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The Carpetbaggers #2
The Raiders
The explosive sequel to The Carpetbaggers is set in an atmosphere of wealth, decadence, and unbridled sexuality, ranging in scene from Las Vegas to Mexico City, New York and Havana. This electrifying tale continues the Cord family saga, pitting Jonas Cord, Jr. against his illegitimate son, Bat, in a struggle for control of a vast fortune. HC: Simon & Schuster.
363 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1995
153 people are currently reading
278 people want to read
About the author
Harold Robbins
319 books437 followersBorn as Harold Rubin in New York City, he later claimed to be a Jewish orphan who had been raised in a Catholic boys home. In reality he was the son of well-educated Russian and Polish immigrants. He was reared by his pharmacist father and stepmother in Brooklyn.
His first book, Never Love a Stranger (1948), caused controversy with its graphic sexuality. Publisher Pat Knopf reportedly bought Never Love a Stranger because "it was the first time he had ever read a book where on one page you'd have tears and on the next page you'd have a hard-on".
His 1952 novel, A Stone for Danny Fisher, was adapted into a 1958 motion picture King Creole, which starred Elvis Presley.
He would become arguably the world's bestselling author, publishing over 20 books which were translated into 32 languages and sold over 750 million copies. Among his best-known books is The Carpetbaggers, loosely based on the life of Howard Hughes, taking the reader from New York to California, from the prosperity of the aeronautical industry to the glamour of Hollywood.
His first book, Never Love a Stranger (1948), caused controversy with its graphic sexuality. Publisher Pat Knopf reportedly bought Never Love a Stranger because "it was the first time he had ever read a book where on one page you'd have tears and on the next page you'd have a hard-on".
His 1952 novel, A Stone for Danny Fisher, was adapted into a 1958 motion picture King Creole, which starred Elvis Presley.
He would become arguably the world's bestselling author, publishing over 20 books which were translated into 32 languages and sold over 750 million copies. Among his best-known books is The Carpetbaggers, loosely based on the life of Howard Hughes, taking the reader from New York to California, from the prosperity of the aeronautical industry to the glamour of Hollywood.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 13, 2012
Skip it. Not exactly thrilling or very amusing
November 17, 2011
Started this last night. Read "The Carpetbaggers" back in the summer of 1962. HR retains his yarn-spinning skills in this sequel which already looks much like the life of Howard Hughes - just like the first book. Undercutting the enjoyment of the story is the ridiculously pornographic and male dominant sexual content. It seemed at the time that "The Carpetbaggers" was appropriately risque' but the author of this book seems like he needs to be more "up to date"(The C'baggers" was 1960's while this one was published 30 years later)in the age of Hustler and letters to Penthouse. It's easy enough to read so I'll finish it. Maybe tonight. Well... I'm done now and it wasn't that easy to read what with my dodgeing the relentless parade of huge exposed penises mixed in with the meandering Cord family saga. Once again we have a latin "hero" with a three letter name. Bat instead of Dax... Also the re-emergence of the sibling sex theme from "The Carpetbaggers"(Little Sis was just begging for it...). JFK himself appears among the fictional serial fornicators. The second time he's appeared in a novel I've read where his sexual activity is a focus. The other was "Hotel Honolulu". Not horrible but bad enough. A waste of time, really. The happy/violent wrap up was ludicrous. Also, seemed to steal from "Godfather II".
October 26, 2010
This is the sequel to the "The Carpetbaggers", one of the most successful bestsellers of all time. However, this one was written 34 years after the first one and I can tell you it is not nearly as good.
It is now 1951 and the main character, Jonas Cord ( a Howard Hughes type of tycoon) is under subpoena to appear before a Senate committee about his business practices. So he flees to Mexico where he discovers that he has an illegitimate son by an old girlfriend. The novel becomes as much about the son as it does about the father, especially how the son is becoming just like his father. Along the way, the Cords move into the Las Vegas scene, building hotels and casinos, nudging in on mafia territory. At the same time their Hollywood production studios turns to television production. I wish the story focused on that as well as the father-son relationship but unfortunately, it gets bogged down with numerous lesser characters including their extensive back stories. I did enjoy the cameo appearances by prominant people of the times such as Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Jimmy Hoffa, Che Guevera, Jack Benny, as well as several mobsters that I'm not sure are historical or fictional. But the story really suffers from cardboard Hollywood starlets, cliche'd mobster types, and the never ending sexual escapades of both father and son. Harold Robbins is known for that kind of thing but since The Carpetbaggers contained several well-developed characters, and a good plot, I had hoped for the same thing here.
The only satisfaction I got from the novel is to see what happened to the various characters from the first novel. There was some closure on that and there was a fairly happy ending. All the same, I'm glad this one is behind me.
It is now 1951 and the main character, Jonas Cord ( a Howard Hughes type of tycoon) is under subpoena to appear before a Senate committee about his business practices. So he flees to Mexico where he discovers that he has an illegitimate son by an old girlfriend. The novel becomes as much about the son as it does about the father, especially how the son is becoming just like his father. Along the way, the Cords move into the Las Vegas scene, building hotels and casinos, nudging in on mafia territory. At the same time their Hollywood production studios turns to television production. I wish the story focused on that as well as the father-son relationship but unfortunately, it gets bogged down with numerous lesser characters including their extensive back stories. I did enjoy the cameo appearances by prominant people of the times such as Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Jimmy Hoffa, Che Guevera, Jack Benny, as well as several mobsters that I'm not sure are historical or fictional. But the story really suffers from cardboard Hollywood starlets, cliche'd mobster types, and the never ending sexual escapades of both father and son. Harold Robbins is known for that kind of thing but since The Carpetbaggers contained several well-developed characters, and a good plot, I had hoped for the same thing here.
