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Week of December 4, 2022

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THE BOYS FROM BILOXI
John Grisham
Cover of THE BOYS FROM BILOXI

THE BOYS FROM BILOXI

by John Grisham · Doubleday

4 wks at #1 · 5 on list

Sunday Times No 1 bestseller John Grisham returns to Mississippi in his most gripping thriller yet. 'As ever with Grisham there are corkscrew twists and turns as he ratchets up the suspense. It is exceptional story-telling, which leaves the reader begging for the novel never to end. Grisham has sold more than 300 million copies of his work. This shows exactly why' DAILY MAIL For most of the last hundred years, Biloxi was known for its beaches, resorts, and seafood industry. But it had a darker side. It was also notorious for corruption and vice, everything from gambling, prostitution, bootleg liquor, drugs . . . even contract killings. The vice was controlled by a small cabal of mobsters, many of them rumoured to be members of the Dixie Mafia. Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco grew up in Biloxi in the sixties and were childhood friends. But as teenagers, their lives took them in different directions. Keith's father became a legendary prosecutor, determined to 'clean up the Coast.' Hugh's father became the 'Boss' of Biloxi's criminal underground. Keith went to law school and followed in his father's footsteps. Hugh preferred the nightlife and worked in his father's clubs. The two families were headed for a showdown, one that would happen in a courtroom. Rich with history and with a large cast of unforgettable characters, The Boys from Biloxi is a sweeping saga of two sons of immigrant families who grow up as friends, but ultimately find themselves in a knife-edge legal confrontation in which life itself hangs in the balance. In this novel, Grisham takes his powerful storytelling to the next level, his trademark twists and turns will keep you tearing through the pages until the stunning conclusion. 'It's a story that spans half a century and ends inevitably in a courtroom showdown. A morally complex, compelling and illuminating read' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Invites comparisons with the Godfather trilogy - it spans two generations and several postwar decades - and has a vast cast and a winning energy' SUNDAY TIMES 350+ million copies, 45 languages, 9 blockbuster films: NO ONE WRITES DRAMA LIKE JOHN GRISHAM

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THE LOST METAL
Brandon Sanderson
Cover of THE LOST METAL

THE LOST METAL

by Brandon Sanderson · Tor

1 wks on list

Return to #1 New York Times bestseller Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn world of Scadrial as its second era, which began with The Alloy of Law, comes to its earth-shattering conclusion in The Lost Metal. For years, frontier lawman turned big-city senator Waxillium Ladrian has hunted the shadowy organization the Set—with his late uncle and his sister among their leaders—since they started kidnapping people with the power of Allomancy in their bloodlines. When Detective Marasi Colms and her partner Wayne find stockpiled weapons bound for the Outer City of Bilming, this opens a new lead. Conflict between Elendel and the Outer Cities only favors the Set, and their tendrils now reach to the Elendel Senate—whose corruption Wax and Steris have sought to expose—and Bilming is even more entangled. After Wax discovers a new type of explosive that can unleash unprecedented destruction and realizes that the Set must already have it, an immortal kandra serving Scadrial’s god, Harmony, reveals that Bilming has fallen under the influence of another god: Trell, worshipped by the Set. And Trell isn’t the only factor at play from the larger Cosmere—Marasi is recruited by offworlders with strange abilities who claim their goal is to protect Scadrial...at any cost. Wax must choose whether to set aside his rocky relationship with God and once again become the Sword that Harmony has groomed him to be. If no one steps forward to be the hero Scadrial needs, the planet and its millions of people will come to a sudden and calamitous ruin. Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson The Cosmere The Stormlight Archive The Way of Kings Words of Radiance Edgedancer (novella) Oathbringer Dawnshard (novella) Rhythm of War The Mistborn Saga The Original Trilogy Mistborn The Well of Ascension The Hero of Ages Wax and Wayne The Alloy of Law Shadows of Self The Bands of Mourning The Lost Metal Other Cosmere novels Elantris Warbreaker Tress of the Emerald Sea Yumi and the Nightmare Painter The Sunlit Man Collection Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians The Scrivener's Bones The Knights of Crystallia The Shattered Lens The Dark Talent Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians (with Janci Patterson) Other novels The Rithmatist Legion: The Many Lives of Stephen Leeds The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England Other books by Brandon Sanderson The Reckoners Steelheart Firefight Calamity Skyward Skyward Starsight Cytonic Skyward Flight (with Janci Patterson) Defiant At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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FAIRY TALE
Stephen King
Cover of FAIRY TALE

