Need Blind Admission by Kevin Myers -- BOOK BEGINNING

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

Please join me every Friday for Book Beginnings! Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

SOCIAL MEDIA: If you are on Instagram, Twitter, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up. Find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

TIE IN: Sadly, Freda at Freda's Voice is taking a break from her weekly blog event, The Friday 56, Her event was a natural tie in with this event and there was a lot of cross over, so many people combined the two. Freda needs a break, but I hope she is back soon. Please visit her Freda’s Voice blog even if the Friday 56 is on hold indefinitely. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

William James was beyond saving when the Parker College security guards discovered his body sprawled near the community garden by the border of the affluent South Parker neighborhood.

-- from Need Blind Ambition by Kevin Meyers, out now from Beaufort Books.

Need Blind Ambition is the second novel from Kevin Meyers, a former journalist turned college administrator. I love the play on words in the title, the moody cover, and that first sentence. Wow! It really grabs you, doesn't it?

I only just got my copy and haven't started it yet. I can't wait! A novel of suspense set on a college campus is my cup of tea on any day. (I'm adding it to my list of campus novels right now.) But that this one is set in my town of Portland, Oregon makes it even more tantalizing. 

YOUR BOOK BEGINNINGS 

Please add a link to your Book Beginnings post in the box below. If you share on social media, please use the #bookbeginnings hashtag. Have fun!

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It feels so strange to post my Book Beginning without a Friday 56 teaser! Here is more informaiton about Need Blind Ambition:

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

The desire for relevance--and to save his marriage--is ultimately what pushed Peter Cook to leave his beloved Alaska for the prestigious Parker College. Lured by the chance to work with his childhood political idol turned college president, Peter moves his family to Portland, Oregon to help promote his hero's fundraising initiative that would eliminate financial status from the college's admissions process.

Peter arrives on campus as the Great Recession looms, the stock market is trending toward disaster, and the opioid crisis has breached the walls of the privileged college. He quickly learns the reality of Parker College strays far from its professed idealistic mission after discovering a plot to cover-up felonious drug activity in return for a seven-figure payday to the Need Blind Campaign.

While plumbing the depths of his conscience for the conviction to do the right thing, Peter's untreated childhood trauma resurfaces, threatening to cloud his perception when it needs to be at its sharpest. Peter must stabilize his mental health while also trying to parse competing versions of "the truth" as law enforcement investigates the criminal conspiracy.

Need Blind Ambition asks: how far will a college stray to protect its reputation?