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50 Shades Of ‘Hey! Where’s My Book?’ As Grey Sequel Stolen

Police were called in after a copy of the 50 Shades manuscript went missing on Tuesday.

Dakota Johnson, left, and Jamie Dornan appear in a scene from the film, Fifty Shades of Grey. (AP Photo/Universal Pictures and Focus Features)
Dakota Johnson, left, and Jamie Dornan appear in a scene from the film, Fifty Shades of Grey. (AP Photo/Universal Pictures and Focus Features)

A copy of the sequel to E.L. James’s wildly successful 50 Shades trilogy has been stolen.

A police investigation into the missing book has been launched and many are speculating that the stolen novel could turn up on “the black market” (a.k.a the internet) or be sold to the highest bidding tabloid before its official release.

The book, titled ‘Grey’, sees the raunchy S&M story told from Christian Grey’s perspective and is set to hit bookshops on June 18th to coincide with the character’s birthday.

The theft was first noticed on Tuesday morning and, although neither publisher Penguin Random House nor the author is commenting while the investigation is ongoing, it sounds as though a hard copy of the book was stolen rather than a digital version.

 

The original 50 Shades trilogy sold 125 million copies after its release in 2011, with the author’s personal wealth estimated at £75 million as a result.

With huge appetite for the literotica franchise, there could be big money to be made from an early look at the new novel.

It’s not the first time something like this has happened: In 2008, Stephanie Meyer’s incomplete manuscript for Midnight Sun – a Twilight book told from Edward’s point of view – was stolen from her computer and leaked online. Meyer was so annoyed she spiked the entire project.

Arch overlady of Young Adult lit JK Rowling had problems with books going missing, too. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was leaked days before its release in 2007 and caused outrage among fans as cynical editors published spoilers including which characters died in the book.

Although Grey fans on social media haven’t been too upset by the theft thus far, some are still speculating over where James got the original idea from.