'The Last Man' shoots to top spot on U.S. bestseller list

NEW YORK (Reuters) - "The Last Man" soared straight to the top of Publishers Weekly's bestseller list on Wednesday in its debut week.

The list is compiled using data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide.

Hardcover Fiction Last Week

1. "The Last Man" by Vince Flynn (Atria, $27.99) -

2. "Merry Christmas, Alex Cross" by James Patterson (Little, Brown, $28.99) -

3. "The Racketeer" by John Grisham (Doubleday, $28.95) 1

4. "Poseidon's Arrow" by Clive Cussler (Putnam, $28.95) 2

5. "Flight Behavior" by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper, $28.99) 3

6. 5. "The Casual Vacancy" by J. K. Rowling (Little, Brown, $35.00) 5

7. "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn (Crown, $25.00) 7

8. "Sweet Tooth" by Ian McEwan (Doubleday/Talese, $26.95) -

9. "The Panther" by Nelson DeMille (Grand Central, $27.99) 6

10. "The Sins of the Mother" by Danielle Steel (Delacorte, $28.00) 4

Hardcover Nonfiction

1. "Killing Kennedy" by Bill O'Reilly (Henry Holt, $28.00) 2

2. "Barefoot Contessa Foolproof" by Ina Garten (Clarkson Potter, $35.00) 1

3. "Thomas Jefferson" by Jon Meacham (Random House, $35.00) -

4. "Guinness World Records 2013" (Guinness World Records) 5

5. "No Easy Day" by Mark Owen (Dutton, $26.95) 3

6. "How to Create a Mind" by Ray Kurzweil (Viking, $27.95) -

7. "My Year in Meals" in Rachael Ray (Atria, $29.99) -

8. "Help, Thanks, Wow" by Anne Lamott (Riverhead, $17.95) -

9. "I Declare: 31 Promises to Speak" by Joel Osteen (FaithWords, $21.99) 4

10. "The Signal and the Noise" by Nate Silver ( Penguin, $27.95) 7

Week ended November 18, 2012, powered by Nielsen BookScan (c) 2012 The Nielsen Company.

(Editing by Patricia Reaney)