TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of September 28, 1986

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
IT
Stephen King
Cover of IT

IT

by Stephen King · Viking Press

14 wks at #1 · 3 on list

Stephen King's classic #1 New York Times bestseller and the basis for the massively successful films It: Chapter One and It: Chapter Two as well as inspiration for HBO Max’s upcoming Welcome to Derry—about seven adults who return to their hometown to confront a nightmare they had first stumbled upon as teenagers...an evil without a name: It. Welcome to Derry, Maine. It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real. They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But the promise they made twenty-eight years ago calls them reunite in the same place where, as teenagers, they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that terrifying summer return as they prepare to once again battle the monster lurking in Derry’s sewers. Readers of Stephen King know that Derry, Maine, is a place with a deep, dark hold on the author. It reappears in many of his books, including Bag of Bones, Hearts in Atlantis, and 11/22/63. But it all starts with It. “Stephen King’s most mature work” (St. Petersburg Times), “It will overwhelm you…to be read in a well-lit room only” (Los Angeles Times).

2
RED STORM RISING
Tom Clancy
Cover of RED STORM RISING

RED STORM RISING

by Tom Clancy · Putnam

9 wks on list

When Moslem fundamentalists destroy a key Soviet oil complex, the Russians initiate a plan of diplomatic trickery for their seizure of Persian Gulf oil.

5
1
A MATTER OF HONOR
Jeffrey Archer
Cover of A MATTER OF HONOR

A MATTER OF HONOR

by Jeffrey Archer · Linden/Simon & Schuster

13 wks on list

Two letters that are Adam Scott's bequest from his father lead him to a priceless fourteenth-century icon and make him a hunted man threatened by secrets linked to the Nazis and to the last days of Tsarist Russia.

6
LAST OF THE BREED
Louis L'Amour
7
2
ROGER'S VERSION
John Updike
8
1
REGRETS ONLY
Sally Quinn
Cover of REGRETS ONLY

REGRETS ONLY

by Sally Quinn · Simon & Schuster

6 wks on list

An account by Sally Quinn of her brief time as a television news anchor with CBS Morning News.

10
THE BOURNE SUPREMACY
Robert Ludlum
Cover of THE BOURNE SUPREMACY

THE BOURNE SUPREMACY

by Robert Ludlum · Random House

30 wks on list

Scrawled in a pool of blood is one name the world wanted to forget - Jason Bourne...The second, brilliant Bourne novel from worldwide bestselling author Robert Ludlum. 'A killer of a thriller' USA Today 'Watch your back 007 - Bourne is out to get you' Sunday Times Washington, Hong Kong and Peking - terror sweeps the globe. The Vice-Premier of the People's Republic has been brutally murdered by a legendary assassin, and everyone is asking the same fearful questions: why has Bourne come back? Who is paying him? Who is next on his death list? But US officials know the shocking truth: there is no Jason Bourne. There never was. But someone has resurrected the name, and if he is not stopped, the world will pay a devastating price. Jason Bourne must live again. He must utilise his murderous skills. But this time the will to survive is not enough. This time Bourne must reign supreme...

13
2
THE MAMMOTH HUNTERS
Jean M. Auel
Cover of THE MAMMOTH HUNTERS
14
2
ACT OF WILL
Barbara Taylor Bradford
Cover of ACT OF WILL

ACT OF WILL

by Barbara Taylor Bradford · Doubleday

15 wks on list

Barbara Taylor Bradford, who has earned herself a place in the hearts of millions with her phenomenal bestsellers A Woman of Substance, Hold the Dream, and To Be the Best, now brings us the equally enthralling and truly masterful story of three generations of women...and the choices they make. Audra's story, begun in 1926 England, is one of struggle. After the great passion of her marriage is replaced by tragedy, she vows to give her precious daughter Christina the world. Repaying the benefits of her mother's iron-willed promise, Christina rises to the top of the fashion industry as the head of her own business empire in New York. But in the most fateful decision of her life, she sacrifices her real dream in the name of love. With her daughter Kyle, the story comes full circle. Will her mother's dream be Kyle's own? Or will she tear the family apart with a single, momentous decision of her own? As powerful and personal a tale as any Barbara Taylor Bradford has ever written, this is a wonderfully involving and sweeping novel of three remarkable women, each committing an act of will that will define their lives forever.

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.