Mystery and suspense are everyone's favorite read nowadays, judging by the bestseller charts, where intrigue and murder are the main ingredients in more than half of the titles on this week's hardcover fiction list. Three popular authors of thrillers land among the top 10, with a new one by James Patterson and Howard Roughan, Honeymoon, in the #1 slot. Patterson is a three-decade veteran of these lists, and his newest book has already gone back to press for a second printing, bringing the total in print to one million copies. In its opening week at the three national chains—Barnes & Noble, Borders, Waldenbooks—Honeymoon sold more than 56,000 copies, making it the fastest out-of-the gate Patterson ever. Little, Brown's media campaign includes frequent TV commercials and extensive Web outreach. The book has been optioned for film and will be directed by Gary Fleder, who helmed 2003's Runaway Jury.
Landing in the #6 spot is the eighth Elvis Cole novel, The Forgotten Man, by Robert Crais. This mystery series keeps gaining in sales—Doubleday reports 125,000 copies in print after two trips to press. Crais is doing a 15-city tour and has drawn SRO crowds at all stops. The Miramax film Hostage, based on Crais's standalone thriller of the same name, with a screenplay by the author and Bruce Willis in the starring role, opens nationwide March 11. That book was on PW's charts for three weeks back in 2001.
Another bestselling author of suspense, Greg Iles, has his highest hardcover landing with Blood Memory, in the #8 spot after about a week in the stores. A huge demand for the book sent Scribner back to press for a 10,000 second printing before publication date; total copies: 155,000. Iles and his brother Geoff are finishing off a tour of some of the great bookstores in the South. His brother is driving the van while Greg (so says his publisher) is working on his 2006 thriller. On March 3, they'll be at the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta; coincidentally, author Iles was once the guitarist for a band called Frankly, Scarlett.
