Identification points are listed only where two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 3 Nov 2026.
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First published by Doubleday (Dolphin) in New York in 1987, ISBN 0-385-23452-X. The first UK edition is the Grafton hardback, London, 1988, with a 1987 copyright date; Open Library gives 21 January 1988. Its ISBN is 0-246-13298-1, and the British Library records xiii plus 512 pages with 16 pages of plates and the subtitle 'an investigation into a dangerous satanic cult'. A much thicker Grafton paperback followed (ISBN 0-586-20187-4, 798 pages; the British Library dates it 1988, Open Library 1989). Later softcover reissues, such as Quirk's 2012 edition subtitled The Search for the Sons of Sam, are not firsts. Check that the title page names Grafton and that the copyright page carries the 0-246 ISBN.
We have not yet confirmed the issue points that tell this first impression from later ones. Until we do, compare your copy's title page and copyright page with the publisher, place and year above: any later printing or edition statement means it is not this one.
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Grafton, London, in 1988, in hardback.
Points of issue are listed only where at least two independent sources agree. Last reviewed 3 November 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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