TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of January 25, 2004

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1
THE DA VINCI CODE
Dan Brown
Cover of THE DA VINCI CODE

THE DA VINCI CODE

by Dan Brown · Doubleday

59 wks at #1 · 43 on list

THE #1 WORLDWIDE BESTSELLING PHENOMENON, WITH MORE THAN 85 MILLION COPIES SOLD “Blockbuster perfection . . . a gleefully erudite suspense novel.” —The New York Times “A pulse-quickening, brain-teasing adventure.” —People While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci—clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter. Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion, a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle—while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move—the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever. Robert Langdon returns in The Lost Symbol, Inferno, Origin, and The Secret of Secrets (coming soon)!

2
THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN
Mitch Albom
Cover of THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN

THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN

by Mitch Albom · Hyperion

16 wks on list

Plot Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him, as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It's a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie's five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his "meaningless" life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: "Why was I here" Personal Details Collection Status In Collection Index 10 Read It Yes Links Amazon US Product Details LoC Classification PS3601.L335F59 2003 Dewey 813/.6

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NEW
NEW SPRING: The Novel
Robert Jordan
Cover of NEW SPRING: The Novel

NEW SPRING: The Novel

by Robert Jordan · Tor/Tom Doherty

1 wks on list

The Wheel of Time is now an original series on Prime Video, starring Rosamund Pike as Moiraine! Since its debut in 1990, The Wheel of Time® by Robert Jordan has captivated millions of readers around the globe with its scope, originality, and compelling characters. The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow. For three days battle has raged in the snow around the great city of Tar Valon. In the city, a Foretelling of the future is uttered. On the slopes of Dragonmount, the immense mountain that looms over the city, is born an infant prophesied to change the world. That child must be found before the forces of the Shadow have an opportunity to kill him. Moiraine Damodred, a young Accepted soon to be raised to Aes Sedai, and Lan Mandragoran, a soldier fighting in the battle, are set on paths that will bind their lives together. But those paths are filled with complications and dangers, for Moiraine, of the Royal House of Cairhien, whose king has just died, and Lan, considered the uncrowned king of a nation long dead, find their lives threatened by the plots of those seeking power. New Spring begins Moiraine and Lan's quest to find the Dragon Reborn that will lead to the events of The Eye of the World...and their fateful meeting with Rand al'Thor. New Spring is a perfect jumping-on point for fantasy readers wanting to know more about The Wheel of Time. The Wheel of Time® New Spring: The Novel #1 The Eye of the World #2 The Great Hunt #3 The Dragon Reborn #4 The Shadow Rising #5 The Fires of Heaven #6 Lord of Chaos #7 A Crown of Swords #8 The Path of Daggers #9 Winter's Heart #10 Crossroads of Twilight #11 Knife of Dreams By Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson #12 The Gathering Storm #13 Towers of Midnight #14 A Memory of Light By Robert Jordan and Teresa Patterson The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time By Robert Jordan, Harriet McDougal, Alan Romanczuk, and Maria Simons The Wheel of Time Companion By Robert Jordan and Amy Romanczuk Patterns of the Wheel: Coloring Art Based on Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time

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NEW
RETREAT, HELL!
W. E. B. Griffin
Cover of RETREAT, HELL!

RETREAT, HELL!

by W. E. B. Griffin · Putnam

1 wks on list

A Korean War novel of bravery, politics and personal conflict.

6
3
THE BIG BAD WOLF
James Patterson
Cover of THE BIG BAD WOLF

THE BIG BAD WOLF

by James Patterson · Little, Brown

8 wks on list

The 19th national bestseller by Patterson marks Alex Cross's debut with the FBI. His first case: beautiful women across the country are being kidnapped and possibly sold into slavery. Behind this depraved scheme stands The Wolf, a master criminal who brings a new reign of terror to organized crime.

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3
TROJAN ODYSSEY
Clive Cussler
Cover of TROJAN ODYSSEY

TROJAN ODYSSEY

by Clive Cussler · Putnam

7 wks on list

Dirk Pitt battles his most dangerous foe ever - with help from a very unexpected source. Long hailed as the grandmaster of adventure fiction, Clive Cussler has continued to astound with the intricate plotting and astonishing set pieces of his novels. Now, with a surprising twist, he gives us his most audacious work of all. At the end of Valhalla RisingDirk Pitt discovered, to his shock, that he had two grown children he had never known, 23-year-old fraternal twins born to a woman he thought had died in an underwater earthquake. Both have inherited his love of the sea- the girl, Summer, a marine biologist- the boy, himself named Dirk, a marine engineer. And now they are about to help their father in the adventure of a lifetime.

