The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Ellis, Bret Easton. The Shards. Knopf, January 17, 2023. Kindle.

Bret Easton Ellis is the author, main character, and narrator of The Shards, a metafiction novel set in 1981. Bret relates how he became increasingly paranoid as the news escalated reports about a serial killer and a strange cult that invaded Los Angeles. Bret focused his fear on Robert Mallory, a new student at Buckley, who Bret believed was threatening the framework of the drama-free senior year Bret had planned for himself. Bret’s paranoia led him to believe that Robert was responsible for the killings and vandalism happening in the area.

Bret, a homosexual, began dating Debbie Schaffer before his senior year because he believed having a girlfriend would allow him to pretend that he was heterosexual through the remainder of his senior year until he could move away from Los Angeles. As an aspiring writer, Bret also dated Debbie because he hoped her father, who was a producer, could help him in his career. Bret’s plan to float through his senior year unscathed was dismantled when Susan Reynolds, Bret’s friend and the senior class president, announced that a new boy named Robert Mallory would be joining the senior class. Right away Bret noticed Susan seemed interested in Robert. Bret blamed Robert for the breakup between Susan and Thom Wright, Susan’s longtime boyfriend. This breakup of Bret’s two best friends also disrupted his plans for the school year.

Meanwhile, a third girl was abducted by a serial killer known as the Trawler. The news reported that it was believed the Trawler had kidnapped his third victim. Two other girls had been kidnapped and then later found killed and mutilated. Bret kept up with the news of the Trawler as well as that of a cult, Riders of the Afterlife, who were creating havoc in the Los Angeles area. However, none of Bret's school friends cared about anything that what was happening beyond their own personal drama.

Bret became scared for himself and his friends when a classmate, Matt Kellner, disappeared and then was later found dead in the pool at his home. Matt’s classmates were told that Matt’s death was accidental, but Bret talked to Matt’s father, who showed Bret pictures of the crime scene. Matt had LSD and Quaaludes in his system, drugs Matt had never taken. The fish from Matt’s aquarium were found in his stomach. Bret, who had been having a homosexual relationship with Matt, was the only one who knew that Matt’s fish had disappeared from his aquarium a few weeks before he was found dead.

Matt also had been receiving hang-up phone calls, and he came home one day to find the furniture in his room rearranged. Both events were signs that the Trawler had targeted Matt. Bret chose not to tell anyone what he knew because he feared he would also have to reveal the sort of relationship he had been having with Matt.

Bret began following Robert, suspicious of him because Robert had lied to Bret on the first day about being at a showing of the movie, The Shining. Bret and the others also learned that Robert had spent time in a mental institution and that he was taking medication for a psychiatric condition. During a conversation with Robert’s aunt, Bret inferred that Robert had something to do with his mother’s death, the result of a fall from a balcony. He also learned Robert had tried to rape his step-sister and that he attempted to die by suicide after he was caught. Robert’s aunt claimed he lied to Bret about having been at the showing of The Shining because he was there with his girlfriend, Katherine Latchford, the Trawler’s first victim.

With this information, Bret decided that Robert was the Trawler. He was convinced that Robert planned to hurt Susan. Soon, Bret noticed his girlfriend, Debbie, was receiving strange phone calls where the caller would hang up, a sign that the Trawler had targeted her. Debbie’s horse was also killed and mutilated.

One night, Robert came to Bret’s house claiming that he wanted to talk. He seduced Bret by kissing him and inferred from Bret’s reaction that he was homosexual. Bret sobbed after Robert left because he knew his secret was out.

The story climaxes when Susan and Thom are badly injured by a masked intruder at Susan’s house. Robert, who was on his way to Susan’s house, took them to the emergency room. Bret learned from Susan’s father what had happened. Susan warned Bret to be careful because she thought someone was targeting them. Bret also learned Robert had gone home after leaving Susan and Thom at the hospital.

Bret broke into Robert’s home and attacked him with a knife. Robert tried to save himself by jumping from a balcony to the one below, but Bret slammed his fist down onto Robert’s hands as Robert gripped the railing, making Robert fall to his death. Bret claimed he had been trying to comfort Robert and that Robert had died by suicide.

When Susan was at home, recovering from her injuries, Bret went to visit her. She became scared when she saw a bite mark on Bret’s arm. She had not told the police, but she had bitten her assailant hard enough to draw blood when she was being attacked. Bret held Susan’s hand hard enough to break her bones while he tried to convince her that Robert was dead and that she would not be hurt again.

At first, Bret was a hero to his classmates because he convinced them he had killed the Trawler when he killed Robert. However, another girl was abducted. Then, the Trawler sent a letter to the Los Angeles Times, listing Robert by name as the god for whom he was killing and mutilating girls. It was determined that Robert had been as much a victim of the Trawler as the girls had been.

Twenty years later Thom approached Bret at a book signing. Thom said Susan believed she had seen a bite mark on Bret’s arm and wanted to call the police and report Bret. Thom had told her that he did not believe her and would deny her claim. In the present, Thom asked Bret if he had hurt them. Bret assured Thom that he had not.