TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of November 3, 2002

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THE LOVELY BONES
Alice Sebold
Cover of THE LOVELY BONES

THE LOVELY BONES

by Alice Sebold · Little, Brown

17 wks 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.

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THE CRUSH
Sandra Brown
Cover of THE CRUSH

THE CRUSH

by Sandra Brown · Warner

2 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.

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FROM A BUICK 8
Stephen King
Cover of FROM A BUICK 8
6
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CHASING THE DIME
Michael Connelly
Cover of CHASING THE DIME

CHASING THE DIME

by Michael Connelly · Little, Brown

1 wks on list

The phone messages waiting for Henry Pierce clearly aren't for him: "Where is Lilly? This is her number. It's on the site." Pierce has just moved into a new apartment, and he's been "chasing the dime"--doing all it takes so his company comes out first with a scientific breakthrough worth millions. But he can't get the messages for Lilly out of his head. As Pierce tries to help a woman he has never met, he steps into a world of escorts, websites, sex, and secret passions. A world where his success and expertise mean nothing...and where he becomes the chief suspect in a murder case, trapped in the fight of his life.

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THE MURDER BOOK
Jonathan Kellerman
Cover of THE MURDER BOOK

THE MURDER BOOK

by Jonathan Kellerman · Ballantine

3 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.

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BLESSINGS
Anna Quindlen
Cover of BLESSINGS

BLESSINGS

by Anna Quindlen · Random House

5 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.

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BLOOD ORCHID
Stuart Woods
Cover of BLOOD ORCHID

BLOOD ORCHID

by Stuart Woods · Putnam

1 wks on list

Blood Orchid" is the third adventure of one of Woods's most engaging characters, Chief of Police Holly Barker. This time out, Holly is trying to get her life back together after the shattering loss of her fiance, only to find a scam more lucrative and more dangerous than any the idyllic town--or Holly--has ever seen.

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THE THOUSAND ORCS
R. A. Salvatore
Cover of THE THOUSAND ORCS

THE THOUSAND ORCS

by R. A. Salvatore · Wizards of the Coast

1 wks on list

The first volume in a new trilogy from the Forgotten Realms universe continues the adventures of the author's popular Dark Elf hero, Drizzt Do'Urden, and his companions. 200,000 first printing.

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RED RABBIT
Tom Clancy
Cover of RED RABBIT

RED RABBIT

by Tom Clancy · Putnam

11 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.

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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

2 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.

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BAUDOLINO
Umberto Eco
Cover of BAUDOLINO

BAUDOLINO

by Umberto Eco · Harcourt

1 wks on list

Bondedrengen Baudolino bliver adopteret af Frederik Barbarossa og beretter om sit liv med korstog, rejser og Frederiks bestræbelser på at blive anerkendt som tysk-romersk kejser

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THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE
Michel Faber

THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE

by Michel Faber · Harcourt

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.

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