It's no surprise to see Stephen King land on the top of the charts the first week out with a new bestseller. And indeed, his latest, Dreamcatcher, does just that. Scribner launched the book with a 1.25-million-copy printing and a one-day laydown on March 20. King is the fifth author so far in 2001 to debut in the #1 slot after a week or less in the stores. His first-week sales at the three national chains (Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks and Borders) plus about half-a dozen major independents total about 46,000; that's the second best performance so far this year for a hardcover fiction's first week. John Grisham's A Painted House easily takes the #1 spot, with sales of more than 78,500 at the same group of retailers in its first week. James Patterson comes in third for 1st to Die, with a tally of about 32,000; number four was Terry McMillan's A Day Late and a Dollar Short, at 21,500 copies; and number five was Dean Koontz for From the Corner of His Eye, with first-week sales at the same retailers adding up to about 11,000.
With reporting by Dick Donahue