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THE LADY AND THE UNICORN
Tracy Chevalier
Cover of THE LADY AND THE UNICORN

THE LADY AND THE UNICORN

by Tracy Chevalier · Dutton

2 wks on list

A tour de force of history and imagination, The Lady and the Unicorn is Tracy Chevalier’s answer to the mystery behind one of the art world’s great masterpieces—a set of bewitching medieval tapestries that hangs today in the Cluny Museum in Paris. They appear to portray the seduction of a unicorn, but the story behind their making is unknown—until now. Paris, 1490. A shrewd French nobleman commissions six lavish tapestries celebrating his rising status at Court. He hires the charismatic, arrogant, sublimely talented Nicolas des Innocents to design them. Nicolas creates havoc among the women in the house—mother and daughter, servant, and lady-in-waiting—before taking his designs north to the Brussels workshop where the tapestries are to be woven. There, master weaver Georges de la Chapelle risks everything he has to finish the tapestries—his finest, most intricate work—on time for his exacting French client. The results change all their lives—lives that have been captured in the tapestries, for those who know where to look. In The Lady and the Unicorn, Tracy Chevalier weaves fact and fiction into a beautiful, timeless, and intriguing literary tapestry—an extraordinary story exquisitely told.

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2
BLEACHERS
John Grisham
Cover of BLEACHERS

BLEACHERS

by John Grisham · Doubleday

18 wks on list

Books are leather-bound, signed and numbered, with printed endpapers, gold stamping, a slipcase, and a ribbon marker. High school all-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into an unbeatable football dynasty. Now, as Coach Rake's "boys" sit in the bleachers waiting for the dimming field lights to signal his passing, they replay the old games, relive the old glories, and try to decide once and for all whether they love Eddie Rake--or hate him. For Neely Crenshaw, a man who must finally forgive his coach--and himself--before he can get on with his life, the stakes are especially high.

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ODD THOMAS
Dean Koontz
Cover of ODD THOMAS

ODD THOMAS

by Dean Koontz · Bantam

5 wks on list

Meet Odd Thomas, the unassuming young hero of Dean Koontz’s dazzling New York Times bestseller, a gallant sentinel at the crossroads of life and death who offers up his heart in these pages and will forever capture yours. “The dead don’t talk. I don’t know why.” But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Sometimes the silent souls who seek out Odd want justice. Occasionally their otherworldly tips help him prevent a crime. But this time it’s different. A stranger comes to Pico Mundo, accompanied by a horde of hyena-like shades who herald an imminent catastrophe. Aided by his soul mate, Stormy Llewellyn, and an unlikely community of allies that includes the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, Odd will race against time to thwart the gathering evil. His account of these shattering hours, in which past and present, fate and destiny, converge, is a testament by which to live—an unforgettable fable for our time destined to rank among Dean Koontz’s most enduring works.

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2
POMPEII
Robert Harris
Cover of POMPEII

POMPEII

by Robert Harris · Random House

6 wks on list

A sweltering week in late August. Where better to enjoy the last days of summer than on the beautiful Bay of Naples? All along the coast, the Roman Empire's richest citizens are relaxing in their luxurious villas. The world's largest navy lies peacefully at anchor in Misenum. The tourists are spending their money in the seaside resorts of Baiae, Herculaneum and Pompeii.Only one man is worried. The engineer Marcus Attilius Primus has just taken charge of the Aqua Augusta, the enormous aqueduct which brings fresh water to a quarter of a million people in nine towns around the Bay. Springs are failing for the first time in generations. His predecessor has disappeared. And now there is a crisis on the Augusta's sixty-mile main line - somewhere to the north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.Attilius - decent, practical, incorruptible - promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. But as he heads out towards Vesuvius he is about to discover there are forces which even the world's only superpower can't control. Pompeii recreates in spellbinding detail one of the most famous natural disasters of all time. And by focusing on the characters of an engineer and a scientist, it offers an entirely original perspective on the Roman world.

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1
ANGELS & DEMONS
Dan Brown
Cover of ANGELS & DEMONS

ANGELS & DEMONS

by Dan Brown · Atria

2 wks on list

World renowned harvard symbologist Robert Langdon must uncover clues that point to the resurgance of an ancient secret society.

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2
BLOW FLY
Patricia Cornwell
Cover of BLOW FLY

BLOW FLY

by Patricia Cornwell · Putnam

13 wks on list

Leaving Virginia in search of peace and quiet, Dr. Kay Scarpetta journeys to Florida, where a series of baffling murders entangles her in an international conspiracy that confronts her with the most unexpected circumstance of her life.

15
NEW
THE MURDER ROOM
P. D. James
Cover of THE MURDER ROOM

THE MURDER ROOM

by P. D. James · Knopf

Hired as a bodyguard to faded actress Clarissa Lisle, the recent recipient of numerous death threats, Cordelia Gray accompanies the actress to an island castle, whose owner collects funeral paraphernalia.

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