FAIRY TALE

by Stephen King · Scribner

11 wks on list

BIENVENIDOS AL LADO OSCURO DE ÉRASE UNA VEZ Estoy seguro de que puedo contar esta historia. También estoy seguro de que nadie se la creerá. Eso me da igual. Me basta con contarla. Para mí —y está claro que para muchos escritores, no solo los novatos como yo—, el problema es decidir por dónde empezar. (…) Y ahora, mientras pienso en esas cosas, veo un claro hilo que conduce a lo largo de los años hasta el señor Bowditch y el cobertizo cerrado con candado detrás de su vieja y ruinosa casa victoriana. Aunque un hilo puede romperse fácilmente. Por tanto, no un hilo, sino una cadena. Una cadena sólida. Y yo era el crío con el grillete en torno a la muñeca. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a 17-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher - for their world or ours. King’s storytelling in Fairy Tale soars. This is a magnificent and terrifying tale about another world than ours, in which good is pitted against overwhelming evil, and a heroic boy - and his dog - must lead the battle. Early in the Pandemic, King asked himself: “What could you write that would make you happy?” “As if my imagination had been waiting for the question to be asked, I saw a vast deserted city - deserted but alive. I saw the empty streets, the haunted buildings, a gargoyle head lying overturned in the street. I saw smashed statues (of what I didn’t know, but I eventually found out). I saw a huge, sprawling palace with glass towers so high their tips pierced the clouds. I saw a magic sundial that could turn back time. Those images released the story I wanted to tell.”

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DESERT STAR
Michael Connelly
Cover of DESERT STAR

DESERT STAR

by Michael Connelly · Little, Brown

2 wks on list

THE WORLDWIDE #1 BESTSELLER BEHIND AMAZON PRIME'S BOSCH AND NETFLIX'S THE LINCOLN LAWYER SOME CRIMES YOU CAN'T FORGET. Detective Renée Ballard is given the chance of a lifetime: revive the LAPD's cold case unit and find justice for the families of the forgotten. The only catch is they must first crack the unsolved murder of the sister of the city councilman who is sponsoring the department - or lose everything... OTHERS YOU CAN'T FORGIVE. Harry Bosch is top of the list of investigators Ballard wants to recruit. The former homicide detective is a living legend - but for how long? Because Bosch has his own agenda: a crime that has haunted him for years - the murder of a whole family, buried out in the desert - which he vowed to close. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU KNEW WHO DID IT? With the killer still out there and evidence elusive - Bosch is on a collision course with a choice he hoped never to make... * * * * * CRIME DOESN'T COME BETTER THAN CONNELLY: 'The pre-eminent detective novelist of his generation' IAN RANKIN 'The best mystery writer in the world' GQ 'One of the greatest crime writers' DAILY MAIL 'A superb natural storyteller' LEE CHILD 'A master' STEPHEN KING 'A genius' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY 'Crime thriller writing of the highest order' GUARDIAN 'A terrific writer with pace, style and humanity to spare' THE TIMES 'America's greatest living crime writer' DAILY EXPRESS 'One of the great storytellers of crime fiction' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

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DREAMLAND
Nicholas Sparks
Cover of DREAMLAND

DREAMLAND

by Nicholas Sparks · Random House

9 wks on list

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wish comes a poignant love story about risking everything for a dream - and whether it's possible to leave the past behind. Fate drew them together . . . but will their dreams tear them apart? Colby Mills once felt destined for a musical career, but tragedy grounded his dreams. Now the dust has settled, he spontaneously takes a gig playing at a bar in Florida, seeking a rare break from his duties at home. But when he meets Morgan Lee, his world is turned upside-down, and Colby can't help but wonder if the responsibilities he has shouldered need dictate his life forever. Morgan is on her way to Nashville with plans to become a star and she wants Colby to come with her. While they are falling headlong in love, Beverly is on a heart-pounding journey of another kind. Fleeing an abusive husband with her six-year-old son, she is trying to piece together a new life in a small town far off the beaten track. Danger is never far and her money is fast running out. In the course of a single unforgettable week, three very different people will have their own ideas of love put to the test. As fate draws them together, they will each be forced to question whether the dream of a better life can ever overcome the weight of the past. Praise for Nicholas Sparks: 'This one won't leave a dry eye' Daily Mirror 'A fiercely romantic and touching tale' Heat 'An A-grade romantic read' OK! 'Pulls at the heartstrings' Sunday Times 'An absorbing page-turner' Daily Mail

