a copilot who's always got a nickname and a conspiracy theory to spout, and a lead flight attendant who thinks she runs the show, he almost resigns from his job.
On top of that, on the over side of the cockpit door, a woman has a very original carry-on: a pot-bellied pig with a personality. Also, a thief is aboard, along with a loud Oprah worshiper and of course, Hank Hazard, the sibling in this book.
Hank is almost a background character himself. His occupation is an airline inspector, a man payed to test the airline's patience and accommodations. The problem with Hank is that he's a perfect character, despite what some people might say. The other characters, however are real and believable.
Rene makes the flight drag on for a while without making it boring. The planes takes off at about page one hundred and stays in the air all the way until the epilogue.
The main problems with this book are, of course, Hank's perfection, and also a "suspenseful" scene at the end in which a passenger holds up the plane with a gun. This, in my opinion was unnecessary and forced into the plot.
Also, the book is hardly about Hank's profession. He isn't even the type of person to hold down a picky job like that. I think the book would have achieved a five star rating if the book has been completely from Hank's perspective and to have it all about his asking for accommodations. That would be truly funny and original.
To say this book is a comedy would be an overstatement. I believe that those looking for a comedy will be disappointed, but those looking for a good character based story will be satisfied.
It's good enough to be Elite.
4 stars