Hollywood Kids [Mass Market Paperback]

Jackie Collins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1995

Jackie Collins takes her readers back to the Hollywood Hills for another absorbing page-turner of sex, ambition, and deadly revenge.At the novel's core is the Hollywood Five, a clique of jaded twenty-somethings whose parents (all major players) thought that child-rearing ended with naming their offspring after themselves. Jordanna Levitt is the wildly beautiful daughter of a powerful producer and legendary movie star mother. Even though she flaunts a coltish bad-girl image, Jordanna yearns for more than lounging behind the velvet ropes in chi-chi clubs and existing on a diet of Midnight Cowboys. Jordanna's best friend, Cheryl Landers, is a sassy, leggy redhead, who is equally idle. Cheryl fills her days doing lunch and buying up Rodeo Drive until a Hollywood Madam asks her to mind shop while she's out of town. Pandering to the rich and famous goes so smoothly that she can't resist turning a trick herself. Grant Lennon, Jr., the son of the last generation's wildly handsome icon, is a junior agent at International Artists Agents. Not satisfied with the number of starlets he can get on his own, he agrees to "test-run" women for Cheryl's fledgling entrepreneurial venture for a fee. Marjory Sanderson is a dreamy-eyed head case. Barely recovered from anorexia, she invents one phobia fast on the heels of the last one in order to keep her television magnate father's attention. Shep Worth, the effeminately beautiful son of a sex-symbol mother, who won't publicly acknowledge her age, is a man who won't publicly acknowledge his alternative sexual preference.

     These Hollywood kids have been given everything money can buy except a raison d'Être. Though their attitudes are large enough to fill any room, these offspring of privilege are all desperately trying to figure out what to do with themselves. However, life among the rich means life among the damned. A recently released psycho-killer, erotically propelled by blood-lust, is determined to wreak havoc and revenge on the kids' lives.

     Interwoven into this central drama are the strong stories of a supporting cast of characters: Michael Scorsinni, the street-smart ex-NYPD detective who is doomed to traverse the country until he finds his kidnapped daughter; Bobby Rush, the ambitious and talented actor/producer, who only has his Hollywood Royalty lineage working against him; Kennedy Chase, the blonde and brilliant young widow and journalist who puts the pieces together before the cops and felicitously learns in the process that she's still capable of falling in love; Luca Carlotti, the dandy mob kingpin with the cobra's smile and a weakness for classy call-girls; and finally there's Charlie Dollar, the stoned movie-star savant, perpetually on the prowl for women to fulfill his fantasy of a polygamous idyll.

     Not since bestselling superstar Jackie Collins created Hollywood Wives, the book which established a whole new standard for novels of the American dream in the extreme, has she dealt so incisively and so revealingly with tinseltown, and with the people who live and die there. Jackie Collins is back doing what she does best, chronicling the lives of the rich, famous and infamous with devastating accuracy. Hollywood Kids is Jackie Collins at her suspenseful roller coaster ride best.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Collins (Hollywood Wives; Hollywood Husbands) grabs fans with a no-holds-barred (and no subtlety shown) surefire bestseller spun around the disaffected children of Hollywood moguls. Tired of club-hopping and sexual flings, 24-year-old Jordanna Levitt is immobilized by ennui when a massive fight with her father-a famed producer married to a woman younger than his daughter-forces her out of her cushy nest. She lands a gofer job with Bobby Rush, the hot-ticket son of an ungracefully aging movie star, then quickly makes her mark as an actress. Her best friend Cheryl Landers deigns to try working, too, and becomes a successful Hollywood madam. On the periphery are Grant Lemon Jr., the dissolute son of a celluloid icon; anorectic Marjory Sanderson, the whiny, daughter of a TV magnate; and Zane Ricca, a movie-star wannabe and Mafia boss's nephew jailed for seven years for murdering a young actress and now stalking the women who testified against him. Collins festoons her pulp sundae with dollops of hot sex in cars, beds and driveways; Fatal Attraction-like trysts between stars and a cascade of trademark names. Overlapping plot lines are propelled by rude energy and blazing tabloid-style tales of suicide, substance abuse, towering egos, dubious parentage and truly star-crossed lovers. 500,000 first printing; major ad/promo; audio rights to Simon & Schuster; Literary Guild main selection. Author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Originally scheduled for April (see Prepub Alert, LJ 12/93), this novel will now be published in September.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (July 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671898493
• ISBN-13: 978-0671898496
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,174,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jackie Collins has been called a "raunchy moralist" by the late director Louis Malle, "Hollywood's own Marcel Proust" by Vanity Fair magazine and "the Victor Hugo of our time" by Simon Doonan in the New York Observer. With over 400 million copies of her books sold in more than 40 countries, and with some twenty-two New York Times bestsellers to her credit, Jackie Collins is one of the world's top-selling novelists. She is known for giving her readers an unrivaled insiders knowledge of Hollywood and the glamorous lives and loves of the rich, famous, and sometimes bad! "I write about real people in disguise," she says. "If anything, my characters are toned down -- the truth is much more bizarre."
Jackie Collins started writing as a kid, making up steamy stories her schoolmates paid to devour. Her first book, The World Is Full of Married Men became a sensational bestseller because of its open sexuality and the way it dealt honestly with the double standard. After that came The Stud, Sinners, The Love Killers, The World is Full of Divorced Women, Lovers And Gamblers, Chances, and then the international sensation, Hollywood Wives -- a #1 New York Times bestseller, which was made into one of ABC's highest-rated miniseries starring Anthony Hopkins and Candice Bergen.

