TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of April 17, 2016

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FOOL ME ONCE
Harlan Coben
Cover of FOOL ME ONCE

FOOL ME ONCE

by Harlan Coben · Dutton

2 wks at #1 · 2 on list

THE BIGGEST NETFLIX SHOW OF 2024 STARRING MICHELLE KEEGAN, JOANNA LUMLEY AND RICHARD ARMITAGE. READ THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL . . . 'The absolute master' RICHARD OSMAN 'One of the all-time greats' GILLIAN FLYNN 'At the top of his game' PETER JAMES 'Never lets you down' LEE CHILD _______________ You think you know the truth. The truth is you know nothing. If your husband was murdered. And you were a witness. How do you explain it when he appears on your nanny cam, back from the dead? You thought you trusted him. Now you can't even trust yourself. Dark secrets and a terrifying hunt for the truth lie at the heart of this gripping thriller by the 'master of the double twist' Harlan Coben ... _______________ Readers love Fool Me Once . . . 'A spine tingling page turner!' 5-star reader review 'Fast-paced and very captivating' 5-star reader review 'Any reader who enjoys a cleverly plotted book filled with twists and turns will enjoy this one.' 5-star reader review 'An excellent thriller, packed with taut, edgy suspense.' 5-star reader review 'What a story. What a plot.' 5-star reader review

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THE NEST
Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
Cover of THE NEST

THE NEST

by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney · Ecco/HarperCollins

2 wks on list

“Hilarious and big-hearted, The Nest is a stellar debut.” — People A warm, funny and acutely perceptive debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives. Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger. The ensuing accident has endangered the Plumbs' joint trust fund, “The Nest,” which they are months away from finally receiving. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest’s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems. Melody, a wife and mother in an upscale suburb, has an unwieldy mortgage and looming college tuition for her twin teenage daughters. Jack, an antiques dealer, has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband, Walker, to keep his store open. And Bea, a once-promising short-story writer, just can’t seem to finish her overdue novel. Can Leo rescue his siblings and, by extension, the people they love? Or will everyone need to reimagine the futures they’ve envisioned? Brought together as never before, Leo, Melody, Jack, and Beatrice must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives. This is a story about the power of family, the possibilities of friendship, the ways we depend upon one another and the ways we let one another down. In this tender, entertaining, and deftly written debut, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney brings a remarkable cast of characters to life to illuminate what money does to relationships, what happens to our ambitions over the course of time, and the fraught yet unbreakable ties we share with those we love.

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PRIVATE PARIS
James Patterson and Mark Sullivan
Cover of PRIVATE PARIS

PRIVATE PARIS

by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan · Little, Brown

3 wks on list

Jack Morgan, eigenaar van detectivebureau Private, krijgt op bezoek in Parijs te maken met de verdwijning van de kleindochter van een goede klant, terwijl tegelijkertijd een aantal moorden wordt gepleegd.

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JOURNEY TO MUNICH
Jacqueline Winspear
Cover of JOURNEY TO MUNICH

JOURNEY TO MUNICH

by Jacqueline Winspear · Harper/HarperCollins

1 wks on list

It's early 1938, and Maisie Dobbs is back in England. On a fine yet chilly morning, as she walks towards Fitzroy Square - a place of many memories - she is intercepted by Brian Huntley and Robert MacFarlane of the Secret Service. The German government has agreed to release a British subject from prison, but only if he is handed over to a family member. Because the man's wife is bedridden and his daughter has been killed in an accident, the Secret Service wants Maisie - who bears a striking resemblance to the daughter - to retrieve the man from Dachau, on the outskirts of Munich. The British government is not alone in its interest in Maisie's travel plans. Her nemesis - the man she holds responsible for her husband's death - has learned of her journey, and is also desperate for her help. Traveling into the heart of Nazi Germany, Maisie encounters unexpected dangers - and finds herself questioning whether it's time to return to the work she loved. But the Secret Service may have other ideas . . .

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THE NIGHTINGALE
Kristin Hannah
Cover of THE NIGHTINGALE

THE NIGHTINGALE

by Kristin Hannah · St. Martin's

57 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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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

100 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.

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THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR
Helen Simonson
Cover of THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR

THE SUMMER BEFORE THE WAR

by Helen Simonson · Random House

2 wks on list

It is late summer in East Sussex, 1914. Amidst the season's splendour, fiercely independent Beatrice Nash arrives in the coastal town of Rye to fill a teaching position at the local grammar school. There she is taken under the wing of formidable matriarch Agatha Kent, who, along with her charming nephews, tries her best to welcome Beatrice to a place that remains stubbornly resistant to the idea of female teachers. But just as Beatrice comes alive to the beauty of the Sussex landscape, and the colourful characters that populate Rye, the perfect summer is about to end. For the unimaginable is coming – and soon the limits of progress, and the old ways, will be tested as this small town goes to war.

