TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of February 21, 1993

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1
THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY
Robert James Waller
Cover of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY

THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY

by Robert James Waller · Warner

38 wks at #1 · 28 on list

Fall in love with one of the bestselling novels of all time -- the legendary love story that became a beloved film starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. If you've ever experienced the one true love of your life, a love that for some reason could never be, you will understand why readers all over the world are so moved by this small, unknown first novel that they became a publishing phenomenon and #1 bestseller. The story of Robert Kincaid, the photographer and free spirit searching for the covered bridges of Madison County, and Francesca Johnson, the farm wife waiting for the fulfillment of a girlhood dream, The Bridges of Madison County gives voice to the longings of men and women everywhere -- and shows us what it is to love and be loved so intensely that life is never the same again.

2
DRAGON TEARS
Dean Koontz
Cover of DRAGON TEARS

DRAGON TEARS

by Dean Koontz · Putnam

5 wks on list

Harry Lyon is a cop who embraces tradition and order. The biggest bane of his life is his partner, Connie Gulliver. Harry doesn't like the messiness of her desk, her lack of social polish or her sometimes casual attitude towards the law. 'Look, Harry, it's the Age of Chaos,' she tells him. 'Get with the times.' And when Harry and Connie have to take out a hopped-up gunman in a restaurant, the chase and shootout swiftly degenerate into a surreal nightmare that seems to justify Connie's view of the modern world. Shortly after, Harry encounters a filthy, rag-clad denizen of the streets, who says ominously, 'Ticktock, ticktock. You'll be dead in sixteen hours.' Struggling to regain the orderly life he cherishes, Harry is trapped in an undertow of terror and violence. For reasons he does not understand, someone is after him, Connie Gulliver and the people he loves.

3
DEGREE OF GUILT
Richard North Patterson
Cover of DEGREE OF GUILT

DEGREE OF GUILT

by Richard North Patterson · Knopf

4 wks on list

Christopher Paget is a trial lawyer with a famous past: as a young investigator in Washington he unearthed a scandal that brought ruin to the President - and an abrupt end to his affair with journalist Mary Carelli. Now, fifteen years later, Carelli is a famous TV journalist in New York and Paget is leading a relatively tranquil life raising their son in San Francisco. Until a charge of murder changes everything. The victim - a world famous (and infamous) novelist. The accused - Mary Carelli. When Paget agrees to defend her, largely for the sake of their son, her claims of attempted rape and self-defence seem water-tight. But gradually secrets from her past come to light and Paget is suddenly facing an explosive mix of public trial and personal conflict leaving his own and his son's fates vulnerable and exposed.

4
CLOSE COMBAT
W. E. B. Griffin
Cover of CLOSE COMBAT

CLOSE COMBAT

by W. E. B. Griffin · Putnam

4 wks on list

Bestselling author W.E.B. Griffin's epic sixth novel in THE CORPS series--a powerful, dramatic tribute to the courageous men and women who braved WWII. As Japanese forces close in for an all-out effort to recapture Guadalcanal from the American forces occupying the island, many fates converge and intertwine, finding Captain Charles Galloway, Major Jake Dillon, Sergeant Thomas McCoy and China Marine Killer McCoy in dramatic arenas all over the Pacific. From the Solomons to Australia to Washington, D.C., the warriors, plus the wives and sweethearts who love them, once more find themselves facing the challenges of their lives...

6
ALONG CAME A SPIDER
James Patterson
Cover of ALONG CAME A SPIDER

ALONG CAME A SPIDER

by James Patterson · Little, Brown

3 wks on list

Life changes for Deputy Chief of Detectives Alex Cross when he is drawn into a high-profile case. Two nine-year-old children are kidnapped by a teacher, Gary Soneji, from the prestigious Washington Day School. Maggie Rose Dunne is the daughter of an actress, and Michael "Shrimpie" Goldberg is the son of the Secretary of Treasury. A ransom of $10 million is demanded.