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GOING ROGUE
Janet Evanovich
Cover of GOING ROGUE

GOING ROGUE

by Janet Evanovich · Atria

3 wks on list

"Stephanie Plum knows something is amiss when she turns up for work at Vinnie's Bail Bonds to find longtime office manager Connie Rosolli hasn't shown up. Stephanie's worst fears are confirmed when she gets a call from Connie's abductor, who only release her in exchange for a mysterious coin that a recently murdered man left as collateral for his bail. Unfortunately, this coin is nowhere to be found. Stephanie will require the help of her Grandma Mazur, best pal Lula, boyfriend Morelli and hunky security expert Ranger to find the coin, learn its value, and save Connie. As they get closer to unraveling the reasons behind Connie's kidnapping, her captor grows more threatening, and soon Stephanie has no choice but to throw caution to the wind, follow her instincts, and go rogue"--

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NO PLAN B
Lee Child and Andrew Child
Cover of NO PLAN B

NO PLAN B

by Lee Child and Andrew Child · Delacorte Press

4 wks on list

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Don’t miss the hit streaming series Reacher! “No Plan B is not to be missed. A perfectly plotted, fast-paced thriller, with bigger twists than ever before. It’s no wonder Jack Reacher is everyone’s favorite rebel hero.”—Karin Slaughter ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Reader’s Digest In Gerrardsville, Colorado, a woman dies under the wheels of a moving bus. The death is ruled a suicide. But Jack Reacher saw what really happened: A man in a gray hoodie and jeans, moving stealthily, pushed the victim to her demise—before swiftly grabbing the dead woman’s purse and strolling away. When another homicide is ruled an accident, Reacher knows this is no coincidence. With a killer on the loose, Reacher has no time to waste to track down those responsible. But Reacher is unaware that these crimes are part of something much larger and more far-reaching: an arsonist out for revenge, a foster kid on the run, a cabal of powerful people involved in a secret conspiracy with many moving parts. There is no room for error, but they make a grave one. They don’t consider Reacher a threat. “There’s too much at stake to start running from shadows.” But Reacher isn’t a shadow. He is flesh and blood. And relentless when it comes to making things right. For when the threat is Reacher, there is No Plan B.

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MAD HONEY
Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
Cover of MAD HONEY

MAD HONEY

by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan · Ballantine

7 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Alternatingly heart-pounding and heartbreaking. This collaboration between two best-selling authors seamlessly weaves together Olivia and Lily’s journeys, creating a provocative exploration of the strength that love and acceptance require.”—The Washington Post Look for Jodi Picoult’s new novel, By Any Other Name, available now! GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • PEOPLE’S BOOK OF THE WEEK • A POPSUGAR BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising their beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined that she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in and taking over her father’s beekeeping business. Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start. And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet she wonders if she can trust him completely. . . . Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in Ash, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her. Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.

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TRIPLE CROSS
James Patterson
Cover of TRIPLE CROSS

TRIPLE CROSS

by James Patterson · Little, Brown

3 wks on list

'Alex Cross is a legend' Harlan Coben 'A character for the ages' Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child 'Alex Cross. . . only gets better and better' Lisa Scottoline 'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades. The Alex Cross series proves it' Lee Child ________________________ The latest instalment of the Alex Cross series. They strike under cover of darkness, trigger no alarms, and leave no evidence behind. Detective Alex Cross is hunting a killer who targets families around Washington, DC. But Cross isn't the only one investigating. A charismatic true-crime author has spotted patterns in the actions of 'The Family Man' that others have missed. It's up to Cross to determine whether the writer's theories are fact or fiction. ________________________ Praise for James Patterson 'James Patterson is the gold standard by which all others are judged.' Steve Berry 'James Patterson is The Boss. End of.' Ian Rankin 'Nobody does it better.' Jeffrey Deaver

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LONG SHADOWS
David Baldacci
Cover of LONG SHADOWS

