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Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of February 2, 2025

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1
IRON FLAME
Rebecca Yarros
Cover of IRON FLAME

IRON FLAME

by Rebecca Yarros · Red Tower

5 wks at #1 · 63 on list

"Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College--Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky. Now the real training begins, and Violet's already wondering how she'll get through. It's not just that it's grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it's designed to stretch the riders' capacity for pain beyond endurance. It's the new vice commandant, who's made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is-unless she betrays the man she loves. Although Violet's body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else's, she still has her wits--and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules. But a determination to survive won't be enough this year. Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College--and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end." --

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WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS
Grady Hendrix
Cover of WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS

WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS

by Grady Hendrix · Berkley

1 wks on list

"Superb ... a perfect horror for our imperfect age.” – The New York Times AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER They were never girls, they were witches . . . . They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened. Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, frightened, and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who. Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by the adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid . . . and it’s usually paid in blood. In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master” (NPR).

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THE WOMEN
Kristin Hannah
5
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THE GOD OF THE WOODS
Liz Moore
Cover of THE GOD OF THE WOODS

THE GOD OF THE WOODS

by Liz Moore · Riverhead

27 wks on list

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S NOTABLE BOOKS OF 2024 A NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLER OF 2024 A NEW YORK TIMES BEST CRIME NOVEL OF 2024 PEOPLE MAGAZINE’S #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF NPR’S “BOOKS WE LOVE” 2024 ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S “100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2024” “Extraordinary . . . Reminds me of Donna Tartt’s 1992 debut, The Secret History . . . I was so thoroughly submerged in a rich fictional world, that for hours I barely came up for air.” —Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air, NPR “This expertly paced thriller …has the kineticism of a well-crafted miniseries.” —The New Yorker When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found. As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

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BEAUTIFUL UGLY
Alice Feeney
Cover of BEAUTIFUL UGLY

BEAUTIFUL UGLY

by Alice Feeney · Flatiron

1 wks on list

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Her best book yet.” —Harlan Coben The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . . . . . and revenge. Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life. Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared. A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible – a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife. Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t. Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do. “Magnetic and jaw-dropping.” —Mary Kubica, bestselling author "Unforgettable." —Chris Whitaker, bestselling author

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FOURTH WING
Rebecca Yarros
Cover of FOURTH WING

FOURTH WING

by Rebecca Yarros · Red Tower

80 wks on list

As war grows more deadly, Violet Sorrengail joins the elite Navarre: the dragon riders. But she'll need to keep her wits because once you enter the Basgiath War College, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

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THE BIG EMPTY
Robert Crais
Cover of THE BIG EMPTY

THE BIG EMPTY

by Robert Crais · Putnam

1 wks on list

Elvis Cole and his enigmatic partner, Joe Pike, race to find a terrifying, unidentified killer in this twisting, unpredictable thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Robert Crais. Traci Beller was thirteen when her father disappeared in the sleepy town of Rancha, not far from Los Angeles. The evidence says Tommy Beller abandoned his family, but Traci never believed it. Now, ten years later, Traci is a high-profile influencer with millions of followers and the money to hire the best detective she can find: Elvis Cole. Elvis heads to Rancha where an ex-con named Sadie Givens and her daughter, Anya, might have a line on the missing man. But when Elvis finds himself shadowed by a gang of vicious criminals, the missing persons cold case becomes far more sinister. Elvis calls his ex-Marine friend, Joe Pike, for help, and they follow Tommy Beller's trail into the depths of a monstrous, hidden evil. The case flips on its head, victims become predators, predators become prey, and the question becomes: Can Elvis Cole save them all from this nightmare?

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ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK
Chris Whitaker
Cover of ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK

ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK

by Chris Whitaker · Crown

20 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that “hits like a sledgehammer . . . an absolutely must-read novel” (Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl). Read with Jenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today The Boston Globe’s #1 Thriller/Mystery of 2024 So Far A Best Book of the Year: Washington Post, She Reads, Kirkus Reviews “Kept me frantically turning the pages and somehow made me cry at the end . . . Brava!”—Kristin Hannah, author of The Women “Melds tense suspense with a powerful exploration of devotion, obsession, and love.”—People (Best New Books) 1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Muhammad Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the smalltown of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing. When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake. Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.

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THE WEDDING PEOPLE
Alison Espach
Cover of THE WEDDING PEOPLE

THE WEDDING PEOPLE

by Alison Espach · Holt

12 wks on list

The runaway New York Times bestselling Today Show Read With Jenna Book Club Pick, with more than 1.5 million copies sold, about an unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew. Named a Best Book of the Year by The Guardian, Time, Chicago Tribune, Elle, Real Simple, and Glamour It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She’s immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other. In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.

