fiction
1. INFERNO, by Dan Brown. (Doubleday.) Symbologist Robert Langdon, on the run in Florence, must decipher a series of codes created by a Dante-loving scientist.
2. AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED, by Khaled Hosseini. (Riverhead.) A multigenerational family saga centers on a brother and sister born in Afghanistan; from the author of "The Kite Runner."
3. DEEPLY ODD, by Dean Koontz. (Bantam.) Odd Thomas, who can communicate with the dead, must forestall a crime by discovering the three innocent people who have been targeted by an evil killer.
4. ZERO HOUR, by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown. (Putnam.) Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala and the rest of the Numa team search for a physicist's machine, buried in an ocean trench, that can cause deadly earthquakes in the 11th Numa Files novel.
5. THE HIT, by David Baldacci. (Grand Central.) Government hitman Will Robie uncovers a serious threat as he attempts to take out a fellow assassin who has gone rogue.
6. DEAD EVER AFTER, by Charlaine Harris. (Ace.) The last book in a series about telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse.
7. SILKEN PREY, by John Sandford. (Putnam.) Lucas Davenport is drawn into the investigation of a Minnesota political scandal and the disappearance of an operative.