# Is "77 Shadow Street" by Dean Koontz a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz (Bantam, 2011) is identified by: Bantam trade hardcover, published December 27, 2011. The Bantam US trade hardcover is the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Bantam trade hardcover, published December 27, 2011
- The first printing states First Edition on the copyright page above a split number line reading 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1, so the low number 1 is present in the odd-descending half
- ISBN 978-0-553-80771-4
- Issued in cloth-backed boards under a priced pictorial dust jacket; a first-issue jacket carries the original printed price on the front flap and is unclipped
- Publisher imprint reads Bantam
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Dean Koontz |
| Publisher | Bantam |
| Year | 2011 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Bantam trade hardcover, published December 27, 2011 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Bantam trade hardcover, published December 27, 2011. The first printing states First Edition on the copyright page above a split number line reading 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1, so the low number 1 is present in the odd-descending half. ISBN 978-0-553-80771-4. Issued in cloth-backed boards under a priced pictorial dust jacket; a first-issue jacket carries the original printed price on the front flap and is unclipped.

## Is this the true first?
The Bantam US trade hardcover is the true first. The Charnel House signed limited edition (150 numbered copies handbound in green crackle paper and cased in black Japanese silk, plus 26 lettered copies in reverse three-quarter dark-green Morocco) followed in 2012, and the HarperCollins UK edition appeared in January 2012, so both postdate the Bantam trade.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A standard Book Club Edition (Bantam, book club identifier 134376) and a large-print book club edition (ISBN 978-1-61793-299-1) exist; both lack the 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 copyright-page number line and carry no printed price on the jacket. An Advance Reader's Edition also exists and contains two printing errors corrected in the trade first, but it is a proof, not the first edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *77 Shadow Street* by Dean Koontz a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/77-shadow-street
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.