TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of July 24, 2005

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
Jump to
1
ELEVEN ON TOP
Janet Evanovich
Cover of ELEVEN ON TOP

ELEVEN ON TOP

by Janet Evanovich · St. Martin's

3 wks at #1 · 3 on list

Hoping to discontinue her career as a bounty hunter for something safer, Stephanie Plum is inadvertently drawn into a case that is complicated by her tangled love life, her chaotic family, and her penchant for wrecking cars.

2
THE HISTORIAN
Elizabeth Kostova
Cover of THE HISTORIAN

THE HISTORIAN

by Elizabeth Kostova · Little, Brown

4 wks on list

The record-breaking phenomenon from Elizabeth Kostova is a celebrated masterpiece that "refashioned the vampire myth into a compelling contemporary novel, a late-night page-turner" (San Francisco Chronicle). Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written, The Historian is the story of a young woman plunged into a labyrinth where the secrets of her family’s past connect to an inconceivable evil: the dark fifteenth-century reign of Vlad the Impaler and a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive through the ages. The search for the truth becomes an adventure of monumental proportions, taking us from monasteries and dusty libraries to the capitals of Eastern Europe—in a feat of storytelling so rich, so hypnotic, so exciting that it has enthralled readers around the world. “Part thriller, part history, part romance...Kostova has a keen sense of storytelling and she has a marvelous tale to tell.” —Baltimore Sun

3
1
THE DA VINCI CODE
Dan Brown
Cover of THE DA VINCI CODE

THE DA VINCI CODE

by Dan Brown · Doubleday

121 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)!

5
THE MERMAID CHAIR
Sue Monk Kidd
Cover of THE MERMAID CHAIR

THE MERMAID CHAIR

by Sue Monk Kidd · Viking Press

14 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.

6
NEW
ALWAYS TIME TO DIE
Elizabeth Lowell
Cover of ALWAYS TIME TO DIE

ALWAYS TIME TO DIE

by Elizabeth Lowell · Morrow

1 wks on list

The timely murder of former senator Andrew Jackson Quintrell III, removes one more obstacle from his son Josh's road to the White House, so no one is happy when the old man's sister-in-law hires genealogist Carly May to trace the family's history, and it is up to Dan Duran, a former government operative and illegitimate grandson of Quintrell, to keep her alive as she uncovers scandalous secrets.

7
4TH OF JULY
James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Cover of 4TH OF JULY

4TH OF JULY

by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro · Little, Brown

10 wks on list

The world's bestselling detective series has never been more suspenseful. Trapped in deadly showdowns, courtroom trials, and dangerous secrets, the Women's Murder Club must fight for their lives. In a deadly late-night showdown, San Francisco police lieutenant Lindsay Boxer fires her weapon and sets off a dramatic chain of events that leaves a police force disgraced, a family destroyed, and Lindsay herself at the mercy of twelve jurors. During a break in the trial, she retreats to a picturesque town that is reeling from a string of grisly murders-crimes that bear a link to a haunting, unsolved case from her rookie years. Now, with her friends in the Women's Murder Club, Lindsay must battle for her life on two fronts: in a trial rushing to a climax, and against an unknown adversary willing to do anything to hide the truth about the homicides-including kill again?

9
1
A LONG WAY DOWN
Nick Hornby
Cover of A LONG WAY DOWN

A LONG WAY DOWN

by Nick Hornby · Riverhead/Penguin

5 wks on list

"New Year's Eve at Toppers' House, North London's most popular suicide spot. And four strangers are about to discover that doing away with yourself isn't quite the private act they'd each expected." "Perma-tanned Martin Sharp's a disgraced breakfast TV presenter who had it all - the kids, the wife, the pad, the great career - and wasted it away. Killing himself is Martin's logical and appropriate response to an unliveable life." "Maureen has to do it tonight, because of Matty being in the home. He was never able to do any of the normal things kids do - like walk or talk - and loving-mum Maureen can't cope any more. Dutiful Catholic that she is, she's ready to commit the 'biggest sin of all'." "Half-crazed with heartbreak, loneliness, adolescent angst, seven Bacardi Breezers and two Special Brews, Jess's ready to jump, to fly off the roof." "Finally, there's JJ - tall, cool, American, looks like a rock-star, sometimes thinks he plays his guitar like one - who's weighted down with a heap of problems, and pizza." "Four strangers, who moments before were convinced that they were alone and going to end it all that way, share out the pizza and begin to talk ... Only to find that they have even less in common than first suspected." "Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down is a novel that asks some of the big questions: about life and death, strangers and friendship, love and pain, and whether a group of losers, and pizza, can really see you through a long, dark night of the soul."--BOOK JACKET.

