Listen

My goal is to read 100 books by the end of 2013.  I just finished book 38.

Listen by Rene Gutteridge

Summary:
The small town of Marlo is completely shaken up when a website begins posting private conversations online for everyone to read.  Uproar ensues as neighbors and friends turn on each other, and the police must find out who is behind the website and how the conversations are being recorded before the violence escalates into murder.

My Opinion:
I read this for my book club and believe we will have plenty to talk about.
What a fascinating, frightening concept.  Conversations thought to be private (the ones that bothered me the most were the ones recorded between spouses in their own home...who hasn't been their less-than-best selves in those moments before?) turn up verbatim online for the entire town to read.  Suspicion, embarrassment, and hurt feelings bring out the worst in people, and this town went crazy.  Completely crazy.  Actually, unbelievably crazy in my opinion.  While the book was compulsively readable, I would recommend it with the caveat that the ending wraps up entirely too neatly for the high-level drama that occurred throughout the entire book.

Quote from the Book:
"All this over a conversation.  We humans can tame animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue."