TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of May 1, 2005

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2
THE MERMAID CHAIR
Sue Monk Kidd
Cover of THE MERMAID CHAIR

THE MERMAID CHAIR

by Sue Monk Kidd · Viking Press

2 wks on list

43-årige Jessie Sullivan, som lever et begivenhedsløst liv i Atlanta med mand og en datter, bliver kaldt hjem til sin barndoms ø Egret, da moderen Nelle Skærer sine fingre af; hun konfronteres med minderne om faderens død i en bådulykke, som hun altid har følt sig delvis ansvarlig for, og moderen har hun aldrig stået særlig nær.

3
REVENGE OF THE SITH
Matthew Stover
Cover of REVENGE OF THE SITH

REVENGE OF THE SITH

by Matthew Stover · Lucas/Del Rey/Ballantine

3 wks on list

Based on the screenplay of the movie, Star Wars: Episode III, the novel brings the epic full circle, revealing at last just how the young Jedi, Anakin Skywalker, became the most evil villain in the galaxy, Darth Vader, and father to Luke and Leia. When the novel opens, the Clone Wars are still in full cry, and numerous Jedi have already been lost. Anakin is struggling with his dual life: Jedi Knight and husband (in secret) to Padme Amidala. The time is drawing near for the machiavellian Darth Sidious--the Sith Lord determined to wrest control of the galaxy from the Republic--to draw tight the noose he has been creating around Anakin Skywalker...and create a new Sith Lord with unmatched dark-side Force powers... Possibly the most anticipated Star Wars movie of all time, Star Wars: Episode III at last tells the tale of how the young Jedi Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader, the most feared villain in the galaxy. The novel will go "behind the scenes" into the characters' thoughts as well as expand on scenes seen in the movie.

5
1
THE DA VINCI CODE
Dan Brown
Cover of THE DA VINCI CODE

THE DA VINCI CODE

by Dan Brown · Doubleday

109 wks 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)!

6
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A STROKE OF MIDNIGHT
Laurell K. Hamilton
Cover of A STROKE OF MIDNIGHT

A STROKE OF MIDNIGHT

by Laurell K. Hamilton · Ballantine

1 wks on list

In her fourth appearance, private investigator and heir to the throne of Fairie Meredith Gentry continues her quest to produce a child. As pregnancy becomes more urgent, Merry must leave the protected beds of the Queen's Ravens and lay with other men--men whose designs and allegiances remain in question. Unabridged. 5 CDs.

7
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TWO-DOLLAR BILL
Stuart Woods
Cover of TWO-DOLLAR BILL

TWO-DOLLAR BILL

by Stuart Woods · Putnam

1 wks on list

In this thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Manhattan cop-turned-lawyer Stone Barrington is back on his home turf caught between a filthy rich conman and a beautiful prosecutor... Not long after Stone and his ex-partner Dino make the acquaintance of Billy Bob—a smooth-talkin’ Texan packing a wad of rare two-dollar bills—someone takes a shot at them. Against his better judgment, Stone offers Billy Bob a safe haven for the night but almost immediately regrets it. The slippery out-of-towner has gone missing and someone has been found dead—in Stone’s town house no less. Now, Stone is now stuck between a stunning federal prosecutor and a love from his past, a con man with more aliases than hairs on his head, and a murder investigation that could ruin them all.

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3
SATURDAY
Ian McEwan
Cover of SATURDAY

SATURDAY

by Ian McEwan · Nan A. Talese/Doubleday

4 wks on list

Ein Samstag, der mit einem brennenden Flugzeug über der Stadt beginnt, wird das Leben des Arztes Henry Perowne von Grund auf verändern. Es ist der 15. Februar 2003, der Tag der grössten Demonstration in London gegen den Irakkrieg. Die Ereignisse überschlagen sich, als Perowne einen Autounfall verursacht, und die Insassen sich als gewalttätig entpuppen.

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3
HONEYMOON
James Patterson and Howard Roughan
Cover of HONEYMOON

HONEYMOON

by James Patterson and Howard Roughan · Little, Brown

9 wks on list

A walk down the aisle, a resort hotel, a drink on the beach...for these unlucky couples, the honeymoon's over. A newlywed couple steps into the sauna in their deluxe honeymoon suite--and never steps out again. When another couple is killed while boarding their honeymoon flight to Rome, it becomes clear that someone is targeting honeymooners, and it's anyone's guess which happy couple is next on the list. FBI Agent John O'Hara is deep into solving the case, while Special Agent Sarah Brubaker is hunting another ingenious serial killer, whose victims all have one chilling thing in common. As wedding hysteria rises to a frightening new level, John and Sarah work ever more closely together in a frantic attempt to decipher the logic behind two rampages. SECOND HONEYMOON is James Patterson's most mesmerizing, most exciting, and most surprising thriller ever.

11
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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

82 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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THE BROKER
John Grisham
Cover of THE BROKER

THE BROKER

by John Grisham · Doubleday

14 wks on list

In his final hours in the Oval Office, the outgoing President grants a controversial last-minute pardon to Joel Backman, a notorious Washington power broker who has spent the last six years hidden away in a federal prison. What no one knows is that the President issues the pardon only after receiving enormous pressure from the CIA. It seems Backman, in his power broker heyday, may have obtained secrets that compromise the world’s most sophisticated satellite surveillance system. Backman is quietly smuggled out of the country in a military cargo plane, given a new name, a new identity, and a new home in Italy. Eventually, after he has settled into his new life, the CIA will leak his whereabouts to the Israelis, the Russians, the Chinese, and the Saudis. Then the CIA will do what it does best: sit back and watch. The question is not whether Backman will survive—there is no chance of that. The question the CIA needs answered is, who will kill him?

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WITH NO ONE AS WITNESS
Elizabeth George
Cover of WITH NO ONE AS WITNESS

WITH NO ONE AS WITNESS

by Elizabeth George · HarperCollins

5 wks on list

In With No One As Witness, Elizabeth George has crafted an intricate, meticulously researched, and absorbing story sure to enthrall her readers. Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, along with his longtime partner, the fiery Barbara Havers, and the newly promoted Detective Sergeant Winston Nkata are back and on the hunt for a sinister killer. When an adolescent boy's nude body is found mutilated and artfully arranged on the top of a tomb, it takes no large leap for the police to recognize this as the work of a serial killer. This is the fourth victim in three months -- but the first to be white. Hoping to avoid charges of institutionalized racism in its failure to pursue the earlier crimes to their conclusion, New Scotland Yard hands the case over to Lynley and his colleagues. The killer is a psychopath who does not intend to be stopped. Worse, a devastating tragedy within police ranks causes them to fumble in their pursuit of him. With a surprise ending that will shock readers to the core, With No One As Witness is full of the mesmerizing action and psychological intrigue that are the hallmarks of Elizabeth George's work.

14
3
THE RISING
Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins
Cover of THE RISING

THE RISING

by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins · Tyndale

7 wks on list

The countdown to Rapture begins as Marilena Carpathia unknowingly gives birth to the Antichrist, and half a world away, God's plans begin to take form in young Ray Steele.

15
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EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE
Jonathan Safran Foer
Cover of EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

by Jonathan Safran Foer · Houghton Mifflin

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is a precocious Francophile who idolizes Stephen Hawking and plays the tambourine extremely well. He's also a boy struggling to come to terms with his father's death in the World Trade Center attacks. As he searches New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key he left behind, Oskar discovers much more than he could have imagined.

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