Scan barcode
songwind's review
3.0
Clown in the Moonlight is an interesting short work. It is more a sequence of vignettes than a real story, but they are well written and entertaining.
The main character, who is never named, is an older delinquent hanging around with the high school drug and occult crowd. Through them he meets Ricky, a charismatic dealer and leader of a Satanic cult. Ricky is based on a real life murderer, and the story begins with the narrator's current girlfriend/fuckbuddy showing him the body of Ricky's victim.
This novella felt more like the beginning of a longer work, or perhaps a synopsis. The end of the story in particular was very rushed, and in the end resolved nothing.
I thought the writing was excellent. It's very free-flowing with a stream-of-consciousness feel. The narrator is never demonstrated to be reliable. Exactly how much of what's going on conforms to the narrator's version of it makes the possible implications of the tale quite chilling.
I gave this novella a 3 for excellent prose, but a weak third act. If it had finished more strongly, this was an easy 4.
The main character, who is never named, is an older delinquent hanging around with the high school drug and occult crowd. Through them he meets Ricky, a charismatic dealer and leader of a Satanic cult. Ricky is based on a real life murderer, and the story begins with the narrator's current girlfriend/fuckbuddy showing him the body of Ricky's victim.
This novella felt more like the beginning of a longer work, or perhaps a synopsis. The end of the story in particular was very rushed, and in the end resolved nothing.
I thought the writing was excellent. It's very free-flowing with a stream-of-consciousness feel. The narrator is never demonstrated to be reliable. Exactly how much of what's going on conforms to the narrator's version of it makes the possible implications of the tale quite chilling.
I gave this novella a 3 for excellent prose, but a weak third act. If it had finished more strongly, this was an easy 4.
tracyj's review
1.0
Blech, glad this book was free and short. I don't mind violence or vulgarity but felt it was forced in this book.I am not sure how much of this story was real but the entire book was a real waste of my time. Luckily that time was only about an hour.
More...