TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of March 24, 1996

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
PRIMARY COLORS
Anonymous
Cover of PRIMARY COLORS

PRIMARY COLORS

by Anonymous · Random House

9 wks at #1 · 7 on list
3
3
THAT CAMDEN SUMMER
LaVyrle Spencer
Cover of THAT CAMDEN SUMMER

THAT CAMDEN SUMMER

by LaVyrle Spencer · Putnam

7 wks on list

When a fiercely independent young woman returns with her three daughters to her hometown of Camden, Maine, after divorcing her philandering husband, she finds a less-than-hospitable welcome. But she's about to show an entire town what one good woman can do.

5
2
ABSOLUTE POWER
David Baldacci
Cover of ABSOLUTE POWER

ABSOLUTE POWER

by David Baldacci · Warner

7 wks on list

'Accomplished and amazing - one of the hottest reads around' DAILY MAIL Set in Washington D.C., this fascinating thriller of unparalleled suspense dares to explore an unthinkable abuse of power and criminal conspiracy: a vicious murder involving the US President and a cover-up orchestrared by his zealously loyal Chief of Staff and the Secret Service. But, unknown to the President and his lackeys, one unlikely witness saw everything.Trapped behind a two-way mirror in a country house in Maryland, Luther Whitney, a professional burglar, witnesses an event that destroys his faith in justice. By the time he escapes, pursued by two Secret Service agents, a young woman has been sexually assaulted, then shot dead. And a breathtaking cover-up has been set in motion. 'Baldacci's prose is fluent and amazing . . . this book is sure to make a killing' THE TIMES 'A high-octane legal thriller. An almost Shakespearian study in the nature of evil - horror in its purest form' SPECTATOR

6
3
MCNALLY'S PUZZLE
Lawrence Sanders
Cover of MCNALLY'S PUZZLE

MCNALLY'S PUZZLE

by Lawrence Sanders · Putnam

2 wks on list

LAWRENCE SANDERS' BLOCKBUSTER BESTSELLER AT A NEW LOW PRICE! "McNally's Puzzle" Read by Boyd Gaines Hiram Gottschalk is a wealthy widower and a man desperate to save himself from an unknown stalker. He hires Palm Beach sleuth Archy McNally, who is convinced he'll soon return his client's life to order -- but then Gottschalk is stabbed in his sleep, and two of his clerks are abducted and killed in the Everglades. It takes all McNally's skill to put together the pieces.

7
1
AND THIS TOO SHALL PASS
E. Lynn Harris
Cover of AND THIS TOO SHALL PASS

AND THIS TOO SHALL PASS

by E. Lynn Harris · Doubleday

3 wks on list

A stellar quarterback, an ambitious sportscaster. What happens when rising stars collide? In And This Too Shall Pass, Harris takes us into the locker rooms and newsrooms of Chicago, where four lives are about to intersect in romance and scandal. At the heart of the novel is the celibate Zurich, a rookie quarterback for the Chicago Cougars whose trajectory for superstardom is interrupted by a sexual assault charge by Mia, a sportscaster with her own sights on fame. With his career in jeopardy, Zurich hires Tamela, a high-powered attorney, to defend him, while Sean, a gay sportswriter, covers the story and uncovers his heart. All of these characters face the challenge of keeping the faith--in themselves and in God--while Harris's heartfelt storytelling reveals how the love of family can help one to face the terrible legacy of long-held secrets. Throughout these characters' search for self-knowledge, Harris weaves the stories of MamaCee, Zurich's grandmother, whose lessons of faith teach one and all that "this too shall pass." Breaking new ground in contemporary fiction, And This Too Shall Pass entertains and affirms with its stirring message about the healing power of family and faith.

10
1
INTENSITY
Dean Koontz
Cover of INTENSITY

INTENSITY

by Dean Koontz · Knopf

10 wks on list

#1 "NEW YORK TIMES "BESTSELLER Past midnight, Chyna Shepard, twenty-six, gazes out a moonlit window, unable to sleep on her first night in the Napa Valley home of her best friend's family. Instinct proves reliable. A murderous sociopath, Edgler Foreman Vess, has entered the house, intent on killing everyone inside. A self-proclaimed "homicidal adventurer," Vess lives only to satisfy all appetites as they arise, to immerse himself in sensation, to live without fear, remorse, or limits, to live with "intensity." Chyna is trapped in his deadly orbit. Chyna is a survivor, toughened by a lifelong struggle for safety and self-respect. Now she will be tested as never before. At first her sole aim is to get out alive--until, by chance, she learns the identity of Vess's next intended victim, a faraway innocent only she can save. Driven by a newly discovered thirst for meaning beyond mere self-preservation, Chyna musters every inner resource she has to save an endangered girl . . . as moment by moment, the terrifying threat of Edgler Foreman Vess intensifies.

11
6
THE CAT WHO SAID CHEESE
Lilian Jackson Braun
Cover of THE CAT WHO SAID CHEESE

THE CAT WHO SAID CHEESE

by Lilian Jackson Braun · Putnam

5 wks on list

Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese sleuths, Koko and Yum Yum, investigate the disappearance of a wealthy railroad buff in this mystery in the New York Times bestselling Cat Who series. Floyd Trevelyan’s historic steam locomotive, newly restored, is the newest attraction in Moose County. But the excitement is eclipsed by shock when Trevelyan disappears—along with millions of investors’ dollars. Puzzled and suspicious, Qwill’s trying to make a connection between the missing millionaire and a recent murder at a nearby railroad tavern. Now, with the help of his cats, Koko and Yum Yum, he’s about to prove that the police are on the wrong track.

12
1
IN THE BEAUTY OF THE LILIES
John Updike
Cover of IN THE BEAUTY OF THE LILIES

IN THE BEAUTY OF THE LILIES

by John Updike · Knopf

5 wks on list

John Updike's seventeenth novel begins in 1910, and traces God's relation to four generations of an American family, beginning with Clarence Wilmot, a Presbyterian clergyman in Paterson, New Jersey. He loses his faith, and becomes an encyclopedia salesman and a motion-picture addict. The remainder of Clarence's family moves to the small town of Basingstoke, Delaware, where his cautious son, Teddy, becomes a mailman. Faithless himself, Teddy marries a good Methodist girl and begets Esther, whose prayers are always answered; she becomes an object of worship, a twentieth-century goddess. Her neglected son, Clark, makes his way back to the fiery fundamentals of Protestant piety. The novel ends in 1990, in Lower Branch, Colorado, and on television. Taking its title from the "Battle-Hymn of the Republic," In the Beauty of the Lilies spins one saga, one wandering tapestry thread, of the American Century.

13
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ROGUE WARRIOR: TASK FORCE BLUE
Richard Marcinko and John Weisman
Cover of ROGUE WARRIOR: TASK FORCE BLUE

ROGUE WARRIOR: TASK FORCE BLUE

by Richard Marcinko and John Weisman · Pocket

3 wks on list

From his heavily defended fortress in a California desert, an ultraconservative billionaire is arming homegrown terrorists in a scheme to create a government in his own fanatical image. With the Pentagon's security breached, the Defense Intelligence Agency has only one weapon left in its arsenal: Marcinko and his elite SEAL team, Task Force Blue.

15
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THE LOST WORLD
Michael Crichton
Cover of THE LOST WORLD

THE LOST WORLD

by Michael Crichton · Knopf

24 wks on list

Jurassic Park, the primordial zoo has been closed and the dinosaurs it once housed have been destroyed. Now, six years later, there are rumors that some of them may have survived.

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