The only satisfaction I got from the novel is to see what happened to the various characters from the first novel. There was some closure on that and there was a fairly happy ending. All the same, I'm glad this one is behind me.
March 15, 2016
Harold Robbins,The Raiders,fiction. Characters: Jonas Cord,his father Mr. Cord,Rina Marlou,Mr. Norman,David Wolf,Nevada Smith (Max) ,Jenny,Makalister and Monica. The head character and my favourite one is Jonas Cord,man that gets money and everything after his dad's died and has a lot money,spending it on a lot of other things and making it again as head of really big companies (Cord Airlines,Cord Movies and Cord Explosive). As a millioner he has a lot of friends and enemies,also his future wife ,Rina, married his dad because of the money. Nevada was Jonases best friend from childhood ,even if he was 20 years older for Jonas he was everything and he loved him so much.
Book made me feel so sad sometimes and I didn't want to stop reading it till the End. On the End everything is good,when he got married and when he got kid,I was so happy because they lived good after all. He didn't really like his dead but on the End he says to his dad's picture did he do the right thing,asking for his permission for the first time in his life.
There is no favourite part,the whole book was so good and I wanted to read it again and again,it is awesome and it is definitely my favourite book ever. I would recommend it for 13-14 years old up to adults age 40 or even more. Book is so good and I will rate it 5 and I hope I will find to read more books from Harold Robbins.
Book made me feel so sad sometimes and I didn't want to stop reading it till the End. On the End everything is good,when he got married and when he got kid,I was so happy because they lived good after all. He didn't really like his dead but on the End he says to his dad's picture did he do the right thing,asking for his permission for the first time in his life.
There is no favourite part,the whole book was so good and I wanted to read it again and again,it is awesome and it is definitely my favourite book ever. I would recommend it for 13-14 years old up to adults age 40 or even more. Book is so good and I will rate it 5 and I hope I will find to read more books from Harold Robbins.
January 29, 2016
liked this book a great deal but I did not love it. I thought the characters were well drawn, the story line was almost non existent except for the continuing strife between father and son. The ending was anticlimactic at best. And those things made me feel it necessary to say I like the book but I don't love it, so four instead of five stars.
I read this book many years ago for the first time as a sequel to the Carpetbaggers. I didn't really think it rose to the level of Robbins' first book.
I do not recommend this book to anyone under the age of 18. This is a sexually explicit book that contains very graphic sexual language and depictions. I didn't mind the sexual parts of the book but thought some of them completely unnecessary.
I read this book many years ago for the first time as a sequel to the Carpetbaggers. I didn't really think it rose to the level of Robbins' first book.
I do not recommend this book to anyone under the age of 18. This is a sexually explicit book that contains very graphic sexual language and depictions. I didn't mind the sexual parts of the book but thought some of them completely unnecessary.
January 20, 2015
This is a sequel to The Carpetbaggers and I got the feeling Harold Robbins was focassed more on sexual practices than story content and he was just trying to make The Raiders more outlandish than The Carpetbaggers in order to sell books. Frankly I was disappointed, I think he is a better writer than this.
October 3, 2014
I ordered and read The Carpetbaggers on my nook, sincerely enjoyed both this book and The Raiders! Sex was in detail but the story lines are just so darn good about all the characters! Really, really enjoyed both these books !!!
April 27, 2011
Trashy in an easy-reading, 1980s style. Fun!
August 13, 2017
43 - 2014
Tertimbun sejak 25.04.11
Tertimbun sejak 25.04.11
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August 30, 2013Read 5/01
November 17, 2015
Not as good as The Carpetbaggers. Seems like he rushed the ending.
February 18, 2016
not as good as book 1, but a good read..
June 2, 2016
I'd forgotten I'd read this book before until I was into a bit. Not a bad story line but didn't really keep me on the edge of my seat or anything.
February 18, 2025
good sequel
Not quite as good as The Carpetbaggers but still a ton of fun and interesting to watch character development over such a great deal of time and such a huge gap between the first book and its sequel. Recommended
Not quite as good as The Carpetbaggers but still a ton of fun and interesting to watch character development over such a great deal of time and such a huge gap between the first book and its sequel. Recommended
June 23, 2017
Expected a lot. But nothing can come near the charm of The Carpetbaggers. Good for a one time read.
September 19, 2018
Loved this book and watching the progression of the dad and the son-- how the dynamics changed and I liked the little side stories about other characters
January 8, 2020
Trash. Obviously written in a decade long before "me too".
February 6, 2020
Didn't really care for it. Couldn't figure out the plot, never did. This is a book I would liked years ago but not so much anymore. It is has been on my shelf for years.
April 6, 2021
Read in 1995. A sequel to The Carpetbaggers.
November 8, 2024
Ļoti viegla izklaide. Domāju, ka pēc mēneša neko vairs neatcerēšos. Bija par daudz notikumu vienai grāmatai, bet lasīt varēja.
December 27, 2024
This is a sequel to the carpetbaggers. A book that I enjoyed thoroughly. This one not so much.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews