PROCTORVILLE — An opportunity for Tri-State book lovers to show their support for an area author is just around the corner.

Chesapeake resident Eliot Parker will be at the Proctorville branch of the Briggs Lawrence County Public Library Thursday to sign copies of his latest novel “Breakdown at Clear River.”

Eliot said the sports mystery goes beyond the typical.

“I wanted to write a book at a college campus dealing with more than the normal problems,” Parker said. “I talked with a lot of people at colleges across the country and asked what would be the worst piece of news they could receive coming into work on a Monday morning – 90 percent answered something bad happening to one of their students.”

“Breakdown at Clear River” focuses on the total collapse of a small college after the death of one of its students. Parker said he chose sports to play a large theme in his writer because he has worked for radio stations where his primary focus was sports.

“I liked the competition aspect of sports,” Parker said. “You put people in an environment where winning is the most important thing and it brings out the best and worst in people.”

Parker said “Breakdown at Clear River” illustrates how differently people can act on and off the field. He said the need to win can shape a person for good or bad.

Parker is a graduate of Marshall University and Eastern Kentucky University. He is an English professor at Mountwest Community and Technical College in Huntington, W.Va.