The Informers

Rating:
Summary: Great Collection of Stories
Review: This is a good collection of stories that chronicle a small yet interesting slice of 1980's Los Angeles. The stories are all vaguely related to one another, but stand on their own just as well. They cover lots of terrirory including, but not limited to, pill poppers, vampires, and family relationships. Definitly worth a look if you like Ellis, and probably worth a look even if you don't.

Rating:
Summary: Bad "Less Than Zero" outtakes
Review: Obviously written before Ellis' first book, LESS THAN ZERO, these stories have little depth or structure. They're mostly character sketches, and very rough ones at that. One of the worst stories involves a vampire that goes to see a psychiatrist (yes, really), with an ending lifted right from Stephen King's "The Boogeyman". Stick to Ellis' novels instead.

Rating:
Summary: A novel broken up into short stories.... Perfect!
Review: For his fourth book, Ellis once again was able to shock us with his stories of the young and rich in L.A. But this time, with "The Informers" Ellis took a different route to grip us with. Instead of writing a full novel, we get thirteen short stories of several characters that are introduced in the first two chapters, either by being in that chapter, or being a name in passing.
As in his other stories, Ellis brings in names and characters that have been used in other of his works, making all of his books intertwined in small ways. I found this book to read a lot more like "Less Than Zero" than his other works, mainly because the characters go to the same schools and know each other, and are the same age.
The are three main charachters that the short stories are mainly based around and the shorts in this book range over a time period of roughly two to three years, putting you before and after major events.
This book is something only Ellis could achieve. Taking normal lives of teens and adults alike and showing us their rich, corrupt and disappointing lives. From divorce, to random sex with lovers and friends, to the mind of a boy who believes he is a vampire.
This is another perfect piece of literature that will no doubt become another Ellis classic.