TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of October 6, 1996

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1
NEW
THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN
Jacquelyn Mitchard
Cover of THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN

THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN

by Jacquelyn Mitchard · Viking Press

6 wks at #1 · 2 on list

"Masterful...A big story about human connection and emotional survival" - Los Angeles Times The first book ever chosen by Oprah's Book Club Few first novels receive the kind of attention and acclaim showered on this powerful story—a nationwide bestseller, a critical success, and the first title chosen for Oprah's Book Club. Both highly suspenseful and deeply moving, The Deep End of the Ocean imagines every mother's worst nightmare—the disappearance of a child—as it explores a family's struggle to endure, even against extraordinary odds. Filled with compassion, humor, and brilliant observations about the texture of real life, here is a story of rare power, one that will touch readers' hearts and make them celebrate the emotions that make us all one.

2
1
EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Tom Clancy
Cover of EXECUTIVE ORDERS
3
1
JACK AND JILL
James Patterson

JACK AND JILL

by James Patterson · Little, Brown

3 wks on list

In the middle of the night, a controversial U.S. senator is found murdered in bed in his Georgetown pied-a-terre. The police turn up only one clue: a mysterious rhyme signed Jack and Jill promising that this is just the beginning. Jack and Jill are out to get the rich and famous, and they will stop at nothing until their fiendish plan is carried out. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., homicide detective Alex Cross is called to a murder scene only blocks from his house, far from the corridors of power where he spends his days. The victim: a beautiful little girl, savagely beaten - and deposited in front of the elementary school Cross's son, Damon, attends. Could there be a connection between the two murders? As Cross tries to put the pieces together, the killer - or killers - strike again. And again. No one in Washington is safe - not children, not politicians, not even the President of the United States. Only Alex Cross has the skills and the courage to crack the case - but will he discover the truth in time?

6
3
THE RUNAWAY JURY
John Grisham
Cover of THE RUNAWAY JURY

THE RUNAWAY JURY

by John Grisham · Doubleday

19 wks on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER They are at the center of a multimillion-dollar legal hurricane: twelve men and women who have been investigated, watched, manipulated, and harassed by high-priced lawyers and consultants who will stop at nothing to secure a verdict. Now the jury must make a decision in the most explosive civil trial of the century, a precedent-setting lawsuit against a giant tobacco company. But only a handful of people know the truth: that this jury has a leader, and the verdict belongs to him. He is known only as Juror #2. But he has a name, a past, and he has planned his every move with the help of a beautiful woman on the outside. Now, while a corporate empire hangs in the balance, while a grieving family waits, and while lawyers are plunged into a battle for their careers, the truth about Juror #2 is about to explode in a cross fire of greed and corruption--and with justice fighting for its life.

8
4
THE LAST DON
Mario Puzo
Cover of THE LAST DON

THE LAST DON

by Mario Puzo · Random House

9 wks on list

Puzo tells the story of Domenico Clericuzio, a ferocious old man who is determined to secure his family's future in an era of legalized gambling, motion-picture investments and the threat of government informers.

9
1
THE TENTH INSIGHT
James Redfield
Cover of THE TENTH INSIGHT

THE TENTH INSIGHT

by James Redfield · Warner

22 wks on list

The author continues his journey to a new spiritual awakening, trying to find the tenth insight which tells of his inborn guiding purpose in life.

10
1
LEGEND
Jude Deveraux
Cover of LEGEND

LEGEND

by Jude Deveraux · Pocket

2 wks on list
12
3
CAUSE OF DEATH
Patricia Cornwell
Cover of CAUSE OF DEATH

CAUSE OF DEATH

by Patricia Cornwell · Putnam

12 wks on list

Kay Scarpetta's investigation of the death of scuba diver and investigative reporter Ted Eddings threatens her and her niece Lucy.

14
1
HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK
Terry McMillan
Cover of HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK

HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK

by Terry McMillan · Viking Press

21 wks on list

How Stella Got Her Groove Back is full of Terry McMillan's signature humor, heart, and insight. More than a love story, it is ultimately a novel about how a woman saves her own life—and what she must risk to do it. Stella Payne is forty-two, divorced, a high-powered investment analyst, mother of eleven-year-old Quincy- and she does it all. In fact, if she doesn't do it, it doesn't get done, from Little League carpool duty to analyzing portfolios to folding the laundry and bringing home the bacon. She does it all well, too, if her chic house, personal trainer, BMW, and her loving son are any indication. So what if there's been no one to share her bed with lately, let alone rock her world? Stella doesn't mind it too much; she probably wouldn't have the energy for love—and all of love's nasty fallout—anyway. But when Stella takes a spur-of-the-moment vacation to Jamaica, her world gets rocked to the core—not just by the relaxing effects of the sun and sea and an island full of attractive men, but by one man in particular. He's tall, lean, soft-spoken, Jamaican, smells of citrus and the ocean—and is half her age. The tropics have cast their spell and Stella soon realizes she has come to a cataclysmic juncture: not only must she confront her hopes and fears about love, she must question all of her expectations, passions, and ideas about life and the way she has lived it.

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