LONG SHADOWS

by David Baldacci · Grand Central

6 wks on list

From the author of The 6:20 Man, “Memory Man” Amos Decker—an FBI consultant with perfect recall—delves into a bewildering double homicide in this thriller in David Baldacci's #1 New York Times bestselling series. When Amos Decker is called to South Florida to investigate a double homicide, the case appears straightforward: A federal judge and her bodyguard have been found dead, the judge’s face sporting a blindfold with two eye holes crudely cut out, a clear sign that she’d made one too many enemies over her years on the bench. What at first seems cut and dry is anything but: Not only did the judge have more enemies than Decker can count—from violent gang members, drug dealers, and smugglers to a resentful ex-husband—but the bodyguard presents additional conundrums that muddy the waters even further. Who was the real target in this vicious attack? Meanwhile, Decker must contend with a series of unsettling changes, including a new partner—Special Agent Frederica “Freddie” White—and a devastating event that brings Decker’s own tragic past back to the present . . . and forces him to reckon with his future. As potential witnesses start disappearing, Decker and White are inexorably pulled down a twisted tunnel of secrets, crimes, and scandal—at the end of which lies Decker’s deadliest threat yet.

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DEMON COPPERHEAD
Barbara Kingsolver
Cover of DEMON COPPERHEAD

DEMON COPPERHEAD

by Barbara Kingsolver · Harper

5 wks on list

WINNER OF THE 2023 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION A New York Times "Ten Best Books of 2022 * An Oprah's Book Club Selection * An Instant New York Times Bestseller * An Instant Wall Street Journal Bestseller * A #1 Washington Post Bestseller "Demon is a voice for the ages--akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield--only even more resilient." --Beth Macy, author of Dopesick "May be the best novel of 2022. . . . Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this is the story of an irrepressible boy nobody wants, but readers will love." (Ron Charles, Washington Post) From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees, a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero's unforgettable journey to maturity Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities. Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.

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OUR MISSING HEARTS
Celeste Ng
Cover of OUR MISSING HEARTS

OUR MISSING HEARTS

by Celeste Ng · Penguin Press

7 wks on list

An instant New York Times bestseller • A New York Times Notable Book • Named a Best Book of the Year by People, TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, USA Today, NPR, Los Angeles Times, and Oprah Daily, and more • A Reese's Book Club Pick • New York Times Paperback Row Selection “Thought-provoking, heart-wrenching . . . I was so invested in the future of this mother and son.” —Reese Witherspoon “Riveting, tender, and timely.” —People "Remarkable . . . An unflinching yet life-affirming drama about the power of art and love to push back in dangerous times." —Oprah Daily From the #1 bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere, comes the inspiring new novel about a mother’s unshakeable love. Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. His mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet, left without a trace when he was nine years old. He doesn’t know what happened to her—only that her books have been banned—and he resents that she cared more about her work than about him. Then one day Bird receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, and soon he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of heroic librarians, and finally to New York City, where he will learn the truth about what happened to his mother and what the future holds for them both. Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s about the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children and the power of art to create change.

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THE PASSENGER
Cormac McCarthy
Cover of THE PASSENGER

THE PASSENGER

by Cormac McCarthy · Knopf

4 wks on list

Book 2. Stella Maris. Stella Maris is an intimate portrait of grief and longing, as a young woman in a psychiatric facility seeks to understand her own existence. 1972, BLACK RIVER FALLS, WISCONSIN: Alicia Western, twenty years old, with forty thousand dollars in a plastic bag, admits herself to the hospital. A doctoral candidate in mathematics at the University of Chicago, Alicia has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and she does not want to talk about her brother, Bobby. Instead, she contemplates the nature of madness, the human insistence on one common experience of the world; she recalls a childhood where, by the age of seven, her own grandmother feared for her; she surveys the intersection of physics and philosophy; and she introduces her cohorts, her chimeras, the hallucinations that only she can see. All the while, she grieves for Bobby, not quite dead, not quite hers. Told entirely through the transcripts of Alicia's psychiatric sessions, Stella Maris is a searching, rigorous, intellectually challenging coda to The Passenger, a philosophical inquiry that questions our notions of God, truth, and existence." -- Jacket of Stella Maris.

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TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW
Gabrielle Zevin
Cover of TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW

TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW

by Gabrielle Zevin · Knopf

In this exhilarating novel, two friends--often in love, but never lovers--come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality. On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts. Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.

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