Hospital bosses have prevented a book by Ian Brady being published in Britain.
The Gates of Janus, which is said to profile the minds of serial killers such as Peter Sutcliffe, has been sold to US publisher, Feral House.
It will be in US bookshops by the end of the year.
Under a deal with a British distributor, copies of the 300-page book were due to go on sale in the UK in November.
But Ashworth Hospital, where Moors murderer Brady is being held, has won a temporary injunction stopping publication in Britain while it is checked whether the book breaches patient confidentiality.
As a result, a shipment of 3,500 copies of the book to Britain has been halted, pending a hearing next week in front of a High Court judge.
An Ashworth spokeswoman said: "A temporary injunction was taken out to restrain publication of the book on the basis that we want to read the book to check that it doesn't breach patient confidentiality.
"We have spoken to the publishers and asked to have sight of the book but we have not received a copy yet."
The book's US publisher, Mr Adam Parfrey, said the hospital's concerns were not justified. "This legal challenge has no merit whatsoever. The book does not discuss Ashworth or its patients," he said.
Mr Parfrey says the book is partly a philosophical analysis of the human condition and crime in general, and partly an attempt by Brady to profile specific criminals, in the manner of the FBI.
PA