TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of August 28, 2011

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A DANCE WITH DRAGONS
George R. R. Martin
Cover of A DANCE WITH DRAGONS

A DANCE WITH DRAGONS

by George R. R. Martin · Bantam

3 wks at #1 · 5 on list

A latest installment of the popular series follows a showdown set in the north of the Seven Kingdoms and reveals the circumstances that shaped southern-region events. By the best-selling author of A Feast for Crows.

2
NEW
THE IDEAL MAN
Julie Garwood
Cover of THE IDEAL MAN

THE IDEAL MAN

by Julie Garwood · Dutton

1 wks on list

A woman’s life and love are compromised in this pulse-pounding thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood. Dr. Ellie Sullivan has witnessed the shooting of an FBI agent in pursuit of a ruthless modern-day Bonnie and Clyde. The only person to see the shooter’s face, Ellie is suddenly thrust into the center of a criminal investigation spearheaded by the no-nonsense, by-the-book, and tantalizingly handsome agent Max Daniels. When the couple is captured, she’ll be called to testify. But the Landrys have been caught before, and each time the witnesses are scared into silence—or they disappear. Now Max vows to be Ellie’s shadow, promising never to leave her side until the trial. But that could be dangerous for both of them, and it isn’t long before the sparks—and the bullets—fly.

3
FULL BLACK
Brad Thor
Cover of FULL BLACK

FULL BLACK

by Brad Thor · Atria

3 wks on list

In the wake of a former U.S. President's appointment to the United Nations, counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is wrongly implicated for a string of national emergencies and assassinations, a situation that forces him to race against time to uncover the real culprit.

4
NEW
VICTORY AND HONOR
W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV
Cover of VICTORY AND HONOR

VICTORY AND HONOR

by W.E.B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV · Putnam

1 wks on list

W.E. B. Griffin returns to his Honor Bound series set in the shadows of World War II espionage in South America… May 1945: Just weeks after Hitler’s suicide, Cletus Frade and his colleagues in the Office of Strategic Services are fighting several new and deadly battles. The first is political—with every department from Treasury to War to the FBI grabbing for OSS covert agents and assets. The second is military—with the OSS having smuggled Germans into Argentina for years because of their knowledge of Soviet KGB agents in America’s atomic bomb program. The third concerns what might be the next world war against Red Joe Stalin and his voracious ambitions. To get an early advantage, Frade has been conducting a secret and daring operation against the Communists. But to do it undetected, he and his men must walk a perilously dark line. Because all it takes is one slip—and everyone becomes a casualty of war.

5
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COLD VENGEANCE
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Cover of COLD VENGEANCE

COLD VENGEANCE

by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child · Grand Central

2 wks on list

The dramatic second novel in a three-book story arc starring enigmatic FBI Agent Pendergast on his search for his long-lost wife, Helen. Devastated by the discovery that his wife, Helen, was murdered, Special Agent Pendergast must have retribution. But revenge is not simple. As he stalks his wife's betrayers - a chase that takes him from the wild moors of Scotland to the bustling streets of New York City and the darkest bayous of Louisiana - he is also forced to dig further into Helen's past. And he is stunned to learn that Helen may have been a collaborator in her own murder. Peeling back the layers of deception, Pendergast realizes that the conspiracy is deeper, goes back generations, and is more monstrous than he could have ever imagined - and everything he's believed, everything he's trusted, everything he's understood . . . may be a horrific lie.

6
1
GHOST STORY
Jim Butcher
Cover of GHOST STORY

GHOST STORY

by Jim Butcher · Roc

3 wks on list

Wizard detective Harry Dresden, murdered by an unknown assassin, must save his friends and his soul without any magic to help him in this novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Side Jobs. 250,000 first printing.

8
NEW
THE MAGICIAN KING
Lev Grossman
Cover of THE MAGICIAN KING

THE MAGICIAN KING

by Lev Grossman · Viking Press

1 wks on list

Lev Grossman’s new novel THE BRIGHT SWORD is out now! Return to Fillory in the riveting sequel to the New York Times bestseller and literary phenomenon, The Magicians, now an original series on SYFY, from the author of the #1 bestselling The Magician’s Land. Quentin Coldwater should be happy. He escaped a miserable Brooklyn childhood, matriculated at a secret college for magic, and graduated to discover that Fillory—a fictional utopia—was actually real. But even as a Fillorian king, Quentin finds little peace. His old restlessness returns, and he longs for the thrills a heroic quest can bring. Accompanied by his oldest friend, Julia, Quentin sets off—only to somehow wind up back in the real world and not in Fillory, as they’d hoped. As the pair struggle to find their way back to their lost kingdom, Quentin is forced to rely on Julia’s illicitly learned sorcery as they face a sinister threat in a world very far from the beloved fantasy novels of their youth.

