TheBestseller
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Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of May 20, 2012

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1
NEW
DEADLOCKED
Charlaine Harris
Cover of DEADLOCKED

DEADLOCKED

by Charlaine Harris · Ace

1 wks at #1 · 1 on list

When telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse investigates the body of a woman discovered in vampire Eric Northman's yard, she has no idea the murderer is an enemy out to get her in this latest novel in the series following Dead Reckoning. 100,000 first printing.

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1
THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE
Stephen King
Cover of THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE

THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE

by Stephen King · Scribner

2 wks on list

Returns to the rich landscape of Mid-World in a story within a story about gunslinger Roland Deschain, who while investigating a murderous shape-shifter interviews a terrified teen who has witnessed the creature's most recent killing.

3
1
THE INNOCENT
David Baldacci
Cover of THE INNOCENT

THE INNOCENT

by David Baldacci · Grand Central

3 wks on list

From a #1 New York Times bestselling author, America's best hitman must rescue a teenage runaway and investigate her parents' murder. It begins with a hit gone wrong. Robie is dispatched to eliminate a target unusually close to home in Washington, D.C. But something about this mission doesn't seem right to Robie, and he does the unthinkable—he refuses to pull the trigger. Now, Robie becomes a target himself and is on the run. Fleeing the scene, Robie crosses paths with a fourteen-year-old runaway from a foster home. But she isn't an ordinary runaway—her parents were murdered, and her own life is in danger. Against his professional training, Robie rescues her and finds he can't walk away. He needs to help her. The more Robie learns about the girl, the more he's convinced she is at the center of a vast cover-up, one that involves unimaginable levels of power. Now, Robie may have to step out of the shadows in order to save this girl's life...and perhaps his own.

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1
CALICO JOE
John Grisham
Cover of CALICO JOE

CALICO JOE

by John Grisham · Doubleday

4 wks on list

This story, based on the Cubs and Mets 1973 season follows the divergent paths of Joe Castle, a rookie hitter for the Chicago Cubs, and Warren Tracey, a hard-throwing Mets pitcher.

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1
THE WITNESS
Nora Roberts
Cover of THE WITNESS

THE WITNESS

by Nora Roberts · Putnam

3 wks on list

In her stunning 200th novel, #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts proves why no one is better “when it comes to flawlessly fusing high-stakes suspense with red-hot romance" (Booklist, starred review). Daughter of a cold, controlling mother and an anonymous donor, studious, obedient Elizabeth Fitch finally let loose one night, drinking too much at a nightclub and allowing a strange man’s seductive Russian accent to lure her to a house on Lake Shore Drive. Twelve years later, the woman now known as Abigail Lowery lives alone on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. A freelance security systems designer, her own protection is supplemented by a fierce dog and an assortment of firearms. She keeps to herself, saying little, revealing nothing. Unfortunately, that seems to be the quickest way to get attention in a tiny southern town. The mystery of Abigail Lowery and her sharp mind, secretive nature and unromantic viewpoint intrigues local police chief Brooks Gleason, on both a personal and professional level. And while he suspects that Abigail needs protection from something, Gleason is accustomed to two-bit troublemakers, not the powerful and dangerous men who are about to have him in their sights. And Abigail Lowery, who has built a life based on security and self-control, is at risk of losing both.

6
NEW
ROBERT B. PARKER'S LULLABY
Ace Atkins
Cover of ROBERT B. PARKER'S LULLABY

ROBERT B. PARKER'S LULLABY

by Ace Atkins · Putnam

1 wks on list

Classic Boston noir thriller from global bestseller, the late, great Robert B. Parker - one of contemporary crime fiction's most popular, enduring and acclaimed authors 'I spotted the girl even before she knocked on my door.' Mattie Sullivan has approached Spenser for help, asking him to find her mother's killer. But her mother was killed some four years back; and a local man, Mickey Green, was convicted of her murder that very same year. Mattie is not Spenser's typical client. For a start, she's just fourteen. Nor is her request a typical one - to take a case that's already been solved. But this kid is wiser than her years. And this case is less clear-cut, and far more dangerous, than it appears. 'One of the great series in the history of the American detective story' New York Times

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1
GUILTY WIVES
James Patterson and David Ellis
Cover of GUILTY WIVES

GUILTY WIVES

by James Patterson and David Ellis · Little, Brown

6 wks on list

The vacation of a lifetime in Monte Carlo turns into a hellish nightmare when best friends Abbie, Winnie, Serena and Bryah are arrested aboard an unfamiliar yacht and accused of an unthinkable crime. 1 million first printing.

