Location: United States
Member Since: Sep. 08, 2012

Clair Roxanna

Clair Roxanna's favorite authors on Smashwords

Denis OLeary
Latest book: Karamojo Bell.
Published November 1, 2012.
Follow them on Twitter: @dmol1961
Visit their website
Robert Schobernd
Latest book: Choices: Karolyn's Story, a Second Chance Love Story.
Published January 15, 2022.

Smashwords book reviews by Clair Roxanna

  • Woken on Nov. 28, 2012

    I stayed with this short story even though I didn't think it made much sense until the end. And then I don't feel the first ninety percent of the story fit the epilogue that did make sense. The first part read more like a horror story. The editing needs work, not terrible but not good either.
  • Blood Ties on Nov. 28, 2012

    A great read. The plot and characters are outstanding. Loved it.
  • Grow House on Nov. 29, 2012

    Bad crooks and worse crooks. A good short story where things going wrong finally end right.
  • Murder At Zero Hour on Dec. 01, 2012

    One of the best books I've read at Smashwords. It's set in France during WWI in the trenches with the British against the German Army. Great story and characters. And there's a murder mystery in all of that. The writing reminds me of Ken Follett's style.
  • Tyranny of Beauty on Dec. 01, 2012

    Excellent, a very good short read. This borders on horror and is all the better because none of it is graphic. It's as grisly as you want it to be.
  • The Value of Life on Dec. 03, 2012

    The Value of Life surprised me. The story and variety of characters is awesome. Usually I can figure out the ending before I get there, but not on this one. Expected gruesome but got a great story.
  • East Coast on Dec. 10, 2012

    East Coast is a believable yarn but the editing is bad to the point it takes effort to finish it. There are missing and misspelled words, rough sentence structure etc. A professional editor could make this authors work standout.
  • Barbotte on Dec. 10, 2012

    It's short but a very good yarn. Several flaws, at the beginning Gerber has a dark blue Caddy and at the end he has a red one. Some of what should have been dialog was given as narrative. In my opinion that took away from the story. The editing is very bad. It's a shame because the plot is good.
  • Rope Burn on Dec. 13, 2012

    A neat little story that could have used more detail in some areas to aid continuity. One in particular was at the end with the stooge named Tony. Yael didn't come across as real, her dialog was stiff. Editing isn't bad but several errors do stand out.
  • Fate of an Angel on Jan. 08, 2013

    Fate of an Angle is one of those strange books I almost put down several times, but felt compelled to finish. It's certainly not uplifting. The writing is decent and the story is fresh and different. The plot intrigued me and the characters are memorable. Try it.
  • Glacier Lake on Jan. 08, 2013

    Glacier Lake is a good story with some flaws. The M.C., Tom Riggins, is out in -28 degree temp. yet drives down a muddy road. If the author used very few contractions to attempt a local dialect all he did was make the dialog stiff and unnatural. The story has a good plot and characters. I liked it even with the flaws. Editing is average for independent authors but certainly not professional.
  • The Pitch on Jan. 09, 2013

    The pitch is an interesting plot with an interesting MC, if you like mystical characters. At the beginning someone intrudes on the MCs work and he doesn't know who this stranger is or how he was found out. Then the incident is never mentioned again in the story. I felt there was another story there but it was just ignored. Some mention should have been made of the MCs concerns or what he was going to do about it or something. The remainder of the story was a letdown.
  • EAST VILLAGE NOIR on Jan. 17, 2013

    A good short story with a twist at the end. The main character is charming.
  • For Sale in Palm Springs: A Henry Wright Mystery on Jan. 17, 2013

    At ten percent the story was full of back story and excessive details. At fifteen percent it hadn't changed except to be repetitious. The editing isn't terrible, but is a long way from good. I quit at fifteen percent.
  • The Hero on Jan. 17, 2013

    The Hero is another mystery and detective story I didn't want to stop reading. Character descriptions, plot and editing are very good. The author has created two believable antagonists who are about as bad as you can imagine and a protagonist who wins out by sheer determination. I highly recommend it.
  • A Soldier Reborn on March 17, 2013

    AUTHOR, PLEASE HIRE AN EDITOR. The dialog is stiff and unrealistic and at 25% I shut it down. The story still hadn't pulled me in at that point so I quit.
  • Resolution: A Rez Novel on April 16, 2013

    Res is described as a fixer, a vigilante when needed. Apparently everyone knows who he is and what he does, even the cops, which seems absurd. After reading 25% of the story that consisted of nothing but lead in I gave it up because nothing happened.
  • Who Killed Trixy Morgan on April 17, 2013

    Congratulations to the author on a very good read. It's a little wordy and repetitious but the story is strong and the action is plentiful. I especially liked the kick ass attitude of the main character. Editing is good for an indie book but not without errors. I highly recommend it.
  • The National Park Case A Tucker Crime Novel on April 18, 2013

