This queer author’s coming-of-age thriller is coming to HBO with an assist from Luca Guadagnino
Less Than Zero—when he was barely in his 20s—which quickly became a buzzy movie starring Robert Downey, Jr.Since then, he’s remained in the conversation with more divisive novels and their splashy adaptations (American Psycho, The Rules Of Attraction), a few less successful attempts at film (The Canyons with Lindsay Lohan), and a public perception as a “provocateur,” someone who rarely pulls punches.Surprisingly, he hadn’t written a novel in over 13 years, finally returning to the page earlier this year with loosely autobiographical coming-of-age thriller, The Shards.The story finds a successful author named Bret recalling his senior year of high school in 1981 Los Angeles.
Through his narration, we meet his cool kid clique of friends—most of them the wealthy children of entertainment industry power players—as well as an enigmatic new student named Robert Mallory.We also learn about a serial killer stalking the Hollywood Hills, dubbed the “Trawler” by the press, who taunts his victims with phone calls and missing items before mutilating their bodies.
Bret becomes suspicious that Robert is the culprit, and grows increasingly paranoid as the newcomer ingratiates himself to his friend group.Meanwhile, Bret (the character) is exploring his sexuality.
Though he has a girlfriend, he’s also enjoying secret, casual hookups with a few of his male classmates—a hobby that winds up twisting him further into the central mystery.Like much of Ellis’ work, The Shards concerns itself with disaffected beautiful young people who fill their time with sex and drugs, taking the sheen off their glamorous lives by exploring a dark underbelly of abuse and violence.If that all sounds a bit like “Euphoria + a serial killer,” well, it’s worth.
