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Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of July 12, 2009

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FINGER LICKIN’ FIFTEEN
Janet Evanovich
Cover of FINGER LICKIN’ FIFTEEN

FINGER LICKIN’ FIFTEEN

by Janet Evanovich · St. Martin’s Press

1 wks at #1 · 1 on list

Recipe for disaster: Celebrity chef Stanley Chipotle comes to Trenton to participate in a barbecue cook-off and loses his head – literally. Throw in some spice: Bail bonds office worker Lula is witness to the crime, and the only one she'll talk to is Trenton cop, Joe Morelli. Pump up the heat: Chipotle's sponsor is offering a million-dollar reward to anyone who can provide information leading to the capture of the killers. Stir the pot: Lula recruits bounty hunter Stephanie Plum to help her find the killers and collect the moolah. Add a secret ingredient: Stephanie's Grandma Mazur. Enough said. Bring to a boil: Can Stephanie hunt down two killers, a traitor, five skips, keep her grandmother out of the sauce, solve Ranger's problems and not jump his bones? Warning: Janet Evanovich's Finger Lickin' Fifteen is habanero hot. So good you'll want seconds.

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THE DOOMSDAY KEY
James Rollins
Cover of THE DOOMSDAY KEY

THE DOOMSDAY KEY

by James Rollins · Morrow/HarperCollins

1 wks on list

Three brutal murders, three high-profile victims, three bodies marked with a mysterious and archaic symbol...The massive SIGMA Force thriller from the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of MAP OF BONES and THE LAST ORACLE. At Princeton University, a famed geneticist dies inside a biohazard lab. In Rome, a Vatican archaeologist is found dead in the heart of St Peter's Basilica. In Africa, a US Senator's son is slain within a Red Cross camp in Ghana. These three murders on three continents bear a horrifying tie: all the victims are marked by a Druidic pagan cross burned into their flesh. The bizarre murders thrust Commander Gray Pierce and SIGMA Force into a global hunt for a powerful group of industrialists who have a stranglehold on the world's food supply. Aided by two women from his past, Gray flees a trio of high-tech assassins as he pieces together the clues. But saving the world comes at a price: Pierce must sacrifice one of the women. Yet even that price might not be enough, for, as he soon discovers, the only true path to salvation lies with the Doomsday Key.

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KNOCKOUT
Catherine Coulter
Cover of KNOCKOUT

KNOCKOUT

by Catherine Coulter · Putnam

2 wks on list

The 13th book in Catherine Coulter's hugely popular FBI series. After witnessing her relatives burying a pile of dead bodies in the middle of the night, a seven-year-old uses her telepathic powers to call a man she's seen only on television: FBI Agent Dillon Savich. Now Savich and his wife and partner, Agent Lacey Sherlock, face their most elusive foes to keep the child out of harm's way-before it's too late.

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OMEN
Christie Golden
Cover of OMEN

OMEN

by Christie Golden · Del Rey/Ballantine

1 wks on list

The Jedi Order is in crisis. The late Jacen Solo's shocking transformation into murderous Sith Lord Darth Caedus has cast a damning pall over those who wield the Force for good: Two Jedi Knights have succumbed to an inexplicable and dangerous psychosis, criminal charges have driven Luke Skywalker into self-imposed exile, and power-hungry Chief of State Natasi Daala is exploiting anti-Jedi sentiment to undermine the Order's influence within the Galactic Alliance.Forbidden to intervene in Jedi affairs, Luke is on a desperate mission to uncover the truth behind Jacen's fall to the dark side - and to learn what's turning peaceful Jedi into raving lunatics. But finding answers will mean venturing into the mind-bending space of the Kathol Rift and bargaining with an alien species as likely to destroy outsiders as deal with them. Still, there is no other choice and no time to lose, as the catastrophic events on Coruscant continue to escalate. Stricken by the same violent dementia that infected her brother, Valin, Jedi Knight Jysella Horn faces an equally grim fate after her capture by Natasi Daala's police. And when Han and Leia Solo narrowly foil another deranged Jedi bent on deadly destruction, even acting Jedi Grand Master Kenth Hamner appears willing to bow to Daala's iron will - at the expense of the Jedi Order.But an even greater threat is looming. Millennia in the past, a Sith starship crashed on an unknown low-tech planet, leaving the survivors stranded. Over the generations, their numbers have grown, the ways of the dark side have been nurtured, and the time is fast approaching when this lost tribe of Sith will once more take to the stars to reclaim their legendary destiny as rulers of the galaxy. Only one thing stands in their way, a name whispered to them through the Force: Skywalker.

