Tales Under A Full Moon
by J.P. Cardone
Published by Xlibris Corporation
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Reviewed by Marcy Courneya
J.P. Cardone's first short story collection, Tales Under a Full Moon, entices thoughts about the strangeness that could happen to us each day through various choices and changes.
Tales Under the Full Moon is a collection of seven short stories ranging from a seemingly haunted new home, to a soft-spoken man turned raging due to medical procedure, to an outspoken character questioning his sanity. Each of the stories is told in a sort of formal stream of consciousness, leaving little that needs interpreting.
For the most part, I found the voice of the narrators to be constant through each story. However, they did happen to change in their range of intelligence from time to time. For example, the young girl narrating Thirteen Apple Blossom Lane sounded younger and more naive than the quickly spoken narrator of Crazy Is, As Crazy Does.
At first, it was difficult to move with ease through the stream of consciousness, lack of punctuation, and catchy dialogue. But, nearing the end of the first story, I found myself focused on the characters and the wacky plots of this collection. I was interested in knowing what happened next, rather than getting lost in long, complex speeches, character descriptions, and poetic language. With that said, I felt as though there could have been more oomph to these pieces. I was intrigued by the strangeness and the ideas presented, but I kept searching for more consistency.
On the other hand, I found Crazy Is, As Cray Does to be my favorite piece. There was freshness to this piece--the narrator addressed me, engaging me throughout the entirety of the story. I was excited by the narrator and his multitude of flash stories describing his life and thoughts, trying to understand his actions that brought him to this place.
Cardone has learned how to take a look at the world and the common people in it and stir it up a bit. The author's other novel is Without Consent.
Armchair Interviews says: Unique presentation of these stories.