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2
DEVIL'S WALTZ
Jonathan Kellerman
Cover of DEVIL'S WALTZ

DEVIL'S WALTZ

by Jonathan Kellerman · Bantam

4 wks on list

Called in as a consultant for a possible child abuse case, child psychologist Alex Delaware begins to suspect that the hospital has come under the sway of Chuck Jones, the financial whiz administrator who seems overly interested in profits

10
SABINE'S NOTEBOOK
Nick Bantock
Cover of SABINE'S NOTEBOOK

SABINE'S NOTEBOOK

by Nick Bantock · Chronicle Books

19 wks on list

Don't miss The Pharos Gate, the final volume in the Griffin & Sabine story. Published simultaneously with the 25th-anniversary edition of Griffin & Sabine, the book finally shares what happened to the lovers. Griffin—Foolish man. You cannot turn me into a phantom because you are frightened. You do not dismiss a muse at a whim. If you will not join me, then I will come to you. —Sabine Sabine was supposed to be imaginary, a friend and lover that Griffin had created to soothe his loneliness. But she threatens to become embodied, to appear on his doorstep, in fact. So he runs. Griffin & Sabine, the most creative and talked-about bestseller of 1991, left readers on the edge of a precipice. With Sabine's Notebook, they begin—along with Griffin—the fall. Once again, the story is told through strangely beautiful postcards and richly decorated letters that must actually be pulled from their envelopes to be read. But this volume is also a sketchbook and diary kept by the possibly unreal Sabine, who is living in Griffin's house in London while he wanders through Europe, North Africa, and Asia, backwards through layers of ancient civilizations—and of himself. Filled with her delicately macabre drawings and notations, the notebook adds a darker element of visual intrigue to their complex and mysterious world. For the thousands who finished Griffin & Sabine and asked, "What happened next?," this second volume in the quartet provides the answers—but raises new and even more haunting questions of its own.

11
NEW
EINSTEIN'S DREAMS
Alan Lightman
Cover of EINSTEIN'S DREAMS

EINSTEIN'S DREAMS

by Alan Lightman · Pantheon

1 wks on list

It is ten minutes past six by the invisible clock on the wall. The young patents clerk sprawls in his chair, dreaming about time. He is Albert Einstein, and in his dreams he imagines new worlds, in which time can be circular, or flow backwards, or slow down at higher altitudes.

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4
DOLORES CLAIBORNE
Stephen King
Cover of DOLORES CLAIBORNE

DOLORES CLAIBORNE

by Stephen King · Viking Press

12 wks on list

“Among King’s best.”—San Francisco Chronicle When housekeeper Dolores Claiborne is questioned in the death of her wealthy employer, a long-hidden secret from her past is revealed-—as is the strength of her own will to survive...

14
NEW
DAMIA'S CHILDREN
Anne McCaffrey
Cover of DAMIA'S CHILDREN

DAMIA'S CHILDREN

by Anne McCaffrey · Ace/ Putnam

1 wks on list

Let Anne McCaffrey, storyteller extraordinare and New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author, open your mind to new worlds and new concepts: alien nations, psychic powers, telepathy and planetary systems. Perfect for fans of David Eddings, Brandon Sanderson and Douglas Adams. 'Anne McCaffrey, one of the queens of science fiction, knows exactly how to give her public what it wants' -- THE TIMES 'Gripping! Great story, brilliantly written, ready for the next instalment' -- ***** Reader review 'Loved each and every word' -- ***** Reader review 'Awesome' -- ***** Reader review 'Read multiple times - always amazing' -- ***** Reader review *************************************************************************************************** Damia and Afra-Raven-Lyon have reared their children in a brilliant and unorthodox way. All their young have been 'paired' when six months old with the furry, one-eyed Mrdinis, the only other sentient beings in the Alliance, who can communicate with humans by their 'dream messages'. Together, Man and Mrdini work to create prosperous worlds and guard against the terrible threat of the annihilating Hivers. And now, in the deeps of Space, Mrdini scouts have crossed the path of three Hive ships -- ships that are giant hulks of cell units, bearing the queens and workers out into space, to breed and multiply and destroy wherever they find a viable planet. It is the four elder children of Damia -- Laria, Thian, Rojer and Zara -- all uniquely talented in their various ways, who will play their part, helped by their life-long Dini friends, in the conquering and investigation of the Alien threat of the Hivers.

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