TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of October 30, 2005

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THE LINCOLN LAWYER
Michael Connelly
Cover of THE LINCOLN LAWYER

THE LINCOLN LAWYER

by Michael Connelly · Little, Brown

2 wks on list

For defense attorney Mickey Haller, the clock is always running. With two ex-wives, four Lincoln Town Cars that he uses as offices, and dozens of guilty clients, he can't afford to miss a trick. When he gets picked by a Beverly Hills rich boy arrested for assault, Mickey sees a franchise case: a nice, long, expensive trial with maximum billable hours--until it hurtles him into the last place he wants to be. Suddenly hustling, cynical Mickey Haller is confronted with pure evil and someone who may be truly innocent. Now, for a lawyer who has always gone for the easy score, getting justice means taking the deadliest risk of all.

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BLUE SMOKE
Nora Roberts
Cover of BLUE SMOKE

BLUE SMOKE

by Nora Roberts · Putnam

2 wks on list

Incomparable #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts delivers a tale of gut-level fear, human triumph, and the bonds that carry us through our darkest times… Reena Hale’s destiny was shaped in the destructive—yet fascinatingly beautiful—fire that leveled her family’s pizzeria when she was young. Now an arson investigator, she finds her strength and wits constantly tested, although sometimes the job seems like a snap compared to her love life. But she can’t always blame the men. After all, a soot-caked woman barking orders and smelling of smoke isn’t the biggest turn-on in the world. Then she meets Bo Goodnight, who seems different. He’s been trying to find Reena for years, and now that she’s close enough to touch, he has no intention of letting go. Nor does the man who has begun to haunt Reena’s life—with taunting phone calls and a string of horrifying crimes. And as Reena tries desperately to trace the origins—of the calls, the fires, the hatred aimed in her direction—she will step into the worst inferno she has ever faced...

4
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CONSENT TO KILL
Vince Flynn
Cover of CONSENT TO KILL

CONSENT TO KILL

by Vince Flynn · Atria

1 wks on list

For ten years Mitch Rapp has fought on the frontline of the War on Terror. His bold actions have saved the lives of thousands -- but in the process his list of enemies has grown inexorably. There are even those within his own government who would like to see him eliminated. Thousands of miles away, the influential father of a dead terrorist demands retribution for the death of his son. He wants Rapp dead -- and his hate-filled plea has found sympathetic ears. In the tangled, duplicitous world of espionage, there are those, even among America's allies, who feel Rapp has grown too effective. They've been looking for an excuse to eliminate America's No 1 counterterrorism operative -- and they've decided to seize the chance. The Hunter has become the Hunted. A tragedy of unimaginable proportions is about to befall Mitch Rapp -- and he must use all his cunning, skill and ruthless determination to stay alive and seek vengeance against the traitor who would bring him down.

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SON OF A WITCH
Gregory Maguire
Cover of SON OF A WITCH

SON OF A WITCH

by Gregory Maguire · ReganBooks/HarperCollins

3 wks on list

Ten years after the publication of Wicked, beloved novelist Gregory Maguire returns at last to the land of Oz. There he introduces us to Liir, an adolescent boy last seen hiding in the shadows of the castle after Dorothy did in the Witch. Bruised, comatose, and left for dead in a gully, Liir is shattered in spirit as well as in form. But he is tended to at the Cloister of Saint Glinda by the silent novice called Candle, who wills him back to life with her musical gifts. What dark force left Liir in this condition?

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GOODNIGHT NOBODY
Jennifer Weiner
Cover of GOODNIGHT NOBODY

GOODNIGHT NOBODY

by Jennifer Weiner · Atria

4 wks on list

A warm and witty novel from the acclaimed author of Good in Bed, In Her Shoesand the forthcoming Who Do You Love (August 2015) For Kate Klein, semi-accidental mother of three, the unsolved murder of a fellow mother is the most interesting thing to happen since the neighbours cracked their septic tank. Up until then life in suburbia has been distinctly underwhelming. Her once-loving husband is hardly ever home. The supermums on the playground routinely snub her and her days are filled with an empty routine. At night, most of her orgasms are of the do-it-yourself variety. So, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, when her kids are in nursery school, Kate launches a murder investigation of her own. With the help of her best friend, carpet heiress Janie Segal, and former flame, Evan McKenna, she is drawn deep into the dead woman's double life. Suddenly suburbia is not so ordinary after all. Engrossing, suspenseful, and laugh-out-loud funny, Goodnight Nobodyis another unputdownable, sparkling tale; a quick-witted mystery with a great heart and a narrator you'll never forget.

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THE MARCH
E. L. Doctorow
Cover of THE MARCH

THE MARCH

by E. L. Doctorow · Random House

4 wks on list

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER OF THE PEN/FAULKNER AWARD NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In 1864, Union general William Tecumseh Sherman marched his sixty thousand troops through Georgia to the sea, and then up into the Carolinas. The army fought off Confederate forces, demolished cities, and accumulated a borne-along population of freed blacks and white refugees until all that remained was the dangerous transient life of the dispossessed and the triumphant. In E. L. Doctorow’s hands the great march becomes a floating world, a nomadic consciousness, and an unforgettable reading experience with awesome relevance to our own times.

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THE HISTORIAN
Elizabeth Kostova
Cover of THE HISTORIAN

THE HISTORIAN

by Elizabeth Kostova · Little, Brown

18 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

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

THE DA VINCI CODE

by Dan Brown · Doubleday

135 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)!

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GABRIEL'S ANGEL
Nora Roberts
Cover of GABRIEL'S ANGEL

GABRIEL'S ANGEL

by Nora Roberts · Silhouette

3 wks on list

Pregnant, alone, and on the run to protect her unborn child, Laura Malone finds herself stranded with Gabriel Bradley, with whom she forms a bond after he provides her with shelter and friendship through the storm.

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EVERYONE WORTH KNOWING
Lauren Weisberger
Cover of EVERYONE WORTH KNOWING

EVERYONE WORTH KNOWING

by Lauren Weisberger · Simon & Schuster

2 wks on list

Twenty-seven-year-old Bette Robinson is fed up with the long hours and her obnoxious boss at her investment banking firm, so she quits and lands a job with New York's hottest PR firm. It seems like her dream job, but could there be a downside in getting paid to party?

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SCHOOL DAYS
Robert B. Parker
Cover of SCHOOL DAYS

SCHOOL DAYS

by Robert B. Parker · Putnam

3 wks on list

A horrifying school shooting draws Boston PI Spenser into a harrowing investigation in this thriller by New York Times bestselling author Robert B. Parker. When a Massachusetts boy is accused of mass murder, his socially prominent grandmother is convinced of his innocence and is willing to fight for him. But based on the boy’s resigned attitude and the evidence stacked against him, Spenser isn’t convinced of anything—except that there’s trouble ahead...

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