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1
THE LOST YEARS
Mary Higgins Clark
Cover of THE LOST YEARS

THE LOST YEARS

by Mary Higgins Clark · Simon & Schuster

5 wks on list

Now in mass market, the latest suspense from #1 New York Times bestselling author and Queen of Suspense Mary Higgins Clark, where a biblical scholar is found murdered shortly after discovering the most revered and holy document in human history, which has now gone missing... Dr. Jonathan Lyons, a seventy-year-old biblical scholar, believes he has found the rarest of parchments—a letter that may have been written by Jesus Christ. Stolen from the Vatican library in the fifteenth century, it was assumed to be lost forever. Under the promise of secrecy, Jonathan attempts to confirm his findings with several other biblical experts. But on the eve before his own murder, he confides to Father Aiden O’Brien, a family friend, that one of those whom he trusted most is determined to keep it from being returned to the Vatican. The next evening Jonathan Lyons is found shot to death in his New Jersey home. His daughter, twenty-seven year old Mariah, finds her father’s body sprawled over his desk in his study, a fatal bullet wound in the back of his neck, and her mother, Kathleen, an Alzheimer’s victim, hiding in the study closet, incoherent and clutching the murder weapon. The police suspect that Kathleen, who in her lucid moments knows that Jonathan was involved with a much younger woman Lily Stewart, has committed the murder. But Mariah believes that the key to her father’s death is tied to another question: Where is the missing parchment? Whom, among his close circle of friends, might he have consulted? And did one of them kill to keep possession of the letter? With all the elements that have made her a worldwide bestseller, Mary Higgins Clark’s The Lost Years is at once a breathless murder mystery and a hunt for what may be the most precious religious and archaeological treasure of all time.

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1
UNNATURAL ACTS
Stuart Woods
Cover of UNNATURAL ACTS

UNNATURAL ACTS

by Stuart Woods · Putnam

3 wks on list

In this action-packed thriller in Stuart Woods’s #1 New York Times bestselling series, Stone Barrington discovers that some jobs don’t pay… When a hedge fund billionaire hires Stone Barrington to talk some sense into his wayward son, it seems like an easy enough job; no one knows the hidden sins and temptations of the ultra-wealthy better than Stone. But as Stone and his erstwhile protégé, Herbie Fisher, probe deeper into the case—and an old one comes back to haunt him—he realizes that even he may have underestimated just how far some people will go to cover up their crimes, and commit new ones.

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1
THE SHOEMAKER'S WIFE
Adriana Trigiani
Cover of THE SHOEMAKER'S WIFE

THE SHOEMAKER'S WIFE

by Adriana Trigiani · Harper/HarperCollins

5 wks on list

‘Trigiani is a master of palpable and visual detail’ Washington Post A sweeping epic of risk and destiny, of family, and of the power of love to change lives forever At the turn of the last century, Ciro, a young dreamer raised in a convent orphanage, and Enza, a practical girl born into poverty, meet as teenagers in the Italian Alps. Stumbling onto a scandal, Ciro is sent to hide in America and work as apprentice in Little Italy. Enza is bereft, but her life too is about to change. Unbeknownst to one another, Ciro is later a shoemaker and Enza is working in a factory in nearby Hoboken when fate reunites them. But it is already too late: Ciro has volunteered to serve in the war, and Enza has a new job at the Metropolitan Opera House that will sweep her into the glamorous salons of Manhattan and into the life of international singing sensation Enrico Caruso. From the stately mansions of Carnegie Hill, to the cobblestone streets of Little Italy, over the perilous cliffs of northern Italy, to the white-capped lakes of northern Minnesota, The Shoemaker’s Wife defines an era with operatic scope and splendour, in this breathtaking multigenerational love story that spans decades and continents as two star-crossed lovers weave their paths to each other. ‘Gloriously romantic… exquisite writing and a story enriched by the power of abiding love’ USA Today ‘Completely wonderful: a rich, sweeping epic which tells the story of the women and men who built America dream by dream’ Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help ‘An old-fashioned, romantic tale of two star-tangled lovers... but also a paean to artisanal work, food, friendship and family’ Washington Post ‘Breathtaking’ Hufffington Post

11
A DANCE WITH DRAGONS
George R. R. Martin
Cover of A DANCE WITH DRAGONS

A DANCE WITH DRAGONS

by George R. R. Martin · Bantam

40 wks 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.

