Harold Robbins

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."

Featured Books By Author

Where Love Has Gone

From the author of The New York Times #1 best-selling novel The Carpetbaggers comes a story inspired by the real-life murder of Johnny Stompanato, allegedly stabbed to death by the daughter of his lover, actress Lana Turner. Where Love Has Gone is a thrilling tale of greed, betrayal, and passion. When first published in 1962, the novel rocked Hollywood to its core, staying on The New York Times best sellers list for 14 weeks—and it is now for the first time available digitally.

In love and soon to be a father, Luke Carey has the life he’s always wanted. That is, until a mysterious late-night phone call summons him to San Francisco. Luke’s first daughter whom he hasn’t seen in six years, fourteen-year-old Danielle, needs him, and he’s desperate to do anything he can to help. But coming back into Danielle’s life means facing his ex-wife Nora, and the explosive, violent drama of the life he left behind.

Where Love Has Gone was adapted into the Academy Award®-nominated blockbuster film of the same name, starring Oscar® winners Bette Davis and Susan Hayward.

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The Lonely Lady

"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.

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The Inheritors

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.

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Books By
Harold Robbins