    This story is interesting but the writing and editing are bad. At times the main character slips back and forth from first person to third person, words are missing, misspelled, extra etc. The writing is stiff, unnatural, wordy and repetitious. Susan comes off as being goofy at times and Tucker acts like an amateur instead of an intelligent experienced cop.
  • Remembering on May 27, 2013

    This story is a hidden gem. I loved it, especially the humorous exchanges. The main plot was exciting and the characters are a stretch but almost believable. The good characters are always enjoyable. I'm going to read other books by this author. Now the bad news. The editing is bad but the story carried me past it. Past is a key word. The author needs to use it when it's required and stop making passed carry the whole load.
  • A Tale or Two on May 27, 2013

    This collection of short stories is well written, except for the editing. As with the authors other works it needs the help of an editor. I'm a realist and only read the first three shorts. They deal with vampires and monsters and that goofiness doesn't appeal to me. But I do realize other do read and enjoy those subjects. So merely on the strength of the plots and technique I'll give it a 4.
  • The Return on May 29, 2013

    The Return is a light hearted fun to read story. As with Mr. Zazski's other books the editing is very bad, so bad as to drag it from a 5 down to a 4. And that's being generous. The characters in The Return run from simple to extremely wild. There are some pretty vivid sex scenes including some light S&M sequences. If you don't like that don't read it. The plot is complex and original. Overall I liked it and highly recommend it if you can read over the poor editing and still enjoy the story.
  • Vigilante on June 07, 2013

    If authors are going to write about guns they MUST learn the basics before incorporating them in stories. There are no automatic pistols, they are semi-automatics. They also use magazines to hold the bullets, not clips. When Stanton disposed of bodies at sea, he used a refrigerator filled with concrete. A cubic yard of concrete weighs approximately 4,000 lb. or 2 tons. If an average frige holds 1.5 cubic yards it would weigh over 3 tons. It would take a hell of a winch to lift that and pleasure yachts don't have that kind of equipment. Since he only learned of his targets arrival twelve hours earlier he must have been a busy boy to do all the prep as portrayed. The writer said they were in water so deep only small submarines could reach the bottom. How and why was the boat anchored in such a depth? Doesn't make any sense. Did it have a mile or two of anchor cable? The editing and sentence structure are bad. The writing is awkward and so confusing as to be a distraction. Lately I've read many novels where the writer doesn't know when to use passed and past. There is a difference, get a dictionary. Stanton is way over the top. He owns mansions, islands, big yachts and four satellites in space. It's a bit much. He's brilliant and never gets out foxed or injured. He would be more interesting if he weren't so perfect, make him a little more human. There is little tension created because everything goes as planned without flaw. Life isn't like that. In spite of the deficiencies there is a good story buried here. .
  • A Trooper's Wife on June 09, 2013

    A fine story well told. Characters are well defined, the plot is interesting and there is action aplenty. On the down side the editing is bad, not atrocious but bad enough to be distracting with missing words, incorrect usage and poor sentence structure. And please author learn that automatic weapons use magazines not clips. Cleaned up it would be a 5.0.
  • Modern Suburbia on June 18, 2013

    This may be a decent story but the editing is very bad. Also, sentence structure and content need the help of a professional editor.
  • DI Matt Barnes 1 - A Reason To Kill on June 18, 2013

    This story was exciting from the start and held my rapt attention to the end. Good characters and a purely evil antagonist. Editing is very good but not perfect, not bad enough to be a distraction. As with many writers the author calls the magazine in a semi-automatic weapon a clip, even uses both terms in the same sentence. They are not the same so please do some research and use magazine correctly. The writing is excellent, so even with minor flaws it's a five.
  • The Sword And The Dagger on June 23, 2013

    Fial McMurrin is an Irishman in the 1800s who plans to retaliate against the British for the beating and brutal murder of his father and the rape and murder of his mother. He takes on the whole British Navy and wins. Then he decides to do good by the black men in his crew. A very well written sea story in that respect. The editing and sentence structure need professional editing. Many sentences are incomplete and hard to interpret. My biggest complaints are the references to supposed ancestors of Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and even Barack Obama. I understand what the author was attempting but it didn't work. And whatever possessed the author to highlight a scummy musician who is a sexual pervert. Chuck Berry for years chased young girls in their mid teens and even put hidden cameras in the woman's restrooms of his Missouri restaurant.
  • Angel, Falling on July 11, 2013

    Angel, Falling is an okay read, but if all the excessive unrelated descriptions and filler were taken out it would be a short read. I would like to rate it a 3.5 but that's not possible so it gets a 4.0 because it's better than a 3.0. Editing is fair, better than most but still needs work.
  • Enigma on July 13, 2013

