Absolute Power

The census claim is correct: the true first is Warner Books, New York, January 1996, and it is Baldacci's debut novel. The first UK edition is Simon & Schuster Ltd (London), 1996 (ISBN 0-684-81747-0), issued after the Warner and collected as the first British edition only. A '1995' date attached to this title in some catalogue aggregations is a data artefact traceable to a French book-club record and does not indicate any pre-Warner issue. Beware the 1996-97 Warner and Simon & Schuster trade paperbacks, the Thorndike large-print, and the 1997 film tie-ins — all reprints or 'first thus'.