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THE ANGEL'S GAME
Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Cover of THE ANGEL'S GAME

THE ANGEL'S GAME

by Carlos Ruiz Zafón · Doubleday

2 wks on list

'A heady brew of detective thriller, supernatural horror tale, magical realist fable and a heartbreaking love story' DAILY MAIL 'Readers familiar with The Shadow of the Wind will find themselves back in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books where, from a labyrinthine library, volumes seem to select their readers . . . rattling good gothic fun' SPECTATOR In an abandoned mansion in the heart of Barcelona, a young man, David Martín, makes his living by writing sensationalist novels under a pseudonym. The survivor of a troubled childhood, he spends his nights spinning baroque tales about the city's underworld. But perhaps his dark imaginings are not as strange as they seem, for in a locked room deep within the house lie photographs and letters hinting at an unsolved mystery. Like a slow poison, the history of the place and an impossible love bring David close to despair. But then he receives a letter from a reclusive French editor who makes him the offer of a lifetime . . . 'Will grip you from start to finish' DAILY EXPRESS

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THE BOURNE DECEPTION
Eric Van Lustbader
Cover of THE BOURNE DECEPTION

THE BOURNE DECEPTION

by Eric Van Lustbader · Grand Central

3 wks on list

After Bourne is ambushed and nearly killed while in Indonesia, he fakes his death to take on a new identity and mission- to find out who is trying to assassinate him. In the process, Bourne begins to question who he really is and what he would become if he no longer carried the Bourne identity. Across the globe, an American passenger airliner is shot down over Egypt-apparently by an Iranian missile-leaving the world wondering if it was an accident or an act of aggression. A massive global team lead by Soraya Moore is assembled to investigate the attack before the situation escalates. When Bourne's search for his would-be assassin intersects with Soraya's search for the group behind the airplane bombing, Bourne is thrust into a race to prevent a new world war. But it may already be too late.

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RELENTLESS
Dean Koontz
Cover of RELENTLESS

RELENTLESS

by Dean Koontz · Bantam

3 wks on list

Unable to let go of a poor review of his latest best-seller, novelist Cubby Greenwich endeavors to track down the reclusive critic only to trigger a terrifying chain of events that reveal the critic's sociopath tendencies as well as the violent nature of the critic's mother. 500,000 first printing.

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THE PHYSICK BOOK OF DELIVERANCE DANE
Katherine Howe
Cover of THE PHYSICK BOOK OF DELIVERANCE DANE

THE PHYSICK BOOK OF DELIVERANCE DANE

by Katherine Howe · Voice

3 wks on list

While clearing out her grandmother's cottage for sale, Connie Goodwin finds a parchment inscribed with the name Deliverance Dane. And so begins the hunt to uncover the woman behind the name, a hunt that takes her back to Salem in 1692 . . . and the infamous witchcraft trials. But nothing is entirely as it seems and when Connie unearths the existence of Deliverance's spell book, the Physick Book, the situation takes on a menacing edge as interested parties reveal their desperation to find this precious artefact at any cost. What secrets does the Physick Book contain? What magic is scrawled across its parchment pages? Connie must race to answer these questions - and reveal the truth about Salem's women - before an ancient family curse once more fulfils its dark and devastating prophecy . . .

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SHANGHAI GIRLS
Lisa See
Cover of SHANGHAI GIRLS
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MEDUSA
Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos

MEDUSA

by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos · Putnam

4 wks on list

HTML: A plague that threatens to eradicate millions... A ruthless cabal on a quest for domination... Mysterious undersea events lead Kurt Austin and the NUMA team to discover a hideous series of medical experiments, an extraordinarily ambitious Chinese criminal organization, and a secret new virus that threatens to set off a world-wide pandemic. .

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THE SCARECROW
Michael Connelly
Cover of THE SCARECROW

THE SCARECROW

by Michael Connelly · Little, Brown

5 wks on list

Pursuing a big story in anticipation of his imminent layoff, Los Angeles reporter Jack McEvoy investigates the murder confession of a teen drug dealer and realizes that the youth may be innocent, a discovery that pits him against a killer operating below police radar with an uncanny knowledge of his enemies.

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DEAD AND GONE
Charlaine Harris
Cover of DEAD AND GONE

DEAD AND GONE

by Charlaine Harris · Ace

8 wks on list

Now it's the turn of the weres and shifters to follow the lead of the undead and reveal their existence to the ordinary world. Sookie Stackhouse already knows about them, of course - her brother turns into a panther at the full moon, she's friend to the local Were pack and Sam, her boss at Merlotte's bar, is a shifter. At first the great Were revelation seems to go well - then the horribly mutilated body of a were-panther is found outside Merlotte's. Though Sookie never cared that much for the victim, no one deserves such a horrible death, so she agrees to use her telepathic talent to track down the murderer. But what Sookie doesn't realise is that there is a far greater danger than this killer threatening Bon Temps: a race of unhuman beings, older, more powerful and far more secretive than the vampires or the werewolves is preparing for war ...

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THE HOST
Stephenie Meyer
Cover of THE HOST

THE HOST

by Stephenie Meyer · Little, Brown

The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed. But Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind. Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves--Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.--From publisher description.

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