10
NEW
ADORED
Tilly Bagshawe
Cover of ADORED

ADORED

by Tilly Bagshawe · Warner

1 wks on list

A deliciously sexy blockbuster of Hollywood ambition, greed and intrigue. To the outside world, Siena McMahon has a fairytale life. Born into a great Hollywood dynasty - granddaughter of forties movie legend Duke McMahon, daughter of billionaire producer Pete McMahon - she is blessed with beauty, brains and wealth, a proverbial princess. But behind the wrought iron gates of the McMahon's sprawling Hollywood mansion, life is far from happy. The McMahons are bound together not by love, but by ambition, greed and intrigue. When a gold-digging English aristocrat worms her way into their lives and their home, the fault lines in the feuding family are blown right open. In an effort to protect Siena from the fall-out, her parents pack her off to an English boarding school. But Siena has a burning ambition - she is determined to become a Hollywood star, just as her grandfather said she would be. One way or another, Siena McMahon is going to return to LA and take the City of Dreams by storm. And woe betide anyone who gets in her way...

11
2
CROSS BONES
Kathy Reichs
Cover of CROSS BONES

CROSS BONES

by Kathy Reichs · Scribner

2 wks on list

A gripping and explosive thriller from internationally acclaimed forensic anthropologist and New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs, featuring Temperance Brennan and Detective Andrew Ryan on the trail of a modern murder and an ancient biblical mystery. Examining a badly decomposed corpse is de rigueur for forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. But puzzling damage on the body of a shooting victim, an Orthodox Jewish man, suggests this is no ordinary Montreal murder. When a stranger slips Tempe a photograph of a skeleton unearthed at an archaeological site, Tempe uncovers chilling ties between the dead man and secrets long buried in the dust of Israel. Traveling there with Detective Andrew Ryan, Tempe plunges into an international mystery as old as Jesus, and centered on the controversial discovery of Christ's tomb. Has a mastermind lured her into an elaborate hoax? If not, Tempe may be on the brink of rewriting two thousand years of history—if she can survive the foes dead set on burying her.

12
2
FIRE SALE
Sara Paretsky
Cover of FIRE SALE

FIRE SALE

by Sara Paretsky · Putnam

2 wks on list

Een vrouwelijke detective raakt verstrikt in een web van intriges, als zij besluit haar basketball team te helpen.

13
NEW
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

93 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

14
DANCE OF DEATH
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

DANCE OF DEATH

by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child · Warner

4 wks on list

HTML: Two brothers. One a top FBI agent. The other a brilliant, twisted criminal. An undying hatred between them. Now, a perfect crime. And the ultimate challenge: Stop me if you can... .

15
NEW
THE TRAVELER
John Twelve Hawks
Cover of THE TRAVELER

THE TRAVELER

by John Twelve Hawks · Doubleday

In London, Maya, a young woman trained to fight by her powerful father, uses the latest technology to elude detection when walking past the thousands of surveillance cameras that watch the city. In New York, a secret shadow organization uses a victim’s own GPS to hunt him down and kill him. In Los Angeles, Gabriel, a motorcycle messenger with a haunted past, takes pains to live "off the grid" — free of credit cards and government IDs. Welcome to the world of The Traveler — a world frighteningly like our own.In this compelling novel, Maya fights to save Gabriel, the only man who can stand against the forces that attempt to monitor and control society. From the back streets of Prague to the skyscrapers of Manhattan, The Traveler portrays an epic struggle between tyranny and freedom. Not since 1984 have readers witnessed a Big Brother so terrifying in its implications and in a story that so closely reflects our lives.

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