The Shards
Bret Easton Ellis
Jan 2023 · W. F. Howes Limited · Narrated by Bret Easton Ellis
5.0star
1 reviewreport
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23 hr 3 min
Unabridged
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A sensational new novel from the bestselling author of Less Than Zero and American Psycho that tracks a group of privileged Los Angeles high school friends as a serial killer strikes across the city. His first novel in 13 years, The Shards is Bret Easton Ellis at his inimitable best.
Los Angeles, 1981 –17-year-old Bret is a senior at the exclusive Buckley prep school when a new student arrives with a mysterious past. Robert Mallory is bright, handsome, charismatic, and shielding a secret from Bret and his friends, even as he becomes a part of their tightly knit circle. Bret’s obsession with Mallory is equalled only by his increasingly unsettling preoccupation with The Trawler, a serial killer on the loose who seems to be drawing ever closer to Bret and his friends, taunting them with grotesque threats and horrific, sharply local acts of violence.
Can he trust his friends – or his own mind – to make sense of the danger they appear to be in? Thwarted by the world and by his own innate desires, buffeted by unhealthy fixations, Bret spirals into paranoia and isolation as the relationship between The Trawler and Robert Mallory hurtles inexorably toward a collision.
Gripping, sly, suspenseful, deeply haunting and often darkly funny, The Shards is a mesmerizing fusing of fact and fiction that brilliantly explores the emotional fabric of Bret’s life at 17 – sex and jealousy, obsession and murderous rage.
Los Angeles, 1981 –17-year-old Bret is a senior at the exclusive Buckley prep school when a new student arrives with a mysterious past. Robert Mallory is bright, handsome, charismatic, and shielding a secret from Bret and his friends, even as he becomes a part of their tightly knit circle. Bret’s obsession with Mallory is equalled only by his increasingly unsettling preoccupation with The Trawler, a serial killer on the loose who seems to be drawing ever closer to Bret and his friends, taunting them with grotesque threats and horrific, sharply local acts of violence.
Can he trust his friends – or his own mind – to make sense of the danger they appear to be in? Thwarted by the world and by his own innate desires, buffeted by unhealthy fixations, Bret spirals into paranoia and isolation as the relationship between The Trawler and Robert Mallory hurtles inexorably toward a collision.
Gripping, sly, suspenseful, deeply haunting and often darkly funny, The Shards is a mesmerizing fusing of fact and fiction that brilliantly explores the emotional fabric of Bret’s life at 17 – sex and jealousy, obsession and murderous rage.
Ratings and reviews
5.0
1 review
Roger Randall
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June 8, 2024
This fully enriched mock-biography is truly B E Ellis at his finest. The duality of our own perceived self and our true self is fully expanded, before the former expires. Heavy drug use, extreme violence and graphic homosexuality attract the usual criticisms. But those offended misunderstand. Why do you want to be perceived as offended? Nihilism is a defining theme in Bret's literary career. The social dialogue has created your opinions, not you. So why bother pretending? Bret's homosexual relationship with Matt Kellner didn't bother his girlfriend Debbie. Bret's isolation, habitual drug use and descent into paranoia didn't bother his parents. Matt Kellner's death didn't affect his classmates. Debbie's disappearance didn't rouse concern for her boyfriend's emotional wellbeing. Missing or not, in the end all the characters leave the stage. I think this knowledge was their right of passage into adulthood. Another excellent novel. Though the end did fizzle 😉... 😂 Enjoy it!
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