Reviews by Midwest Book Review, San Francisco Book Review, Foreward Clarion Review and others:
The House Beneath the Damen Off-Ramp
Exceptionally well written, "The House Beneath the Damen Off-Ramp" is a riveting read from beginning to end and showcases novelist William Claypool's exceptional flair for creating memorable characters and embedding them into a consistently compelling and unfailingly entertaining narrative story lines. While highly recommended, especially for community library General Fiction.
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William Claypool fashions an unnerving page-turner in his third release. Claypool's unique plot is replete with a colorful cast. Featuring a virtually silent main character, Claypool maximizes on the plight of a young child to develop his literary figures. JJ has money, but chooses to live on the street. Manny, wounded from a jockey accident, lives in a tank. Adele runs a bordello. And Donna, the most "with it" of the bunch, is JJ's long-suffering girlfriend. A bit of a motley crew, the friends haven't a clue to the impact a young deaf-mute child will make in their lives. Indeed, amid the tense plot, Claypool gradually yet meticulously creates his dynamic players. Set over an 8-day period, Claypool's third person narrative is nothing less than unsettling. Although the first several chapters have a plethora of trivial dialogue, which may give a slow moving and mundane appearance, there is a definite method to Claypool's madness. Readers will experience the underpinning tension while JJ and his friends, oblivious to impending danger, shoot the breeze. Claypool keeps his narrative fluid by utilizing the above-mentioned literary tools while constantly alternating between un-hackneyed character scenes. Attention-grabbing from beginning to end, The House Beneath the Damen Off-Ramp is a perfect read for suspense and thriller enthusiasts. 5 of 5 stars.
-San Francisco Book Review
The Rice Thieves
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'The Rice Thieves has pretty much all you could ever want out of an action tale--love, violence, patriotism, and discussions about the importance of food production'. The Rice Thieves is an international caper featuring what could be one of the most innovative robberies ever committed to print. This spy story features action, sharp dialogue, and discussions about the global importance of a certain protein- and carbohydrate-rich crop. Franco is a former US intelligence officer looking for the quiet life in New Zealand. Unfortunately, an old Navy friend pulls him into a major case involving the USDA and a secretive research facility in Hawaii. Beyond that, a pair of smugglers in Hong Kong has been on the receiving end of a new strain of rice that may hold the solution to China's growing demand for more rice production. What connects the two cases is a particularly nasty little devil inside the US government's secret plant development industry. Once in the heart of China's Cantonese region, Franco stumbles upon a frightening nexus of genetic research, GMOs, spies, weapons, and members of the Chinese Communist Party. Although a work of fiction, The Rice Thieves could very easily happen tomorrow... Author William Claypool deftly produces a thriller jam-packed with scientific facts and information...Claypool's scenes in the hectic streets of southern China and Hong Kong are well wrought and absolutely fun. The Rice Thieves is a solid and quick jaunt through the world of globalized crime. Claypool's writing is unadorned and sparse. Nothing gets in the way of the story, which contains all of the best attributes of a popular potboiler. The Rice Thieves has pretty much all you could ever want out of an action tale--love, violence, patriotism, and discussions about the importance of food production in the twenty-first century.
The Cocaspore Project
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"In an action-packed joyride of an adventure, The Cocaspore Project, a new political thriller by William Claypool, leads us down the dark paths of life in a drug mafia, and the sometimes equally shadowy intrigue in the world of secret government projects."...... The story line takes a somewhat unique direction in that the bulk of the novel focuses on the movements of the drug mafia and those chasing them... The Cocaspore Project is an engaging, stimulating read that will appeal greatly to any lover of political intrigue, action, and adventure."
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Original, riveting, deftly crafted characters, exceptionally well written plot twists and turns, "The Cocaspore Project" is a consistently compelling read from beginning to end and documents author William Claypool as an impressively gifted storyteller. While highly recommended for community library Suspense Thriller Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Cocaspore Project" is also available in a Kindle format.
Windfall Nights​
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For a touching story of two people trying to make their way in the world, look no further than Windfall Nights. Through the fictional accounts of the two key characters, Thomas and Julian, we are reminded that, regardless of who we are or where we go in our lives, everyone makes his/her mark on the world, even as the world unfolds around us in seemingly random fashion."
"Sometimes one comes across a novel based on an unlikely friendship... Such is the story of Julian and Thomas in Windfall Nights by William.... The novel opens with Julian, and his wife Anna, en route to Vietnam, where's he's struck by nostalgia for his friend Thomas. The story then flashes back to Julian's college years.... forced to work part time at the Lafayette Hotel as a night bellman, looking to earn some extra cash...He forges an unlikely friendship with Thomas, the hotel handyman...This novel is highly recommended for readers of short stories."