TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of March 15, 2015

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THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
Paula Hawkins
Cover of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

by Paula Hawkins · Riverhead

19 wks at #1 · 7 on list

THE RUNAWAY GLOBAL BESTSELLER 'Gripping, enthralling - a top-notch thriller and a compulsive read.' SJ Watson, bestselling author of BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She's even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. 'Jess and Jason', she calls them. Their life - as she sees it - is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy. And then she sees something shocking. It's only a minute until the train moves on, but it's enough. Now everything's changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she's only watched from afar. Now they'll see; she's much more than just the girl on the train... ***PAULA HAWKINS' NEW ADDICTIVE THRILLER, THE BLUE HOUR IS AVAILABLE NOW***

2
ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE
Anthony Doerr
Cover of ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE

ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE

by Anthony Doerr · Scribner

43 wks on list

An imaginative and intricate novel inspired by the horrors of World War II and written in short, elegant chapters that explore human nature and the contradictory power of technology.

3
NEW
MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD
Jeffrey Archer
Cover of MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

by Jeffrey Archer · St. Martin's

1 wks on list

Fast-paced and intriguing, Mightier than the Sword is the fifth novel in Jeffrey Archer’s bestselling Clifton Chronicles. Moving towards the end of the 1960s, the Cliftons and the Barringtons come up against sworn enemies and new foes . . . Following the explosion of an IRA bomb on board the Barrington’s flagship MV Buckingham, Emma Clifton must deal with the repercussions on her family’s shipping business. Meanwhile her old adversary, Lady Virginia Fenwick, plots her downfall. Bestselling novelist Harry is on a mission to free a fellow author imprisoned in Siberia, even if it costs him everything. Giles, his brother-in-law, a minister of the Crown, faces his own problems when a diplomatic disaster risks his bid for higher office. With its devastating twists and turns, Archer’s spellbinding the Clifton Chronicles continues to enthral readers. Continue the bestselling series with Cometh the Hour and This Was a Man.

4
NEW
PRODIGAL SON
Danielle Steel
Cover of PRODIGAL SON

PRODIGAL SON

by Danielle Steel · Delacorte Press

1 wks on list

Twin brothers are reunited after twenty years of silence and blame when the prodigal son returns home . . . In a matter of days, Peter McDowell loses everything he has worked so hard for – including his marriage. Stripped of everything, he has only one place he can retreat to: the home he left twenty years ago. There, he comes face to face with his brother for the first time in years. At first, Peter dreads seeing Michael again – but to his surprise their reunion is tender and real. Only later, as Peter mulls over his late mother's journals, does he begin to question what lies beneath Michael's perfect surface. In a race for time, Peter throws caution to the wind to find the truth. What he discovers will change their lives, the lives of their children and an entire town for ever. A riveting novel of secrets, salvation, and redemption from master storyteller Danielle Steel.

5
2
A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD
Anne Tyler
Cover of A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD

A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD

by Anne Tyler · Knopf

3 wks on list

The changing needs of aging parents impact a family gathering during which Abby Whitshank relates how her husband and she fell in love during the summer of 1959 and shared decades of marriage impacted by children and long-held secrets. Reading-group guide available. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Breathing Lessons. 125,000 first printing.

6
2
THE NIGHTINGALE
Kristin Hannah
Cover of THE NIGHTINGALE

THE NIGHTINGALE

by Kristin Hannah · St. Martin's

4 wks on list

The bestselling Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick 'One of the greatest storytellers of our time' – Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Soon to be a major motion picture, The Nightingale is a multi-million copy bestseller across the world. It is a heart-breakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the endurance of women. 'I always thought it was what I wanted: to be loved and admired. Now I think perhaps I’d like to be known' This story is about what it was like to be a woman during World War II when women’s stories were all too often forgotten or overlooked . . . Vianne and Isabelle Mauriac are two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals and passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path towards survival, love and freedom in war-torn France. Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime. ‘A rich, compelling novel of love, sacrifice and survival’ - Kate Morton ‘Movingly written and plotted with the heartless skill of a Greek tragedy, you’ll keep turning the pages until the last racking sob’ - Daily Mail ‘I loved The Nightingale . . . great characters, great plots, great emotions, who could ask for more in a novel?’ - Isabel Allende, bestselling author of The House of the Spirits ‘A gripping tale of family, love, grief and forgiveness’ - Sunday Express The Nightingale has sold more than 4 million copies globally, TIME, February 2021

