TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of October 27, 2002

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
Jump to
1
THE LOVELY BONES
Alice Sebold
Cover of THE LOVELY BONES

THE LOVELY BONES

by Alice Sebold · Little, Brown

10 wks at #1 · 16 on list

Susie Salmon is just like any other young American girl. She wants to be beautiful, adores her charm bracelet and has a crush on a boy from school. There's one big difference though – Susie is dead. Add: Now she can only observe while her family manage their grief in their different ways. Susie is desperate to help them and there might be a way of reaching them... Alice Sebold's novel The Lovely Bones is a unique coming-of-age tale that captured the hearts of readers throughout the world. Award-winning playwright Bryony Lavery has adapted it for this unforgettable play about life after loss.

3
1
FROM A BUICK 8
Stephen King
Cover of FROM A BUICK 8
4
BLESSINGS
Anna Quindlen
Cover of BLESSINGS

BLESSINGS

by Anna Quindlen · Random House

4 wks on list

A young couple sneak onto the estate of wealthy Lydia Blessing and leave a box in the driveway. The box contains a baby and Skip Cuddy, the caretaker who finds her, decides to keep her. The secrets of the past, what makes a person, a life, and who decides, are at the centre of this story.

5
NEW
THE CRUSH
Sandra Brown
Cover of THE CRUSH

THE CRUSH

by Sandra Brown · Warner

1 wks on list

A New York Times BestsellerRana Ramsey had a "look," a style that went beyond beauty, that had made her a modeling legend. But when she began to feel like an object, always sought after but not for herself, she ran to a rickety boarding house in a small Texas town, where nobody knew her and she could be somebody else. Then quarterback Trent Gamblin chose to recuperate just down the hall, and Rana learned she couldn't hide from the world forever.Available in Basic 5 and 6.

6
1
THE MURDER BOOK
Jonathan Kellerman
Cover of THE MURDER BOOK

THE MURDER BOOK

by Jonathan Kellerman · Ballantine

2 wks on list

Jonathan Kellerman has distinguished himself as the master of the psychological thriller. Now L.A. psychologist-detective Alex Delaware confronts a long-unsolved murder of unspeakable brutality—an ice-cold case whose resolution threatens his survival, and that of longtime friend, homicide detective, Milo Sturgis. The nightmare begins when Alex receives a strange package in the mail with no return address. Inside is an ornate album filled with gruesome crime scene photos—a homicide scrapbook entitled The Murder Book. Alex can find no reason for anyone to send him this compendium of death, but when Milo views the book, he is immediately shaken by one of the images: a young woman, tortured, strangled, and dumped near a freeway ramp. This was one of Milo’s first cases as a rookie homicide cop: a vicious killing that he failed to solve, because just as he and his training partner began to make headway, the department closed them down. Being forced to abandon the young victim tormented Milo. But his fears prevented him from pursuing the truth, and over the years he managed to forget. Or so he thought. Now, two decades later, someone has chosen to stir up the past. As Alex and Milo set out to uncover what really happened twenty years ago, their every move is followed and their lives are placed in jeopardy. The relentless investigation reaches deep into L.A.’s nerve-centers of power and wealth—past and present. While peeling back layer after layer of ugly secrets, they discover that the murder of one forgotten girl has chilling ramifications that extend far beyond the tragic loss of a single life. A classic story of good and evil, sacrifice and sin, The Murder Book is a gripping page-turner that illuminates the darkest corridors of the human mind. It is a stunning tour de force. BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Jonathan Kellerman's Victims.

7
1
RED RABBIT
Tom Clancy
Cover of RED RABBIT

RED RABBIT

by Tom Clancy · Putnam

10 wks on list

Der Historiker Jack Ryan wird vom amerikanischen Geheimdienst gebeten, einen russischen Überläufer zu befragen und stösst dabei auf eine hochbrisante Story. Russische Politfunktionäre planen die Ermordung des Papstes. Für Jack Ryan beginnt ein Wettlauf mit der Zeit.

8
NEW
I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT
Allison Pearson
Cover of I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT

I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT

by Allison Pearson · Knopf

1 wks on list

Delightfully smart and heartbreakingly poignant, Allison Pearson’s smash debut novel has exploded onto bestseller lists as “The national anthem for working mothers.” Hedge-fund manager, wife, and mother of two, Kate Reddy manages to juggle nine currencies in five time zones and keep in step with the Teletubbies. But when she finds herself awake at 1:37 a.m. in a panic over the need to produce a homemade pie for her daughter’s school, she has to admit her life has become unrecognizable. With panache, wisdom, and uproarious wit, I Don’t Know How She Does It brilliantly dramatizes the dilemma of every working mom.

