DEAN KOONTZ & PHIL PARKS (ILLUSTRATOR) - THE KEY TO MIDNIGHT, copyright 1979, published by small press publisher Dark Harvest in 1989, FIRST PRINTING (stated as such on copyright page with no references to subsequent printings), blue endpapers, black leather boards with silver gilt lettering on spine, $18.95 price on DJ front flap.  This book was originally published under the penname "Leigh Nichols" as a pb only in 1979 - this Dark Harvest edition marks the first U.S. trade hardcover and the first publication under Koontz's own name.

    Book is unread with pages that are white with sharp corners (not cracked open), no creased page corners, barest hint of dust soiling to outer page edges (no age darkening/foxing), nice tight spine with no spine lean, no internal hinge splits, no former owner's markings or used bookstore stamps/stickers inside, no scotch tape marks or other discoloration to endpapers, no wear to board edges or corners or spine tips, no glue tearing at internal spine creases, no bumped board corners.

    Dust jacket has no chipping, tearing or creasing, no wear to spine tips, no wear to front flap crease, no age yellowing, no soiling or staining, no edge wear, no spine sun fading (common defect with this DJ). 

    Overall a N-FINE book in N-FINE condition dust jacket (not price clipped) of a rare Dean Koontz first printing hardcover book.  I have a number of other U.S. and U.K. Dean Koontz 1st printing hardcover/paperback/magazine appearances up for auction on ebay - just click on the 'see other items' link to the right of the picture.

      NOTE - MEDIA MAIL ROUTINELY TAKES 3-4 WEEKS (REGARDLESS OF WHAT EBAY MAY SAY - THEY DON'T CONTROL THE POST OFFICE).  For U.S. buyers, both priority mail (3-5 days) and media mail (3-4 weeks) shipping options will be listed in the ebay invoice (or if the book is a paperback or small magazine both 1st class mail (5-7 days) and media mail shipping options will be listed in the ebay invoice) - SIMPLY CLICK ON THE BLUE 'OTHER SHIPPING OPTIONS' LINK IN THE INVOICE TO SEE BOTH SHIPPING OPTIONS/COST.

     DELIVERY CONFIRMATION IS NOT TRACKING (despite what ebay and paypal want to call it - again they don't control the U.S. post office).  Delivery confirmation is merely what it says it is - it confirms delivery to prevent fraudulent chargebacks of claimed unreceived items (which is why I don't charge for delivery confirmation in the shipping costs).  Also, since I print shipping labels from home (as opposed to purchasing shipping at the post office), the delivery confirmation number IS NOT SCANNED BY THE POST OFFICE AT THIS END.  Therefore, in most cases, the first time that the Post Office will show anything when you check the delivery confirmation number is when the package hits your local post office/sorting center (basically the day before its delivered to you).   Occasionally (about 25% of the time) a package will get scanned at the Federal Way, WA transfer station, but in the vast majority of the cases the delivery confirmation won't show anything until basically the day before you get the package.

     I  DO COMBINE SHIPPING COSTS FOR MULTIPLE  ITEMS WON (if you would like estimates of what combined shipping costs might be for a certain group of auctions, please e-mail me before the auctions close but a very rough estimate is $.50-$1.00 per additional book for media mail, $1.00-$2.00 per additional book for priority mail, and $6.00-$7.00 per additional book for international mail). 

       As for returns -All items are used (not new) books and therefore are sold as-is, which is why I try to provide a fairly detailed description of the item itself (i.e. what it is and what it is not) as well its specific condition, noting any significant defects (for collectible items).  Book grades are provided in the posting, however book grading standards/categories very widely from seller to seller, so please do not rely solely on the grade that I have given a book or ebay's provided "condition" box description, without considering the specific condition/defects described for that particular book.  I do, on occasion, miss a significant defect in an item or simply make a cut/paste error in the description (i.e. an error in the description from using a prior posting as the "shell" for this book's description), and for collectible items, if that happens, on a case-by-case basis I do issue a full refund (including the cost of return shipping) depending upon the collectible significance of the undisclosed defect.