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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 12 years, The Shards is Bret Easton Ellis at his inimitable best.
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.
"Renowned for his cult classic American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis returns with an immensely erotic and thrilling novel, even if some scenes may be too disturbing for many readers. His first novel after more than a decade, The Shards follows a group of Los Angeles high school friends in the 1980s. Their long-term friendship is suddenly upended by the arrival of a hot new student who subsequently becomes both their obsession and an object of suspicion. Eventually the hypocrisy and fragility lurking underneath their relationship is exposed. Seventeen-year-old ‘straight’ Bret cannot contain his attraction toward the new student, Robert Mallory, who quickly becomes part of their close-knit circle. As a series of violent murders unfold across the city, Bret spirals into delusions and believes that Robert somehow has a connection with the killer, known as the Trawler. As Robert becomes closer to Bret’s close friends, Bret is increasingly unable to fight against his compulsions and embarks on sexual encounters with other boys, and also his girlfriend’s father! When one of his ‘secret boyfriends’ is mysteriously killed by the Trawler, Bret embarks on his mission to discover who Robert truly is, although there is a risk his own ‘discreet homosexuality’ will be exposed. The Shards is an expansive yet immensely readable novel. Over almost 600 pages, Ellis interweaves multiple stories and observations: discreet homosexuality among privileged young men, obsession and jealousy, and murder mystery. It is difficult to pin down this novel into a certain genre. But one thing is certain: it’s full of steamy gay sex, parties, and drugs."