Harold Robbins (1916–1997) is one of the best-selling American fiction writers of all time, ranking 5th on the World’s Best-Selling Fiction Author List just behind William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie. He wrote over 25 best-selling novels, sold more than 750 million copies in 42 languages and spent over 300 weeks combined on The New York Times best sellers list. His books were adapted into 13 commercially successful films and also television series that garnered numerous Oscar®, Golden Globe® and Primetime Emmy® nominations starring Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley, Laurence Olivier, Bette Davis, Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones and more.
The self-proclaimed "world’s best writer in plain English," Robbins wrote novels that resonated with audiences due to their graphic depictions of sex, violence, power and drugs, and the multilayered complexities of his characters, as evidenced by his best-selling novels Never Love a Stranger, The Carpetbaggers, Where Love Has Gone, and The Adventurers. He once said in an interview: "People make their own choices every day about what they are willing to do. We don’t have the right to judge them or label them. At least walk in their shoes before you do."
Robbins’ personal life was as fascinating to the public as his novels. An enthusiastic participant in the social and sexual revolution of the 1960s, Robbins cultivated a "playboy" image and maintained friendships with stars including Frank Sinatra, Clint Eastwood, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dino De Laurentiis, Robert Evans, Ringo Starr, Barbara Eden, Lena Horne and Quincy Jones, and was one of the first novelists to be prominently featured in gossip magazines, earning him the title of "The World’s First Rock Star Author."
"Harold Robbins is a master." —Playboy
"Robbins grabs the reader and doesn’t let go…" —Publishers Weekly
A young schoolgirl with dreams of being an actress, JeriLee Randall, is at the dawn of discovering her own sexuality when she meets Walter Thornton, Jr., the son of the world-famous playwright, Walter Thornton, Sr., whom she idolizes. After a humiliating "near" sexual encounter with JeriLee, Walt Jr. participates in a graphically brutal assault that traumatizes JeriLee, triggering unfettered chaos in their small, gossipy town.
Walt’s father Walter Sr. befriends JeriLee and tries to make amends for the deplorable behavior of his son. Over time, despite their age difference, the two become quite close and eventually marry—resulting in yet another town scandal.
But it is JeriLee’s ambition—not the rumors—that drives the couple from this tiny town to New York City, setting her on a collision course with an unexpected future.
Inevitably, their marriage unravels and JeriLee embarks on a path of sexual liberation in her pursuit of success—from stints in sleazy strip clubs to rendezvous on the casting couches of Hollywood moguls, from the searing lights of Broadway to the twilight world of drugs—as JeriLee moves restlessly from man to man and woman to woman.
Can she find success in a brutal world while retaining her dignity, honesty, and the self-respect developed in her youth? As she struggles to retain her dreams of stardom, can her strength and cunning save her from Hollywood’s death grip, allowing her to beat the smooth-talking power players at their own game?
When it was published, The Lonely Lady spent 24 weeks on the best-seller list, turning Hollywood on its ear and, yet again, showing the world that Harold Robbins stood alone in his ability to redefine erotic fiction. Robbins, author of The New York Times #1 best-selling novel The Carpetbaggers, proves that his books still have the power to keep readers turning pages.
From the author of The New York Times #1 best-selling novel The Carpetbaggers comes a novel exposing the money, fame, sex, politics and power that accompany being at the top of the entertainment industry.
Based on the real lives of network executives and other high-profile personalities in the early days when television first became a viable threat to the all-powerful business of the silver screen, The Inheritors is the first in Harold Robbins’ "Trilogy of Greed" and spent 21 weeks on The New York Times best sellers list.
Steve Gaunt, the rebellious visionary, is the head of a successful television empire, making him a hit in the ratings and with gorgeous women. Sam Benjamin, one of the last of the old motion picture tycoons, desperately wants to hold on to the power that has long been associated with the more "glamorous" part of the business—the movies. When the two combine forces, they have the potential to remake the entertainment industry—or be each other’s undoing. Will their friendship fall apart when their money is on the line, or will their partnership make them even more wealthy and powerful? Entertainment is a dirty business, built by ruthless mavericks. The only rule is that nothing is real in Hollywood.
From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Carpetbaggers comes a novel of passion, intrigue, power, and money. With 11 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, The Dream Merchants provides a fascinating look at the early days of the world’s most glamorous industry—Hollywood. It was the latest "gold rush"—when ambitious, if unscrupulous, men and women flooded California to turn cinematic dreams into reality, regardless of the moral cost.
Johnny Edge, a former carnival barker, schemes and plots his way to the top while Peter Kessler turns his back on a staid life of small-town stability to stake his fortune on the movie business. Beautiful starlet Dulcie Warren is willing to use her sexuality and to play dirty to get to the top, if that’s what it takes. When the lives of these three ambitious, determined characters collide, they have the potential to build a dream—or shatter one.
"He is still recognizable as the playboy-novelist who—spurning nice reviews and a different kind of reputation—happily wrote about money for money, and about sex for sex." —The New Yorker