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2
THE WHITES
Richard Price writing as Harry Brandt
Cover of THE WHITES

THE WHITES

by Richard Price writing as Harry Brandt · Holt

2 wks on list

Back in the run-and-gun days of the mid-1990s, when a young Billy Graves worked in the South Bronx as part of an aggressive anti-crime unit known as the Wild Geese, he made headlines by accidentally shooting a ten-year-old boy while struggling with an angel-dusted berserker on a crowded street. Branded as a loose cannon by his higher-ups, Billy spent years enduring one dead-end posting after another. Now in his early forties, he has somehow survived and become a sergeant in Manhattan Night Watch, a small team of detectives charged with responding to all post-midnight felonies from Wall Street to Harlem. Mostly, his unit acts as little more than a set-up crew for the incoming shift, but after years in police purgatory, Billy is content simply to do his job. Then comes a call that changes everything: Night Watch is summoned to the four a.m. fatal slashing of a man in Penn Station, and this time Billy's investigation moves beyond the usual handoff to the day tour. And when he discovers that the victim was once a suspect in the unsolved murder of a twelve-year-old boy-a savage case with connections to the former members of the Wild Geese-the bad old days are back in Billy's life with a vengeance, tearing apart enduring friendships forged in the urban trenches and even threatening the safety of his family. Razor-sharp and propulsively written, The Whites introduces Harry Brandt--a new master of American crime fiction.

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4
GRAY MOUNTAIN
John Grisham
Cover of GRAY MOUNTAIN

GRAY MOUNTAIN

by John Grisham · Doubleday

19 wks on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Grisham has a new hero ... and she’s full of surprises. The year is 2008 and Samantha Kofer’s career at a huge Wall Street law firm is on the fast track—until the recession hits and she is downsized, furloughed, and escorted out of the building. Samantha, though, is offered an opportunity to work at a legal aid clinic for one year without pay, all for a slim chance of getting rehired. In a matter of days Samantha moves from Manhattan to Brady, Virginia, population 2,200, in the heart of Appalachia, a part of the world she has only read about. Samantha’s new job takes her into the murky and dangerous world of coal mining, where laws are often broken, communities are divided, and the land itself is under attack. But some of the locals aren’t so thrilled to have a big-city lawyer in town, and within weeks Samantha is engulfed in litigation that turns deadly. Because like most small towns, Brady harbors big secrets that some will kill to conceal.

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TRIGGER WARNING
Neil Gaiman
Cover of TRIGGER WARNING

TRIGGER WARNING

by Neil Gaiman · Morrow/HarperCollins

4 wks on list

From one of the most critically acclaimed and beloved storytellers of our time comes a major new collection of stories and verse "We each have our little triggers . . . things that wait for us in the dark corridors of our lives." So says Neil Gaiman in his introduction to Trigger Warning, a remarkable compendium of twenty-five stories and poems that explore the transformative power of imagination. In "Adventure Story"—a thematic companion to the #1 New York Times bestselling novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane—Gaiman ponders death and the ways in which people take their stories with them when they die. "A Calendar of Tales" is comprised of short pieces about the months of the year—stories of pirates and March winds, an igloo made of books, and a Mother's Day card that portends disturbances in the universe. Gaiman offers his own ingenious spin on Sherlock Holmes in his award-nominated mystery tale "The Case of Death and Honey." Also included is "Nothing O'Clock," a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the beloved series in 2013, as well as the never-before-published "Black Dog," a haunting new tale that revisits the world of American Gods as Shadow Moon stops in at a village pub on his way back to America. Gaiman, a sophisticated writer whose creative genius is unparalleled, entrances with his literary alchemy and transports us deep into an undiscovered country where the fantastical becomes real and the everyday is incandescent. Replete with wonder and terror, surprises and amusements, Trigger Warning is a treasury of literary delights that engage the mind, stir the heart, and shake the soul.