9
3
PORTRAIT OF A SPY
Daniel Silva
Cover of PORTRAIT OF A SPY

PORTRAIT OF A SPY

by Daniel Silva · Harper/HarperCollins

4 wks on list

‘Allon is the 21st century Bond’ – Daily Mail Gabriel Allon, secret agent, assassin and master art restorer, returns in a spellbinding new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author

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RETRIBUTION
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Cover of RETRIBUTION

RETRIBUTION

by Sherrilyn Kenyon · St. Martin's

2 wks on list

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon comes the next thrilling installment in her blockbuster Dark-Hunter® series Harm no human... A hired gunslinger, William Jessup Brady lived his life with one foot in the grave. He believed that every life had a price. Until the day when he finally found a reason to live. In one single act of brutal betrayal, he lost everything, including his life. Brought back by a Greek goddess to be one of her Dark-Hunters, he gave his immortal soul for vengeance and swore he'd spend eternity protecting the humans he'd once considered prey. Orphaned as a toddler, Abigail Yager was taken in by a family of vampires and raised on one belief—Dark-Hunters are the evil who prey on both their people and mankind, and they must all be destroyed. While protecting her adoptive race, she has spent her life eliminating the Dark-Hunters and training for the day when she meeting the man who killed her family: Jess Brady. A gun in the hand is worth two in the holster... Jess has been charged with finding and terminating the creature who's assassinating Dark-Hunters. The last thing he expects to find is a human face behind the killings, but when that face bears a striking resemblance to the one who murdered him centuries ago, he knows something evil is going on. He also knows he's not the one who killed her parents. But Abigail refuses to believe the truth and is determined to see him dead once and for all. Brought together by an angry god and chased by ancient enemies out to kill them both, they must find a way to overcome their mutual hatred or watch as one of the darkest of powers rises and kills both the races they've sworn to protect.

12
4
NOW YOU SEE HER
James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Cover of NOW YOU SEE HER

NOW YOU SEE HER

by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge · Little, Brown

7 wks on list

A successful lawyer and loving mother, Nina Bloom would do anything to protect the life she's built in New York - including lying to everyone, even her daughter, about her past. But when an innocent man is framed for murder, she knows that she can't let him pay for the real killer's crimes. Nina's secret life began nineteen years ago. She had looks to die for, a handsome police-officer husband, and a carefree life in Key West. When she learned she was pregnant with their first child, her happiness was almost overwhelming. But Nina's world is shattered when she unearths a terrible secret that causes her to run for her life and change her identity. Now, years later, Nina risks everything she's earned to return to Florida and confront the murderous evil she fled. In a story of wrenching suspense, James Patterson gives us his most head-spinning, action-filled story yet - a Hitchcockian blend of unquenchable drama and pleasure.

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3
SMOKIN' SEVENTEEN
Janet Evanovich
Cover of SMOKIN' SEVENTEEN

SMOKIN' SEVENTEEN

by Janet Evanovich · Bantam

8 wks on list

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich: Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and no one knows this better than New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum! “The most popular mystery writer alive.”—The New York Times Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie’s name is on the killer’s list. Short on time to find evidence proving the killer’s identity, Stephanie faces further complications when her family and friends decide that it’s time for her to choose between her longtime off-again-on-again boyfriend, Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and the bad boy in her life, security expert Ranger. Stephanie’s mom is encouraging Stephanie to dump them both and choose a former high school football star who’s just returned to town. Stephanie’s sidekick, Lula, is encouraging Stephanie to have a red-hot boudoir “bake-off.” And Grandma Bella, Morelli’s old-world grandmother, is encouraging Stephanie to move to a new state when she puts “the eye” on Stephanie. With a cold-blooded killer after her, a handful of hot men, and a capture list that includes a dancing bear and a senior citizen vampire, Stephanie’s life looks like it’s about to go up in smoke.

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