Burnham-On-Sea author George Clement has published his first novel, The Listener, a compelling psychological thriller.
A launch event for the new book was held on Friday at the Victoria Hotel in Burnham, as pictured here.
George has worked as a Listening Volunteer with the Samaritans for almost three years and has an in-depth knowledge of the types of calls portrayed in his compelling novel.
His book is a fast-paced drama centred on the main character, a Good Samaritan called Robert.
Readers will live and breathe the tension of the calls and the agony and despair of Robert’s mental struggle.
George says that when his grandson took his life at the age of 18, “it devastated my family and I made a pledge to try to stop this happening to other families. So I decided to join the Samaritans as a Listening Volunteer.”
“I have spent the last two-and-a-half years listening to not only suicidal people but all types of people, with all types of problems, who are desperate to talk to someone. It has been a wonderfully rewarding experience, full of emotion and sometimes tragedy. But I am glad I have been able to help.”
“I wanted to write an account of the types of calls I had received, whilst protecting the confidentiality of the callers. So my work of fiction, telling the story of Robert the Listener, was born.”
Robert is a listener, a volunteer who takes calls from people in the depths of despair, and offers them emotional support.
Some are on the verge of suicide in a bid to escape mental illness and depression, physical pain, domestic and sexual abuse, violence, drug and alcohol addictions, gender identity, debt, homelessness and many other problems that are all to common in today’s society.
He begins a steamy love affair on an overnight shift with Nicola, a beautiful fellow Listener whose marriage is on the rocks, and their romance blossoms into love but instead of helping victims, Robert suddenly becomes one himself. Stalked by Jade, a caller whom Robert tries to help escape from her brutal criminal boyfriend, his own life is systematically destroyed.
His relationship with Nicola is also ruined, and Robert spirals into the dark depths of a mental breakdown, culminating in Robert himself making a desperate final phone call to the Samaritans as he faces his own demise.
● The Listener by George Clement is available here from Amazon.co.uk and the paperback is also available from www.georgeclement.co.uk