    My interest in Enigma steadily declined from the start and I quit at 31%. There is too much filler and the author seems to be obsessed with designer labels. She told the designer name, price and location where the article was purchased until it was boring. On my last page Love took off his Austin Reed Donegal jacket after he'd dropped his Samuel Windsor linen jacket at the cleaners but still got away without his Peter Christian navy woollen Reefer. Well lottie da. I couldn't care less. What I do want to know is that he took off his jacket. I don't care that he went to the cleaners or didn't wear his heavy coat. All this does is slow the story down and cause snoring. Kindness gets it a 3.0 rating.
  • Hostile Witness, a Josie Bates Thriller on Sep. 15, 2013

    A great read. I enjoyed it and recommend it. This Josie is a kick butt kind of chic.
  • Cashback on July 09, 2014

    The writing of Cashback is wordy and repetitious. I wanted to put it down several times but hoped it would get better. It's a straight line story with little internal conflict to pull the reader in. Editing isn't terrible but the story needs another pass or two to correct blatant errors.
  • Planned Chance on Aug. 16, 2014

    The story is poorly written and has many excess words and phrases. The action scenes are not well thought out or realistic.
  • LIARS the News Industry on Aug. 27, 2014

    Since I'm a staunch conservative I enjoyed this story. Liberals will have a very different view. The story is complex and depicts recent issues in this country and around the world, with a conservative slant. I would rate it higher if the writing and editing were better. A writer must be judged not only on the plot, story line and characters but also on their ability to handle the mechanics of writing. As it is I'm being generous in the rating.
  • Roth on Aug. 29, 2014

    I enjoyed this story and recommend it. The characters are well described and I liked the good guys. There's lots of action and some mild sex and the good guys win.
  • 59 Hours on Sep. 12, 2014

    59 Hours is a spellbinding story of a young farm girl with a vague past who strikes out on her own and meets a devious man with as many secrets as she is hiding. Kept me turning pages so I could reach the surprise ending. A great short read and I heartily recommend it .
  • The Assassin Evolves Book Two of the Irrevocable Change Trilogy on Oct. 26, 2014

    This trilogy has more unexpected twist and turns. In the first book I liked Clay, now I 'm learning to fear him and not like him. Somehow he's able to rationalize what he does to others as normal and necessary. What a transition. The last 25 percent was so full of surprises I was in awe. I've bought book three and am ready to start it. A great read.
  • Never Say Spy on Nov. 13, 2014

    An excellently written story. I enjoyed the zany and eccentric main character and recommend it.
  • Inbetween on Nov. 24, 2014

    I couldn't finish this story because it is so morbid and depressing.
  • The Blonde Heiress, a Carter A. Johnson Thriller on Nov. 27, 2014

    The first part of this novella took some time to introduce the character. Then it was flat out pedal to the metal. How Carter got his name was neat. The mean guy is really mean and the final scene was great. It's short but I liked it enough to download the second book.
  • Center Fire on Dec. 05, 2014

    This is an action story with conflict involving Mossad, CIA, FBI, mobsters, and black market arms dealers and their thugs. It's full of action and when I had to put the story down I couldn't wait to get back to it. I definitely recommend it if you like action.
  • The Dogtrot Murder A Carter A. Johnson & Kate Menke Thriller on Dec. 05, 2014

    Wow! Carter is one sexy dude and I like the introduction of Kate. She turned out to be a lot tougher than she started. The prison sequences were great and seemed genuine. Hope to see both of these main characters in future books. I'm waiting for the next one.
  • Turn the Souls on March 08, 2015

    The plot of Turn the Souls is interesting but the lack of editing makes it difficult to read. The writer has broken about every rule of writing there is. The dialog comes across as stiff and unnatural. Much of the narration is as if someone offstage has just injected a comment instead of being attributed to a character's point of view. The writer switches from past to present randomly. The story is retold from multiple characters' points of view and the same details are rehashed in each retelling.
  • Human Intelligence on March 08, 2015

    One of the best stories I've read at Smashwords, it's exceptional. Thank you Mr. Marre. I highly recommend it. The editing isn't perfect but the errors are not major and don't detract from the reading pleasure. The story is unique and well told.
  • Cold Stairs on March 17, 2015

    This was too tame for a horror story. Also, I didn't connect with the personalities of the characters.
  • Death Without Parole #1 on March 17, 2015

    Very tame for a short vampire story. Most if it was a build up for future stories.
  • Anasazi on March 17, 2015

    Good and scary. The ending was chilling.
  • Crimson Dreams on March 17, 2015

    To me this short was too short. The author didn't flesh out the carcass and it died. The transition from the female character to the male was confusing and left me in limbo.
  • Deadlocked on March 17, 2015

    This is an excellent story that is about much more than the Zombies that drive it. The inner action with the main character and his family give a great backdrop.