# Is "Countdown City" by Ben H. Winters a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Countdown City by Ben H. Winters (Quirk Books, 2013) is identified by: US Quirk Books trade paperback original, published July 16, 2013 (paperback ISBN 9781594746260; 9781594746277 is the concurrent e-book ISBN); The Last Policeman #2. The US Quirk paperback original of July 2013 is the true first; there was no preceding hardcover.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- US Quirk Books trade paperback original, published July 16, 2013 (paperback ISBN 9781594746260
- 9781594746277 is the concurrent e-book ISBN)
- The Last Policeman #2
- First printing identified by the full number line on the copyright page counting down to 1
- Pictorial wrappers with the printed cover price present
- Publisher imprint reads Quirk Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ben H. Winters |
| Publisher | Quirk Books |
| Year | 2013 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | US Quirk Books trade paperback original, published July 16, 2013 (paperback ISBN 9781594746260 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
US Quirk Books trade paperback original, published July 16, 2013 (paperback ISBN 9781594746260; 9781594746277 is the concurrent e-book ISBN); The Last Policeman #2. First printing identified by the full number line on the copyright page counting down to 1. Pictorial wrappers with the printed cover price present.

## Is this the true first?
The US Quirk paperback original of July 2013 is the true first; there was no preceding hardcover. Won the Philip K. Dick Award for the year's best original US paperback (announced 2014, for works of 2013).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later Quirk reissues within the Last Policeman Trilogy branding are reprints; the first printing retains the complete number line down to 1.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Countdown City* by Ben H. Winters a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/countdown-city
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.