TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of April 7, 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 · 9 on list
6
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

5 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.

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5
ABSOLUTE POWER
David Baldacci
Cover of ABSOLUTE POWER

ABSOLUTE POWER

by David Baldacci · Warner

9 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

9
1
MCNALLY'S PUZZLE
Lawrence Sanders
Cover of MCNALLY'S PUZZLE

MCNALLY'S PUZZLE

by Lawrence Sanders · Putnam

4 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.

12
7
THAT CAMDEN SUMMER
LaVyrle Spencer
Cover of THAT CAMDEN SUMMER

THAT CAMDEN SUMMER

by LaVyrle Spencer · Putnam

9 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.

14
3
INTENSITY
Dean Koontz
Cover of INTENSITY

INTENSITY

by Dean Koontz · Knopf

12 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.

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