Stated first edition, dated, confirmed as a paperback original by ISFDB. Tght, flat, square book with edge wear. Pages toned. Owner's marks on the inside front wrapper.

George Quinterus was seeking the reason for an outbreak of senseless murders—each one committed with a mysterious, ill-fashioned sword. Buried in the musty pages of ancient books, he found that the primitive weapon had been fashioned eons ago at a time of shamanistic spells and forgotten knowledge.

Had this weapon somehow come down through the ages, its thirst for vengeance never sated? Or was it being used by a mysterious league of thrill-killers, able to control minds at a distance?

In either case, the sword was drawing innocent blood and ruling its possessors with a dark power that only the unfortunate chosen could understand—but never resist. Somehow, Quinterus could not abandon his reckless quest...then he suddenly and inexplicably found himself presented with the sword!