Authors · NYT Hardcover Fiction

Thomas B. Costain

Charting Sep 16, 1945 → Mar 13, 1960 · 243 weeks with chart power

Peak Power: 13.26%; week of Mar 1, 1953
Career Power: 2,284; share-weeks
Weeks at #1: 44; weeks as the top author

Peak Year: 648; August 1952 – August 1953
Peak Five Years: 994; January 1949 – January 1954
Top-five weeks: 156; weeks ranked 1–5
Longevity: 243; weeks with chart power
Dominance: 14.53%; week of Oct 7, 1945
Comebacks: 6; August 1947, December 1950, September 1952, November 1955, November 1957, January 1960

Comebacks (thresholds from `config/scoring.json`)
Kind	Trough began	Returned	Trough weeks	Longest absence	Prior peak	Return share
After decline	Aug 4, 1946	Aug 24, 1947	55	52	12.93%	4.84%
After decline	Jul 3, 1949	Dec 17, 1950	76	71	12.93%	4.58%
After decline	Apr 29, 1951	Sep 7, 1952	71	66	12.93%	5.53%
After decline	Nov 15, 1953	Nov 20, 1955	104	88	13.26%	4.96%
After decline	Apr 8, 1956	Nov 24, 1957	85	79	13.26%	5.07%
After decline	May 25, 1958	Jan 24, 1960	85	73	13.26%	4.93%

Ranked by weekly Power Share, part of the ChartReign Power model — not the list's own positions (config version 4, Sep 22, 2026). How it works →

Exponentially smoothed share of the week's total power (the primary metric).

Titles on the NYT Hardcover Fiction

8 books · 2,284 share-weeks of Career Power

Power contributed is what each book earned this author: their weekly Power Share, split across their books (a featured credit takes its reduced share). Book Power is the book's own figure, the same for every author on it. Bar length compares books within this list.

Title	Peak	Weeks	On chart	Power contributedPower	Book Power
The Silver Chalice	#1September 1952	68	August 1952 – January 1954	702.7	702.7
The Black Rose	#1October 1945	39	September 1945 – June 1946	449.5	449.5
The Moneyman	#1August 1947	31	August 1947 – February 1948	347.9	347.9
Below the Salt	#3November 1957	26	October 1957 – April 1958	227.5	227.5
The Tontine	#3November 1955	23	October 1955 – March 1956	154.0	154.0
Son of a Hundred Kings	#2December 1950	19	November 1950 – March 1951	147.8	147.8
High Towers	#3February 1949	18	January 1949 – May 1949	145.5	145.5
The Darkness and the Dawn	#4November 1959	19	November 1959 – March 1960	109.2	109.2