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NEVER SAY NEVER
Danielle Steel
Cover of NEVER SAY NEVER

NEVER SAY NEVER

by Danielle Steel · Delacorte Press

2 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This deeply moving novel from Danielle Steel tells the story of a woman who finds her life turned upside down while living temporarily in the French countryside. Oona Kelly Webster has much to be grateful for. A striking woman with red hair and green eyes, she has a loving family and a job she adores, editing a prestigious line of books. To celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, she and her husband, Charles, have planned a visit to France. But then Charles drops a bombshell. He has been living a lie—hiding an affair for a year—and he is leaving Oona for a younger male lover. Although devastated, Oona decides to travel to France without Charles. She arrives in a charming village an hour outside of Paris, and settles into the house she has rented, called La Belle Florence—named after the king’s mistress for whom it was built. But just as she’s catching her breath, she’s dealt another blow: Her company’s merger will eliminate her job. In the space of a few months, everything she nurtured for decades has slipped through her fingers. The only silver lining is that she can remain in France, where the simple life in beautiful surroundings slowly begins to heal her, as does the little white dog she rescues, and her friendly neighbor hailing from Trinidad, who delights her with his openness and warmth. Though she does not recognize him at first, she soon realizes her neighbor is a well-known actor. As their feelings for each other begin to deepen, Oona wrestles with the risks of opening her heart again—especially to a younger, very famous man. Never Say Never is an inspiring novel about a woman who finds a second chance at happiness and love, all because she understands the importance of being brave enough to stay open to change.

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5
HOLMES IS MISSING
James Patterson and Brian Sitts
Cover of HOLMES IS MISSING

HOLMES IS MISSING

by James Patterson and Brian Sitts · Little, Brown

2 wks on list

From the author of Sunday Times bestseller Holmes, Margaret and Poe... _____________________________ It’s their toughest case yet. And their best detective is missing. Holmes, Margaret and Poe’s Brooklyn-based detective agency solves the crimes no one else can. Or they did – until Holmes decided to leave the business. There is no time to waste as the team are called to a fresh NYPD crime scene – and tasked with looking into the disappearance of six children. Time is ticking as they work to unravel the mystery. But they need Holmes. If they're going to solve the crime of the century, first they must save their friend. _____________________________ Praise for Holmes, Margaret and Poe . . . 'A classic, witty and wonderful mystery from the king of crime. Fast-paced and fun, clever and exciting. I loved it' CHRIS WHITAKER 'I loved every criminally delicious moment of Holmes, Margaret and Poe. What a wild ride! Hooked from the first page - and not just by the edge of my seat crime stories but also the depth and complexity of the characters. Rock on Book 2! DREDA SAY MITCHELL ____________________________________ ‘Nobody does it better' JEFFERY DEAVER 'The master storyteller of our times' HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON 'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades' LEE CHILD 'Patterson boils a scene down to the single, telling detail, the element that defines a character or moves a plot along. It's what fires off the movie projector in the reader's mind' MICHAEL CONNELLY 'James Patterson is The Boss' IAN RANKIN 'One of the greatest storytellers of all time' PATRICIA CORNWELL ____________________________________ Readers love Holmes is Missing... ***** 'I just love these characters... a crime lovers' idea of heaven.' ***** 'Explosive! Literally and metaphorically!' ***** 'This book is a high-octane thrill ride' ***** 'James Patterson and Brian Sitts are a force to be reckoned with and this is my favourite series' ***** 'A thrilling 5-star mystery!' Holmes, Margaret and Poe, Sunday Times bestseller, January 2024

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PRESUMED GUILTY
Scott Turow
Cover of PRESUMED GUILTY

PRESUMED GUILTY

by Scott Turow · Grand Central

1 wks on list

Read Scott Turow’s new “unputdownable” courtroom drama from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Presumed Innocent, the phenomenon that redefined the legal thriller and is the basis for Apple TV+’s most-watched drama series ever (Kristin Hannah, #1 NYT bestselling author). “No one does it better.”―David Baldacci, #1 NYT Bestselling Author “The truth is, Turow is just better at this than the rest of us.”―Greg Iles, #1 NYT Bestselling Author “This is manna for legal-thriller fans."―Booklist, starred review “This easily ranks among Turow’s best."―Publishers Weekly, starred review “An absorbing and entertaining read.” ―Kirkus Rusty is a retired judge attempting a third act in life with a loving soon-to-be wife, Bea, with whom he shares both a restful home on an idyllic lake in the rural Midwest and a plaintive hope that this marriage will be his best, and his last. But the peace that’s taken Rusty so long to find evaporates when Bea’s young adult son, Aaron, living under their supervision while on probation for drug possession, disappears. If Aaron doesn’t return soon, he will be sent back to jail. Aaron eventually turns up with a vague story about a camping trip with his troubled girlfriend, Mae, that ended in a fight and a long hitchhike home. Days later, when she still hasn’t returned, suspicion falls on Aaron, and when Mae is subsequently discovered dead, Aaron is arrested and set for trial on charges of first-degree murder. Faced with few choices and even fewer hopes, Bea begs Rusty to return to court one last time, to defend her son and to save their last best hope for happiness. For Rusty, the question is not whether to defend Aaron, or whether the boy is in fact innocent—it’s whether the system to which he has devoted his life can ever provide true justice for those who are presumed guilty.

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REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES
Shelby Van Pelt
Cover of REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES

REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES

by Shelby Van Pelt · Ecco

"For fans of A Man Called Ove, a ... debut novel about a widow's unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing at the local aquarium--and the truths she finally uncovers about her son's disappearance 30 years ago"--

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