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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

64 wks 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***

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PROPERTY OF A NOBLEWOMAN
Danielle Steel
Cover of PROPERTY OF A NOBLEWOMAN

PROPERTY OF A NOBLEWOMAN

by Danielle Steel · Delacorte Press

3 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In Danielle Steel’s thrilling novel, a woman’s legacy—shaped by tragedy, fortitude, and undying devotion—transforms lives and hearts long after she is gone, and fulfills at last her most precious bequest. Faded photographs of a glamorous couple in postwar Europe. Old letters hinting of tragic loss. And a breathtaking array of magnificent jewelry, spectacular stones in exquisite settings. These are the contents of a safe-deposit box long abandoned in a New York City bank. If no heir can be identified, the jewelry will be auctioned. But who was the woman who left such a fortune and no will? Two people, drawn together by chance, begin to unravel the mystery. Jane Willoughby is a law clerk at the surrogate’s court and Phillip Lawton a fine arts expert for Christie’s auction house. They are simply doing their jobs when they come to the bank to inspect the contents of the box. But for both Jane and Phillip the search turns personal—and their efforts to reconstruct an enigmatic life will lead from New York to London and Paris, to Rome and Naples, and a series of stunning revelations. Eighteen-year-old Marguerite Pearson left America with a broken heart in the shadow of World War II. She found a new life in Europe but forever mourned what she left behind. As the truth about Marguerite’s extraordinary history—her forbidden love affair and her family’s treachery—is slowly revealed, more people are drawn into the puzzle that Jane and Phillip have pieced together, and one among them will inherit the most unexpected gift of all.

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OFF THE GRID
C. J. Box
Cover of OFF THE GRID

OFF THE GRID

by C. J. Box · Putnam

4 wks on list

When an elite special ops team recruits him to help defeat a domestic terror cell in Wyoming's Red Desert in exchange for expunging his criminal record, Nate Romanowski, assisted by Joe Pickett, discovers a sinister agenda behind the operation.

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THE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE
Philip Kerr
Cover of THE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE

THE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE

by Philip Kerr · Marian Wood/Putnam

1 wks on list

When Bernie Gunther takes on a blackmail case and gets involved in the affairs of British spies, the former detective risks exposing his own dark past in this thrilling novel hailed by The New York Times Book Review as “one of Kerr’s best.” Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, 1956. Having gone into hiding in the French Riviera, Bernie Gunther is working as a concierge at the Grand-Hôtel under a false name. His days and nights consist of maneuvering drunks to their rooms, shooing away prostitutes in search of trade, and answering the mindless questions posed by the absurdly rich guests—needless to say, he’s miserable. Now, the man who was once a homicide detective and unwilling SS officer in Hitler’s Third Reich is simply the person you turn to for touring tips or if you need a bridge partner. As it just so happens, a rich and famous writer needs someone to fill the fourth seat in a regular game at the Villa Mauresque. But Somerset Maugham wants Bernie to help him get out of a game far more dangerous than bridge. Maugham is being blackmailed—perhaps because of his unorthodox lifestyle, or perhaps because, once upon a time, Maugham worked for the British Secret Service...

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THE ANCIENT MINSTREL
Jim Harrison
Cover of THE ANCIENT MINSTREL

THE ANCIENT MINSTREL

by Jim Harrison · Grove Press

1 wks on list

Harrison's latest highly acclaimed volume of novellas is a sparkling and exuberant collection about love, the senses, and family, no matter how untraditional.

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THE LITTLE RED CHAIRS
Edna O'Brien
Cover of THE LITTLE RED CHAIRS

THE LITTLE RED CHAIRS

by Edna O'Brien · Little, Brown

The legendary Edna O'Brien's tale of a mysterious stranger spellbinding an Irish village 'reminds you why you read books in the first place' ( Observer). 'The great Edna O'Brien has written her masterpiece.' Philip Roth 'Extraordinary . . . Courageous.' J.M. Coetzee 'Fierce and beautiful.' Anne Enright 'Exemplary.' Colm Tóibín ONE OF THE SUNDAY TIMES' TOP 100 NOVELS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY When a man who calls himself a faith healer arrives in a small, west-coast Irish village, the community is soon under the spell of this charismatic stranger from the Balkans. One woman in particular, Fidelma McBride, becomes enthralled in a fatal attraction that leads to unimaginable consequences. 'Magnificent' ( Sunday Times) 'Beautiful' ( Financial Times) ' Enthralling' ( Times) 'Extraordinary' ( Independent) ' Astonishing' ( New Yorker)

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