# Is "Stalking the Angel" by Robert Crais a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Stalking the Angel by Robert Crais (Bantam, 1989) is identified by: First US hardcover edition, Bantam Books, dated 1989, the second Elvis Cole novel and Crais's first book published in hardcover. The true first is the US Bantam HARDCOVER, not a paperback original.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First US hardcover edition, Bantam Books, dated 1989, the second Elvis Cole novel and Crais's first book published in hardcover
- First printing shows the complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page
- Binding is quarter black cloth over light blue paper boards with silver spine lettering, collating to roughly 231 pages, issued in a priced pictorial dust jacket with the printed price present on the front flap; a price-clipped flap does not change the first-printing identification, which rests on the number line
- Publisher imprint reads Bantam
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Robert Crais |
| Publisher | Bantam |
| Year | 1989 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First US hardcover edition, Bantam Books, dated 1989, the second Elvis Cole novel and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First US hardcover edition, Bantam Books, dated 1989, the second Elvis Cole novel and Crais's first book published in hardcover. First printing shows the complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Binding is quarter black cloth over light blue paper boards with silver spine lettering, collating to roughly 231 pages, issued in a priced pictorial dust jacket with the printed price present on the front flap; a price-clipped flap does not change the first-printing identification, which rests on the number line.

## Is this the true first?
The true first is the US Bantam HARDCOVER, not a paperback original. Stalking the Angel was Crais's first book published in hardcover; it is the second Elvis Cole novel. (His debut, The Monkey's Raincoat, was the paperback original.)

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Verify a first printing by the complete number line and the priced dust jacket; a book-club edition, where present, lacks the printed jacket price and shows a lighter binding, and should not be confused with later paperback printings.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Stalking the Angel* by Robert Crais a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/stalking-the-angel
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.