9
2
THE NEW JEDI ORDER: DESTINY'S WAY
Walter Jon Williams
Cover of THE NEW JEDI ORDER: DESTINY'S WAY

THE NEW JEDI ORDER: DESTINY'S WAY

by Walter Jon Williams · Lucas/Del Rey/Ballantine

2 wks on list

In the war against the ruthless Yuuzhan Vong, the fall of Coruscant leaves the New Republic divided by internal strife, and on the verge of bowing to conquest. But those who steadfastly refuse to consider surrender-Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo, and their children and comrades-in-arms-are determined to seize victory against overwhelming odds. And now, finally, there are signs that the tide may be turning in the New Republic's favor.After capturing crucial Yuuzhan Vong intelligence, Jedi fighter-pilot Jaina Solo prepares to lead a daring surprise strike against an enemy flagship. Meanwhile, Jaina's brother Jacen-liberated from the hands of the enemy and newly schooled in an even greater mastery of the Force by the Jedi Knight Vergere-is eagerly poised to bring his unique skills to bear against the invaders. And on Mon Calamari, the New Republic's provisional capital, the retired, ailing hero Admiral Ackbar has conceived a major tactical plan that could spell the beginning of a swift end for the Yuuzhan Vong.Yet even as opposing squadrons face off in the depths of space, intrigue runs rampant: in the heated political race for Chief of State . . . in the shadows where Yuuzhan Vong spies plot assassinations . . . and in the inscrutable creature Vergere, a Jedi Knight whose allegiance is impossible to predict.

10
1
NO ONE TO TRUST
Iris Johansen
Cover of NO ONE TO TRUST

NO ONE TO TRUST

by Iris Johansen · Bantam

2 wks on list

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Final Target, Iris Johansen raises the stakes and the heart rate with this relentless thriller that follows the harrowing trail of a ruthless killer on the hunt—and the woman who is determined to hunt him down. He is the most terrifying of killers: ruthless, cunning, charismatic. And he has the means to get whatever he wants. And what Rico Chavez wants most is Elena Kyler—and he wants her dead. Trained as an assassin, Elena didn’t need anyone to survive. But now she finds herself on the run from one dangerous man and turning for help to another. Sean Galen was a man without illusions. He knew it was only desperation that caused Elena to accept his help—a mother’s desperation to save her young son from a psychopath father who would raise their son in his own chilling image. And yet he was determined to get this woman who had never been able to trust anyone or anything in her whole life to accept him as her ally. But both Galen and Elena know that Chavez’s power and wealth mean there is no place they can be safe and no one they can trust—not even each other. Already Chavez’s assassins and connections to those in the highest positions of power have turned this into a war with no rules. With two shocking acts of brutal violence, Chavez shows he will stop at nothing and that nothing will stop him. Soon a trail of horrifying murders will follow Galen and Elena across country to a last stand and a shattering showdown. For Chavez is a master of control and he wants more than just to take Elena’s life. He wants her alive long enough to see him destroy every reason she has for living. He wants her to turn against everything and everyone she ever believed in. He wants her to commit the ultimate act of betrayal. And by the time he is through, he wants her to beg him to take the only thing she’ll have left to give: her life.

11
NEW
THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE
Michel Faber

THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE

by Michel Faber · Harcourt

4 wks on list

From the Publisher: At the Heart of this panoramic, multidimensional narrative is the compelling struggle of a young woman to lift her body and soul out of the gutter. Michel Faber leads us back to 1870s London, where Sugar, a nineteen-year-old whore in the brothel of the terrifying Mrs. Castaway, yearns for escape into a better life. Her ascent through the strata of Victorian society offers us intimacy with a host of lovable, maddening, unforgettable characters. They begin with William Rackham, an egotistical perfume magnate whose ambition is fueled by his lust for Sugar, and whose patronage of her brings her into proximity to his extended family and milieu: his unhinged, child-like wife, Agnes; his mysteriously hidden-away daughter, Sophie; and his pious brother Henry, foiled in his devotional calling by a persistently less-than-chaste love for the Widow Fox, whose efforts on behalf of The Rescue Society lead Henry into ever-more disturbing confrontations with flesh. All this is overseen by assorted preening socialites, drunken journalists, untrustworthy servants, vile guttersnipes, and whores of all stripes and persuasions. Twenty years in its conception, research, and writing, The Crimson Petal and the White is a singular literary achievement-a gripping, intoxicating, deeply satisfying Victorian novel written with an immediacy, compassion, and insight that give it a timeless and universal appeal.

12
NEW
WAR OF HONOR
David Weber
Cover of WAR OF HONOR

WAR OF HONOR

by David Weber · Baen

NO ONE WANTED ANOTHER WAR Thomas Theisman didn't. After risking his life and a fresh round of civil war to overthrow the Committee of Public Safety's reign of terror and restore the Republic of Haven's ancient Constitution, an interstellar war was the last thing he wanted. Baron High Ridge didn't. The Prime Minister of Manticore was perfectly happy with the war he had. No one was shooting anyone else at the moment, and as long as he could spin out negotiations on the formal treaty of peace, his government could continue to milk all those "hostilities only" tax measures for their own partisan projects. His Imperial Majesty Gustav didn't. Now that the fighting between the Star Kingdom and the Havenites had ended, the Andermani Emperor had his own plans for Silesia, and he was confident he could achieve them without a war of his own. Protector Benjamin didn't. His people had made too deep a commitment to the Manticoran Alliance, in blood as well as treasure, for him to want to risk seeing it all thrown away. And Honor Harrington certainly didn't. The "Salamander" had seen the inside of too many furnaces already, knew too much about how much war cost. Unfortunately, what they wanted didn't matter.... At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

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