TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of June 19, 1994

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
THE CHAMBER
John Grisham
Cover of THE CHAMBER

THE CHAMBER

by John Grisham · Doubleday

8 wks at #1 · 2 on list

Five CDs, 6 hrs.Performance by Michael BeckIn the corridors of Chicago's top law firm: Twenty-six-year-old Adam Hall stands on the brink of a brilliant legal career. Now he is risking it all for a death-row killer and an impossible case. Maximum Security Unit, Mississippi State Prison: Sam Cayhall is a former Klansman and unrepentant racist now facing the death penalty for a fatal bombing in 1967. He has run out of chances -- except for one: the young, liberal Chicago lawyer who just happens to be his grandson. While the executioners prepare the gas chamber, while the protesters gather and the TV cameras wait, Adam has only days, hours, minutes to save his client. For between the two men is a chasm of shame, family lies, and secrets -- including the one secret that could save Sam Cayhall's life...or cost Adam his.

3
INCA GOLD
Clive Cussler
Cover of INCA GOLD

INCA GOLD

by Clive Cussler · Simon & Schuster

6 wks on list

Another smash New York Times bestseller from the creator of the Dirk Pitt adventures--a non-stop novel of breathtaking adventure. It's 1998 in the Andes Mountains and a powerful crime family pursues an ancient cache of gold to an underground river in the Mexican desert, vowing to terminate the one man in its way--Dirk Pitt.

4
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OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!
Dr. Seuss
Cover of OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

by Dr. Seuss · Random House

135 wks on list

An interactive board book adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic—featuring 12 different sounds! Perfect for celebrating little ones' milestone moments, from first steps to preschool graduation! Introduce little ones to the world of Dr. Seuss with this super simple interactive adaptation of Oh, the Places You'll Go! that's just right for babies and toddlers. From the sound of clomping shoes and trumpeting elephants to howling Hacken-Kraks and cheering crowds, the twelve sounds featured in the story bring to life the Great Places a child's feet will carry them! This book includes colorful sound buttons, a handy on/off switch, and batteries that can be easily replaced.

5
1
REMEMBER ME
Mary Higgins Clark
Cover of REMEMBER ME

REMEMBER ME

by Mary Higgins Clark · Simon & Schuster

8 wks on list

After their young son's tragic death, Menley and Tony Richardson, a couple living on Cape Cod, try to begin life anew with a baby daughter, although an evil fate still seems to stalk them. (Adventure & Suspense).

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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

97 wks 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.

7
THE ALIENIST
Caleb Carr
Cover of THE ALIENIST

THE ALIENIST

by Caleb Carr · Random House

10 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A TNT ORIGINAL SERIES • “A first-rate tale of crime and punishment that will keep readers guessing until the final pages.”—Entertainment Weekly “Caleb Carr’s rich period thriller takes us back to the moment in history when the modern idea of the serial killer became available to us.”—The Detroit News When The Alienist was first published in 1994, it was a major phenomenon, spending six months on the New York Times bestseller list, receiving critical acclaim, and selling millions of copies. This modern classic continues to be a touchstone of historical suspense fiction for readers everywhere. The year is 1896. The city is New York. Newspaper reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned by his friend Dr. Laszlo Kreizler—a psychologist, or “alienist”—to view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy abandoned on the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge. From there the two embark on a revolutionary effort in criminology: creating a psychological profile of the perpetrator based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who will kill again before their hunt is over. Fast-paced and riveting, infused with historical detail, The Alienist conjures up Gilded Age New York, with its tenements and mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. It is an age in which questioning society’s belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and fatal consequences. Praise for The Alienist “[A] delicious premise . . . Its settings and characterizations are much more sophisticated than the run-of-the-mill thrillers that line the shelves in bookstores.”—The Washington Post Book World “Mesmerizing.”—Detroit Free Press “The method of the hunt and the disparate team of hunters lift the tale beyond the level of a good thriller—way beyond. . . . A remarkable combination of historical novel and psychological thriller.”—The Buffalo News “Engrossing.”—Newsweek “Gripping, atmospheric . . . intelligent and entertaining.”—USA Today “A high-spirited, charged-up and unfailingly smart thriller.”—Los Angeles Times “Keeps readers turning pages well past their bedtime.”—San Francisco Chronicle

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NIGHT PREY
John Sandford
Cover of NIGHT PREY

NIGHT PREY

by John Sandford · Putnam

4 wks on list

Lucas Davenport confronts an elusive cat burglar obsessed with a woman whose initials are being carved into the bodies of a growing list of butchered women. Reprint.

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"K" IS FOR KILLER
Sue Grafton
Cover of "K" IS FOR KILLER

"K" IS FOR KILLER

by Sue Grafton · Holt

9 wks on list

K is for Killer is the eleventh in the Kinsey Millhone mystery series by Sue Grafton. Lorna Kepler was beautiful and wilful, a loner who couldn't resist flirting with danger. She has also been found dead in mysterious circumstances and her death pulls Kinsey Millhone into a netherworld of deception, betrayal and unavenged murder . . .

10
PRINCE CHARMING
Julie Garwood
Cover of PRINCE CHARMING

PRINCE CHARMING

by Julie Garwood · Pocket

4 wks on list

Bestselling author Julie Garwood's classic love story is filled with "the humor, the sweetness, and the sensuality" (Publishers Weekly) that have made her "a trusted brand name in romantic fiction" (People). Only her beloved grandmother, Lady Esther, knew how devastated Taylor Stapleton had been when her fiancé eloped with Taylor's cousin. Now dear Esther -- one of London's richest and most formidable matriarchs -- lies dying. But first she was going to help Taylor pull off the scam of the season. To escape becoming a ward of her unscrupulous uncle, Taylor would wed Lucas Ross, a rugged American rancher. Lady Esther's money would enable Ross to return home to Montana. Taylor had her own urgent reason to go to America...a precious legacy she hadn't revealed to Ross, for they had agreed to part ways once they reached Boston. But as her handsome new husband spoke of life in Montana, Taylor began planning a new future. To Taylor, the wide-open spaces of Montana sounded like paradise....

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WALKING SHADOW
Robert B. Parker
Cover of WALKING SHADOW

WALKING SHADOW

by Robert B. Parker · Putnam

2 wks on list

A murder draws Boston PI Spenser into the dramatic world of theater in this New York Times bestseller in Robert B. Parker’s long-running series. In a shabby waterfront town, an actor is shot dead onstage. Granted, the script left much to be desired. But there's more behind the scenes than an overzealous critic—and Spenser and Hawk are combing Port City’s underworld to find it... “Great fun...[Spenser] is still the cockiest and wittiest P.I. on the block.”—The New York Times

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