B
Bret Easton Ellis
American novelist
The Shards
Synopsis
Los Angeles, 1981. Seventeen-year-old Bret — a would-be novelist and a son of Hollywood privilege — drifts through senior year at the elite Buckley prep school in a haze of cocaine, pool parties, and beautiful, damaged friends. Then a magnetic new student, Robert Mallory, joins their circle, and Bret becomes convinced that Robert is tied to the Trawler: a serial killer stalking the city who rearranges his victims' furniture and takes their pets before he takes them. When no one else will believe him, Bret's paranoia and desire curdle into something monstrous. A hypnotic, autofictional horror-thriller from the author of American Psycho.
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Characters
Frequently asked questions
Is this book a true story or a memoir?
While the author presents the narrative as a form of autofiction that draws on his own teenage experiences in Los Angeles, the central mystery and the serial killer plot are entirely fabricated. The book intentionally blurs the line between the author's real life and his creative imagination to explore the nature of storytelling.
Does this book connect to the author's other novels?
It functions as a thematic prequel to the author's debut novel, Less Than Zero, by depicting the atmosphere and formative circumstances that preceded the events of that book. Readers familiar with his earlier work will recognize the same setting and the emergence of the author's signature narrative style.
How was this story originally released?
The narrative was initially developed and released as an audiobook series through the author's Patreon podcast before being published in its final novel form.