The Stud and The World is Full of Married Men were also filmed -- this time for the big screen. And Jackie wrote an original movie, Yesterday's Hero, starring Ian McShane and Suzanne Somers.

Reader's couldn't wait to race through Lucky, her next book -- a sequel to Chances -- and the story of incredibly beautiful, strong woman, another New York Times number one.

Then came the bad boys of Hollywood in the steamy Hollywood Husbands -- a novel which kept everyone guessing the identities of the true-to-life Hollywood characters.

Jackie then wrote Rock Star -- the story of three rock superstars and their rise to the top, followed by the long-waited sequel to Chances and Lucky -- Lady Boss -- tracking the further adventures of the wild and powerful Lucky Santangelo as she takes control of a Hollywood studio.

Both Lucky and Chances were written and adapted for NBC television by Jackie, who also executive produced the highly successful six-hour miniseries Lucky/Chances, starring Nicollette Sheridan and Sandra Bullock.

In 1992 she produced and wrote the four hour miniseries, Lady Boss, which became another huge ratings success for NBC. Lady Boss starred Kim Delaney. Next came American Star, a love story, which the Los Angeles Times described as "classic Collins."

And then the dangerously close to the truth Hollywood Kids -- a story of power, sex, danger and ambition among the grown offspring of major celebrities.

In 1996 Vendetta -- Lucky's Revenge was published -- and became an immediate New York Times bestseller.

And then in 1998, Thrill!, a psychological thriller for the nineties, in which Jackie created her signature mix of unputdownable characters.

In the summer of 1998, Jackie hosted her own daily television show, "Jackie Collins Hollywood." A combination of fun, style and interviews, Jackie talked to everyone from George Clooney to RuPaul!

After that she wrote L.A. Connections -- a four-part serial novel published one per month -- Power, Obsession, Murder and Revenge.

In 1999 came Dangerous Kiss -- the return of Lucky Santangelo in a bestselling novel about relationships, addiction, fear and lust.

In the year 2000, Lethal Seduction became the first bestseller for Jackie Collins in the new millennium. This tale of erotic suspense and glamorous intrigue featured Madison Castelli, a character first introduced in the L.A. Connections series.

Hollywood Wives -- The New Generation became a blockbuster bestseller in 2001, following in the footsteps of the original Hollywood Wives. Hollywood Wives -- The New Generation featured a brand new cast of characters and a totally fresh perspective on how women pursue power, love, sex and success in Tinseltown today.

In 2002, New York flash, L.A. trash and a Mafia don met head-on in Deadly Embrace, a sexy tale of dangerous passion and suspense featuring heroine Madison Castelli that was both a prequel and a sequel to her adventures in the bestselling Lethal Seduction.

2003 marks the return of Jackie Collins to prime-time television with a brand-new two-hour CBS TV movie Jackie Collins' Hollywood Wives: The New Generation, starring Farrah Fawcett, Melissa Gilbert, Robin Givens and Jack Scalia and produced by Collins. And in December 2003, comes her twenty-third novel, HOLLYWOOD DIVORCES, a sizzling, glam-drenched novel of lust, infidelity and revenge featuring all-new characters navigating Hollywood's treacherous trail of divorce.

Ms. Collins lives in Los Angeles, California. Her hobbies are photography, soul music, and exploring exotic locations so she can write about them later.

There have been many imitators, but only Jackie Collins can tell you what really goes on in the fastest lane of all. From Beverly Hills bedrooms to a raunchy prowl along the streets of Hollywood; from glittering rock parties and concerts to stretch limos and the mansions of the power brokers -- Jackie Collins chronicles the real truth from the inside looking out.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This was a surprisingly good suspense book!, March 23, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Lake Forest, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hollywood Kids (Mass Market Paperback)

I have not read a Jackie Collins book in a while, and had a little trouble starting this one. However, once the characters were developed, I was totally hooked. I truly had trouble putting this one down after a few pages. I was so involved I found myself wanting to try and tell the cops to protect Jordanna and Cheryl, a long time before they knew that's what they should be doing. I was glad to see some family reconciliations taking place, too, at the end of the book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "More Hollywood Stories In The Hollywood Sequels", January 17, 2012

By 

Terry Richard "Terry Richard" (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hollywood Kids (Paperback)

Jackie Collins started her "Hollywood" franchise way back in 1983 with her blockbuster book "Hollywood Wives". In this outing Jackie focuses on the young of tinsletown, their troubles and their eventual fall.

Published in 1994 "Hollywood Kids" deals with the young born into the wealth and glamour of Hollywood. Among the great cast of characters are Jordanna who doesn't take life seriously and lives on the wild side; Bobby who becomes one of the most popular young male movie leads of his time; Cheryl who decides to become a Hollywood madam and Grant who falls prey to Hollywood's underground while trying to make it big as an agent.

All the characters in "Hollywodd Kids" are as different as night and day and not only are they exciting, well-defined and involving, but what makes the novel is how a serial killer is cast upon them and their lives become turmoil.

An A+ book and one of Jackie's best!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Those rotten spoiled Hollywood kids...., September 14, 2000

By 

D. Feindel "bluebrit" (USA/England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hollywood Kids (Mass Market Paperback)

Jackies done it again with a true to life Hollywood book. She's already hit the husbands and wives. Now those snotty little kids of Hollywood got a whole book to themselves. I love it.