THE New York Times published a review of the final Harry Potter book today before its official release, drawing a stinging response from its British publishers.
The review, by Michiko Kakutani, appeared in the newspaper's online version overnight, ahead of the official release of the eagerly awaited Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which goes on sale in Australia on Saturday.
Bloomsbury, which publishes Harry Potter in Britain, and Scholastic, its US publisher, spent millions of dollars trying to protect the contents of the novel until its official publication.
But copies of Deathly Hallows, believed to include both fake and real versions, have surfaced on the internet and this week some books were shipped to customers by a U. online retailer, prompting Scholastic to take legal action.
The seventh and final Harry Potter instalment is expected to become the world's fastest selling book after months of hype and speculation about its contents, including what happens to the boy wizard and his friends at Hogwarts.
The New York Times review said its copy was purchased from a New York City store on Wednesday.
Bloomsbury called the review "very sad", adding that there was only one more day to wait until the official release in book stores around the world.
Twelve million copies of the book have been printed for the US market alone.
"We will be relying on the support of the media to allow the fans to read the book for themselves rather than having to see reviews that may have been based on fake postings on the internet," said a spokeswoman.