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4
OBSESSION IN DEATH
J. D. Robb
Cover of OBSESSION IN DEATH

OBSESSION IN DEATH

by J. D. Robb · Putnam

3 wks on list

Lieutenant Eve Dallas walks the thin line between love and hate in the 40th In Death thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author J. D. Robb… Eve Dallas has solved a lot of high-profile murders for the NYPSD and gotten a lot of media. She—and her husband Roarke—are getting accustomed to being objects of attention, of gossip, of speculation. But now Eve has become the object of one person’s obsession. Someone who finds her extraordinary, and thinks about her every hour of every day. Who believes the two of them have a special relationship. Who would kill for her—again and again… With a murderer reading meanings into her every move, handling this case will be a delicate—and dangerous—psychological dance. And Eve knows that underneath the worship and admiration, a terrible threat lies in wait. Because the beautiful lieutenant is not at all grateful for these bloody offerings from her “true and loyal friend.” And in time, idols always fall…

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PRIVATE VEGAS
James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Cover of PRIVATE VEGAS

PRIVATE VEGAS

by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro · Little, Brown

5 wks on list

Showgirls. Millionaires. Murder. Jack Morgan, head of Private Investigations, the global PI agency of the rich and famous, is at his limit. His car has been firebombed, his ex is dating someone else, and his twin brother is out to destroy him. But Private doesn’t rest, and nor do its clients: the LAPD need Private’s help catching two criminals with diplomatic immunity, and another client has just confessed to murdering his wife. Add to that Jack’s best friend being held on a trumped-up charge that could see him locked away for a very long time. In Sin City, it seems like all bets are off . . . _______________________________________________ Readers love Private Vegas . . . 'Fantastic series which has kept me entertained from the first sentence' 'Fast-paced, action-packed book with slick characters' 'Great holiday read' 'Couldn't put it down' 'Brilliant' ______________________________________________ PRAISE FOR THE PRIVATE THRILLERS 'Great action sequences ... breathtaking twists and turns' ANTHONY HOROWITZ 'An unmissable, breakneck ride' JAMES SWALLOW 'Exhilarating, high-stakes action' LESLEY KARA 'An exhilarating and totally satisfying read' NB MAGAZINE 'A breakneck fast, brutally good page-turner' DAILY MAIL 'Hits the ground running and the pace never misses a beat' DAILY EXPRESS 'Yet another fine outing from the master of thrillers' CITY A.M.

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THE ACCIDENTAL EMPRESS
Allison Pataki
Cover of THE ACCIDENTAL EMPRESS

THE ACCIDENTAL EMPRESS

by Allison Pataki · Howard Books

2 wks on list

*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Discover the “captivating, absorbing, and beautifully told” (Kathleen Grissom) love story of Sisi, the Austro-Hungarian empress and wife of Emperor Franz Joseph—perfect for fans of the Netflix series The Empress! The year is 1853, and the Habsburgs are Europe’s most powerful ruling family. With his empire stretching from Austria to Russia, from Germany to Italy, Emperor Franz Joseph is young, rich, and ready to marry. Fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, “Sisi,” Duchess of Bavaria, travels to the Habsburg Court with her older sister, who is betrothed to the young emperor. But shortly after her arrival at court, Sisi finds herself in an unexpected dilemma: she has inadvertently fallen for and won the heart of her sister’s groom. Franz Joseph reneges on his earlier proposal and declares his intention to marry Sisi instead. Thrust onto the throne of Europe’s most treacherous imperial court, Sisi upsets political and familial loyalties in her quest to win, and keep, the love of her emperor, her people, and of the world. With Pataki’s rich period detail and cast of complex, bewitching characters, The Accidental Empress offers “another absolutely compelling story” (Mary Higgins Clark) with this glimpse into one of history’s most intriguing royal families, shedding new light on the glittering Hapsburg Empire and its most mesmerizing, most beloved “Fairy Queen.”

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1
THE BOSTON GIRL
Anita Diamant
Cover of THE BOSTON GIRL

THE BOSTON GIRL

by Anita Diamant · Scribner

12 wks on list

Recounting the story of her life to her granddaughter, octogenarian Addie describes how she was raised in early-twentieth-century America by Jewish immigrant parents in a teeming multicultural neighborhood.

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