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2
SACRÉ BLEU
Christopher Moore
Cover of SACRÉ BLEU

SACRÉ BLEU

by Christopher Moore · Morrow/HarperCollins

5 wks on list

1890. Vincent Van Gogh est assassiné à Auvers-sur-Oise par un mystérieux dealer de bleu, « l’Homme-aux-Couleurs ». Toulouse-Lautrec mène l’enquête. Il enrôle son ami Lucien Lessard, peintre-boulanger de la butte Montmartre. Mais Lucien n’a qu’une obsession : brosser le portrait de Juliette, muse magnétique, qui vient de lui offrir un tube de bleu très rare... De sa plume débridée, trempée à l’ultramarine, Christopher Moore signe une fabuleuse comédie qui revisite l’histoire et le Paris de l’impressionnisme. Renoir, Pissarro, Toulouse-Lautrec, Monet, Manet, les frères Van Gogh, Gauguin sont victimes d’un piège qui n’est peut-être que celui de l’inspiration. Comment savoir ? Surtout lorsque la muse sort du cadre pour asséner de façon peu académiques ses considérations sur l’art et la manière. Sacré Bleu dynamite tous les codes, du roman noir au rose, du livre d’art à la saga. Voici le premier roman bleu.

13
NEW
THE REVEREND'S WIFE
Kimberla Lawson Roby
Cover of THE REVEREND'S WIFE

THE REVEREND'S WIFE

by Kimberla Lawson Roby · Grand Central

1 wks on list

“The Best of Everything is one of the best things you’ll put on your shopping list this week.” —Tennessee Tribune Readers who just can’t get enough of the Reverend Curtis Black—the charming con man and insufferable womanizer who stars in Sin No More, The Best-Kept Secret, and other acclaimed, bestselling novels by Kimberla Lawson Roby—are going to love his daughter, Alicia. In the New York Times bestseller The Best of Everything, Alicia Black takes center stage while the rascally pastor stands on the sidelines, and Roby triumphs once again. The Best of Everything, is provocative entertainment—a treat for fans of Terry McMillian, E. Lynn Harris, and Eric Jerome Dickey—because when it comes to outrageous behavior, “like father, like daughter” definitely applies.

14
NEW
BORN OF SILENCE
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Cover of BORN OF SILENCE

BORN OF SILENCE

by Sherrilyn Kenyon · Grand Central

1 wks on list

The second most infamous member of the shadow organisation called Sentella, Kere, an explosives engineer, is known for striking terror in the hearts of all enemies. The bounty on his head is truly staggering, and no one outside the Sentella knows his real identity. Zarya Starska grew up hard on the back streets of hell. Labeled a traitor because of her father's political beliefs, she dreams of a different life and a different world. A world where the harsh hand of the Caronese government doesn't destroy the lives of its citizens. As a resistance leader, her goal is to topple to government that took her father's life, along with her mysterious right-hand man, known only as Kere. But Kere has a dark secret. He's out for revenge for past crimes against his family, and plans to annihilate all those he feels guilty, along with every resistance member he can find . . . including Zarya.

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NEW
THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION
Alexander McCall Smith
Cover of THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION

THE LIMPOPO ACADEMY OF PRIVATE DETECTION

by Alexander McCall Smith · Pantheon

THE THIRTEENTH BOOK IN THE BELOVED NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY SERIES The one where Mma Ramotswe meets her hero . . . Mma Ramotswe, normally a peaceful sleeper, finds her slumbers disturbed by dreams of a tall stranger - but she is not quite ready to learn what this vision portends. Soon even Mma Makutsi has to admit that untoward things are occurring around the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency: at Speedy motors, Fanwell finds himself in trouble with the law, and the indomitable Mma Potokwani disappears from the orphan farm. Armed with courage, kindness and an instinct for the truth, Mma Ramotswe sets out to restore order . . .

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