It's Bret's last year at school - in a perfect life without inhibitions and limits. Drug parties, wealth, sex. But then a new student enters the scene, and a serial killer who kills his way through the youth of Los Angeles. Is everything related to everything?
Parties, drugs and... a serial killer. Welcome to Los Angeles. Welcome to the 1980s. Welcome to the world of Bret, a 17-year-old, and his coming-of-age story. board Like Bret Easton Ellis? "American Psycho"? The "Prince of Darkness" himself? First of all: "The Shards", the latest book by the US cult author, begins with a retrospective that is intended to lure the reader down exactly this path: It is a story from the youth of the writer. Perhaps it is even the explanation for the exuberant excesses of violence, the sprawling sex scenes, the misanthropy in the cult bestseller "American Psycho".
That would be too easy. And not Ellis's kind either. Rather, he plays once again with the readers, with their imagination. He makes the readers' stomachs rebel, lets veritable fountains of blood shoot down on their heads. He takes her into a past where not everything was better this time. But somehow more beautiful, more direct, more powerful - and more superficial.
17-year-old Bret is the focus of "The Shards", which, as an unabridged audio book casually directed by Frank Arnold, has a proud 27-hour runtime. He is part of a small clique of very well off students at Buckley Preb School. It's his last year and in his eyes it can only be wonderful. This is due to his circle of friends, consisting of the football sport ace and the matching prom queen, in short: the absolute dream couple of the school. He would love to sleep with both of them. homosexual or bisexual? Doesn't matter. Bret's girlfriend doesn't know about it. Her gay father does, as a 17-year-old you have to gain experience.
Bret drives Mercedes, other Porsches or Pontiacs. He lives in a luxury villa with a pool and a housekeeper. His parents never show up, sometimes at odds, sometimes in love. When Bret isn't celebrating wild drug parties with his buddies, he spends his time in the city's countless cinemas, reading Stephen King or listening to Ultravox and Icehouse. Life is at Bret's feet. Los Angeles is at his feet.
But then comes "a new kid in town": Robert Mallory. There's something mysterious about him - and what it takes to make Bret's senior year at Buckley a nightmare: Mallory moves like a hot knife through Bret's clique. Everyone loves him. Everyone opens their hearts to him. Mallory hooks up with the school's dream couple, skilfully plays with their feelings - and ends up snagging the beauty queen. But where is he from? Why is he showing up at Buckley so suddenly? And why have so many girls disappeared without a trace since Mallory has been playing James Dean here?
Bret's ambition is piqued. He needs to know more about Mallory. He must find the dark secret that Bret knows exists. And at the same time he would like to go to bed with him.
The missing girls reappear. At least what's left of them. Usually not much. They were massacred, desecrated. The media blames the "Trawler," an unknown, just another serial killer in the Los Angeles area of the 1980's. But Bret knows who the "trawler" is. It must be Mallory. Bret tries everything to find out about him. He follows him, he stalks him - he starts to push paranoia. Bret gets caught up in contradictions himself. The cohesion in the clique is crumbling. The perfect surface gets the first small scratches, which become deeper and deeper as the process progresses. A showdown in the best Hollywood blockbuster style should not be missing at the end.
But even the cinematic ending shouldn't hide the fact that "The Shards" has its lengths. Pages of outpourings about restaurants, drives through Los Angeles, clothes and luxury accessories that the reader is already familiar with from "American Psycho", such as the obligatory Wayfarer sunglasses. Maybe you still like to hear the musical and cinematic anecdotes because they were part of your own childhood. The rest, however, sounds like you've heard, read or seen it a thousand times: beautiful kids, wealth, parties, drugs, serial killers. Oh, and lots of sex. It doesn't matter if it's just in Bret's head or in real life. Whether with a girlfriend, boyfriend, father-in-law or bad boy. O-Ton Robert Mallory: "I would damn gladly put my tongue in this tight, small, soaking wet, pink pussy, in the little honey pot. Fuck this ass really hard. Make her scream properly."
It gets tiring in the end, especially if you know "American Psycho" and the character of the yuppie Patrick Bateman. This work by the author has already polarized. It found fans and boosted Christian Bale's Hollywood career. It attracts as well as repels. "The Shards", which isn't a thriller or a psychological thriller, also manages to do that. Rather, it's pure porn - or classic Bret Easton Ellis. Maybe a bit too long, but as we all know, that shouldn't matter.
