TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of November 3, 1996

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
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 · 6 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.

3
EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Tom Clancy
Cover of EXECUTIVE ORDERS
7
1
TO THE HILT
Dick Francis
Cover of TO THE HILT

TO THE HILT

by Dick Francis · Putnam

4 wks on list
9
4
JACK AND JILL
James Patterson

JACK AND JILL

by James Patterson · Little, Brown

7 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?

12
NEW
THE TAILOR OF PANAMA
John le Carré
Cover of THE TAILOR OF PANAMA

THE TAILOR OF PANAMA

by John le Carré · Knopf

1 wks on list

It was a perfectly ordinary Friday afternoon in tropical Panama until Andrew Osnard barged into Harry Pendel’s shop asking to be measured for a suit. So begins John le Carré’s dazzling new novel set in contemporary Panama, reluctant host and future owner of the second largest gateway to world trade. Harry Pendel, Jewish-Irish foster child, is the charismatic proprietor and guiding genius of Pendel and Braithwaite Limitada, Tailors to Royalty, formerly of Savile Row, through whose doors passes everyone who is anyone in Central America. Andrew Osnard, mysterious and fleshly, is an Old Etonian and spy. His secret mission is two-pronged: to keep a watchful eye on the political manoeuvrings leading up to the American handover of the Panama Canal at midday on 31st December 1999; and to secure for himself the immense private fortune that has until now churlishly eluded him. And Osnard knows more about Pendel than Pendel knows himself . . . Already acclaimed as one of the most skilled, entertaining and important novelists writing today, John le Carré has written a book of such poignant drama, perfect characterisation, humour and sadness that it will be regarded as a masterpiece.

15
NEW
THE LAW OF LOVE
Laura Esquivel

THE LAW OF LOVE

by Laura Esquivel · Crown

Azucena is an astroanalyst in the Mexico City of the 23rd century, who uses the power of music to unlock her patients' past lives. When her Twin Soul, Rodrigo, disappears, Azucena must search across the galaxy and 14,000 past lives. The accompanying CD ties in with key moments of the plot.

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