Never Love a Stranger

By: Harold Robbins

Narrated by: Will Patton

Based on a $100 bet with his boss that he couldn't write a novel, Harold Robbins penned his first book, Never Love a Stranger. Not only did Robbins win the bet, the novel became a best seller, was adapted into the classic noir gangster film of the same name starring John Barrymore and Steve McQueen, and launched the career of one of the world's best-selling authors of all time.

Never Love a Stranger, still considered one of Robbins' most powerful books, tells the story of Francis "Frankie" Kane, an orphan growing up in the dirty world of New York's Hell's Kitchen. After being kicked out of a Catholic orphanage when it is discovered that he is of Jewish descent, a confused and deeply distraught Frankie turns to a life of crime, the only life he knows, and he's good at it. Frankie quickly makes a name for himself and becomes one of New York's most dangerous men, ruling the city with an iron fist and indulging in his passion for sex, power, and the best things life has to offer - regardless of whether they're for sale. But Frankie's childhood friend, Jerry, grows to become an ambitious, tough-as-nails district attorney - determined to bring Frankie down.

In Robbins' writing debut, he takes an unflinching look at the menacing New York of a bygone era when the syndicate ruled without mercy - and the world was introduced to a writer who would influence pop culture worldwide for decades to come. More than 25 New York Times best sellers later - many, like his most famous novel, The Carpetbaggers, reaching the number-one spot - and with over 750 million copies sold to date, Robbins became one of the most successful authors of all time. This is the novel that started it all - giving the world its first taste of Robbins' world of sex, corruption, and intrigue.

©2014 RosettaBooks LLC (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Robbins’s books are packed with action, sustained by strong narrative drive, and are given vitality by his own colorful life." ( The Wall Street Journal)

Excellent

Loved it. Always enjoyed his writings. Narrator was very good as well.

Never Love a Stranger

A moving and fascinating account of the hard path of life, traveled by an orphan, abandoned at birth, through the Great Depression and WWII. Well written and engaging. Will Patton is the best.

Great story

I really enjoyed the narrator. He sounded like the the real character he was portraying.

A Conversation Starter

"Never Love A Stranger", Harold Robbins' first book is a historical masterpiece that is difficult hard to put into a category. Well told, highly entertaining with solid characters. Makes you look forward to what the author will write next.

outstanding!!

what a wonderful character in Frank! it was truly an enjoyable journey to follow along in this main characters life. after listening to this book I will look up the author and read whatever they have written :-)

Heartbreaking and wonderful

This is an older book one of Harold Robbins first. I was surprised I had never read it and even more surprised at how good it was. The narrator was right on and the book took you through man human experiences of the 1930-40 era the suffering so many had to endure in that time period but with a lot of love underneath. This book is wo

Brilliant storytelling!

What an amazing story by a great a great storyteller.
I enjoyed following the life of Frank as read by narrator Will Patton.
Look forward to reading more Harold Robbins books

great time piece

Great book. loved hearing about the way it was back in the depression and how cheap everything was and how simple things were then. Good lesson in humility.

Wonderful book!

Such a great story. Narrator is outstanding! I will recommend the book to all my friends, especially the Audible version.

Amazing story greatly narrated

At the beginning, I didn't like the way of speaking of the narrator. After a while I started to love it. The voice perfectly matches the story. A story about a boy named Francis Cain, who always knew what he wanted but never really knew why he wanted it. A story about a boy who never gave up. I enjoyed the book so much and at the same time I felt like I learnt a lot about life.