TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of September 18, 2011

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1
NEW
KILL ME IF YOU CAN
James Patterson and Marshall Karp
Cover of KILL ME IF YOU CAN

KILL ME IF YOU CAN

by James Patterson and Marshall Karp · Little, Brown

2 wks at #1 · 1 on list

Matthew Bannon, a poor art student living in New York City, finds a duffel bag filled with diamonds during a chaotic attack at Grand Central Station. Plans for a worry-free life with his gorgeous girlfriend Katherine fill his thoughts--until he realizes that he is being hunted, and that whoever is after him won't stop until they have reclaimed the diamonds and exacted their revenge. Trailing him is the Ghost, the world's greatest assassin, who has just pulled off his most high-profile hit: killing Walter Zelvas, a top member of the international Diamond Syndicate. There's only one small problem: the diamonds he was supposed to retrieve from Zelvas are missing. Now, the Ghost is on Bannon's trail--but so is a rival assassin who would like nothing more than to make the Ghost disappear forever. From "America's #1 storyteller" (Forbes) comes a high-speed, high-stakes, winner-take-all thrill ride of adrenaline-fueled suspense.

2
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THE SOOKIE STACKHOUSE COMPANION
Charlaine Harris
Cover of THE SOOKIE STACKHOUSE COMPANION

THE SOOKIE STACKHOUSE COMPANION

by Charlaine Harris · Ace

1 wks on list

The complete guide to the internationally bestselling Sookie Stackhouse TRUE BLOOD books THE SOOKIE STACKHOUSE COMPANION is a unique guide to Sookie Stackhouse and her dark fantasy Southern-Gothic world, as well as an in-depth look at the award-winning HBO series TRUE BLOOD. The book features a brand-new Sookie story and Charlaine's own map of Bon Temps, never before published, with every place of interest in the town, including Merlotte's bar and Sookie's home. Other treats include: * An introduction by Charlaine about the impact Sookie Stackhouse has had on her writing career, and the influence on the genre at large * A large section on the award-winning HBO series TRUE BLOOD * Detailed summaries of each novel and entries on every important character, event and setting in the series, in Sookie's voice. * An overview of Sookie's world, including information on the vampires, shapeshifter/wereanimal, and fairie factions * Interviews with Charlaine Harris and Alan Ball * A selection of favourite Bon Temps recipes

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

A DANCE WITH DRAGONS

by George R. R. Martin · Bantam

8 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.

4
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A TRICK OF THE LIGHT
Louise Penny
Cover of A TRICK OF THE LIGHT

A TRICK OF THE LIGHT

by Louise Penny · Minotaur

1 wks on list

Investigating a murder at a solo artist's Quebec village home, Chief Inspector Gamache and his team encounter deceptive nuances in the art world that distort every clue they find with tales of duality and broken hearts. By the Agatha Award-winning author of Bury Your Dead. 100,000 first printing.

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FLASH AND BONES
Kathy Reichs
Cover of FLASH AND BONES

FLASH AND BONES

by Kathy Reichs · Scribner

2 wks on list

A gripping Temperance Brennan novel from world-class forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, the international #1 bestselling crime thriller writer and the inspiration behind the hit TV series Bones. In the run up to the biggest NASCAR race week of the year, Dr Temperance Brennan's called to a landfill site backing onto the Charlotte speedway track in North Carolina. Someone has discovered a barrel of hardened asphalt with a human hand poking through the top. With the country's press trained on Charlotte, it is up to Tempe to try to release and identify the body in the barrel. But there is more than one potential victim: the brother of a girl who went missing with her boyfriend ten years before comes forward, and the trail he sets in motion leads Tempe to one of America's largest fascist organisations. But before she can discover anything, the FBI confiscate the body and destroy it. What terrible secret could they be hiding? As tension at the speedway mounts, Tempe tries to unravel the conspiracy of lies surrounding the missing couple, the body in the barrel, and the horrific death at the track of yet another victim. ___________________________________ Dr Kathy Reichs is a professional forensic anthropologist. She's worked for decades with chief medical examiners, the FBI, and even a United Nations Tribunal on Genocide. However, she is best known for her internationally bestselling Temperance Brennan novels, which draw on her remarkable experience to create the most vividly authentic, true-to-life crime thrillers on the market and which are the inspiration for the hit TV series Bones. ___________________________________ Many of the world's greatest thriller writers are huge fans of her work: 'Kathy Reichs writes smart - no, make that brilliant - mysteries that are as realistic as nonfiction and as fast-paced as the best thrillers about Jack Reacher, or Alex Cross. . .' JAMES PATTERSON 'One of my favourite writers!!' KARIN SLAUGHTER 'I love Kathy Reichs - always scary, always suspenseful, and I always learn something' LEE CHILD 'Nobody does forensics thrillers like Kathy Reichs. She's the real deal' DAVID BALDACCI 'Each book in Kathy Reichs's fantastic Temperance Brennan series is better than the last. They're filled with riveting twists and turns - and no matter how many books she writes, I just can''t get enough' LISA SCOTTOLINE 'Nobody writes a more imaginative thriller than Kathy Reichs' CLIVE CUSSLER

7
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ONLY TIME WILL TELL
Jeffrey Archer
Cover of ONLY TIME WILL TELL

ONLY TIME WILL TELL

by Jeffrey Archer · St. Martin's

1 wks on list

A first installment of a planned five-part series introduces the character of 1920s Bristol dock worker Harry Clifton, whose unexpected scholarship leads him to pursue a very different life while uncovering the truth about his father's identity. By the best-selling author of Kane and Abel. 250,000 first printing.

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THE OMEN MACHINE
Terry Goodkind
Cover of THE OMEN MACHINE

THE OMEN MACHINE

by Terry Goodkind · Tor/Tom Doherty

3 wks on list

In The Omen Machine, #1 New York Times-bestselling author Terry Goodkind returns to the lives of Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell—in a compelling tale of a new and sinister threat to their world. Hannis Arc, working on the tapestry of lines linking constellations of elements that constituted the language of Creation recorded on the ancient Cerulean scroll spread out among the clutter on his desk, was not surprised to see the seven etherial forms billow into the room like acrid smoke driven on a breath of bitter breeze. Like an otherworldly collection of spectral shapes seemingly carried on random eddies of air, they wandered in a loose clutch among the still and silent mounted bears and beasts rising up on their stands, the small forest of stone pedestals holding massive books of recorded prophecy, and the evenly spaced display cases of oddities, their glass reflecting the firelight from the massive hearth at the side of the room. Since the seven rarely used doors, the shutters on the windows down on the ground level several stories below stood open as a fearless show of invitation. Though they frequently chose to use windows, they didn't actually need the windows any more than they needed the doors. They could seep through any opening, any crack, like vapor rising in the early morning from the stretches of stagnant water that lay in dark swaths through the peat barrens. The open shutters were meant to be a declaration for all to see, including the seven, that Hannis Arc feared nothing. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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THE PARIS WIFE
Paula McLain
Cover of THE PARIS WIFE

THE PARIS WIFE

by Paula McLain · Ballantine

23 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A deeply evocative novel of ambition and betrayal that captures the love affair between two unforgettable people, Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley—from the author of Love and Ruin and When the Stars Go Dark “A beautiful portrait of being in Paris in the glittering 1920s—as a wife and as one’s own woman.”—Entertainment Weekly NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY People • Chicago Tribune • NPR • The Philadelphia Inquirer • Kirkus Reviews • The Toronto Sun • BookPage Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking, fast-living, and free-loving life of Jazz Age Paris. As Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history and pours himself into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises, Hadley strives to hold on to her sense of self as her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Eventually they find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for. A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.

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COLD VENGEANCE
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Cover of COLD VENGEANCE

COLD VENGEANCE

by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child · Grand Central

5 wks on list

The dramatic second novel in a three-book story arc starring enigmatic FBI Agent Pendergast on his search for his long-lost wife, Helen. Devastated by the discovery that his wife, Helen, was murdered, Special Agent Pendergast must have retribution. But revenge is not simple. As he stalks his wife's betrayers - a chase that takes him from the wild moors of Scotland to the bustling streets of New York City and the darkest bayous of Louisiana - he is also forced to dig further into Helen's past. And he is stunned to learn that Helen may have been a collaborator in her own murder. Peeling back the layers of deception, Pendergast realizes that the conspiracy is deeper, goes back generations, and is more monstrous than he could have ever imagined - and everything he's believed, everything he's trusted, everything he's understood . . . may be a horrific lie.

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THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS
Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Cover of THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS

by Vanessa Diffenbaugh · Ballantine

1 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings. Now eighteen and emancipated from the system with nowhere to go, Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But an unexpected encounter with a mysterious stranger has her questioning what’s been missing in her life. And when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness. Look for special features inside. Join the Circle for author chats and more. Praise for The Language of Flowers "Instantly enchanting . . . [Diffenbaugh] is the best new writer of the year."—Elle “I would like to hand Vanessa Diffenbaugh a bouquet of bouvardia (enthusiasm), gladiolus (you pierce my heart) and lisianthus (appreciation). In this original and brilliant first novel, Diffenbaugh has united her fascination with the language of flowers—a long-forgotten and mysterious way of communication—with her firsthand knowledge of the travails of the foster-care system. . . . This novel is both enchanting and cruel, full of beauty and anger. Diffenbaugh is a talented writer and a mesmerizing storyteller. She includes a flower dictionary in case we want to use the language ourselves. And there is one more sprig I should add to her bouquet: a single pink carnation (I will never forget you).”—Washington Post "A fascinating debut . . . Diffenbaugh clearly knows both the human heart and her plants, and she keeps us rooting for the damaged Victoria."—O Magazine "Diffenbaugh effortlessly spins this enchanting tale, making even her prickly protagonist impossible not to love."—Entertainment Weekly

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THE MEASURE OF THE MAGIC
Terry Brooks
Cover of THE MEASURE OF THE MAGIC

THE MEASURE OF THE MAGIC

by Terry Brooks · Del Rey/Ballantine

2 wks on list

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER For five hundred years, the survivors of the Great Wars lived peacefully in a valley sanctuary shielded by powerful magic from the dangerous outside world. But the enchanted barriers have crumbled, and the threat of annihilation looms large once more. As he lay dying, Sider Ament, bearer of the last black staff and protector of the valley, gave stewardship of the powerful talisman to the young Tracker Panterra Qu. Now the newly anointed Knight of the Word must take up the battle against evil wherever it threatens: from without, where an army of bloodthirsty Trolls is massing for invasion; and from within, where the Elf king of Arborlon has been murdered, his daughter stands accused, and a heinous conspiracy is poised to subjugate the kingdom. But even these affairs will pale beside the most harrowing menace Panterra is destined to confront—a nameless, merciless agent of darkness on a relentless mission: to claim the last black staff . . . and the life of whoever wields it. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Terry Brooks's The Wards of Faerie.

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FULL BLACK
Brad Thor
Cover of FULL BLACK

FULL BLACK

by Brad Thor · Atria

In the wake of a former U.S. President's appointment to the United Nations, counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath is wrongly implicated for a string of national emergencies and assassinations, a situation that forces him to race against time to uncover the real culprit.

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