LitQueuelitqueue

After

Ashes to Ashes

Tami Hoag1996

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Surgeon

    Tess Gerritsen2001

    A Boston detective hunts a killer who uses surgical precision to torture women. The investigation centers on a doctor who survived a similar attack.

    Same tense register, still psychological thriller

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

tense → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Gormenghast

    Mervyn Peake1950

    A young heir and a social climber navigate the rigid rituals of a decaying, labyrinthine castle. The prose is dense and descriptive.

    tense → dark

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

    James Hogg1824

    A religious fanatic becomes convinced he is predestined for salvation and commits crimes at the behest of a mysterious stranger.

    tense → cold

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Ghost Stories

    Henry James2001

    A collection of Victorian tales where the existence of ghosts is often left to the reader's interpretation.

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Chef

    James Patterson2019

    A New Orleans police detective who moonlights as a food truck chef is framed for murder. He must clear his name while uncovering a conspiracy.

    tense → propulsive, still police procedural

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Ghost Ship

    Clive Cussler2014

    Kurt Austin survives a yacht sinking but suffers from conflicting memories. He investigates a global cybercrime conspiracy to find the truth.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Killer Blonde

    Laura Levine2004

    A freelance writer investigates a murder in the Hamptons after a socialite is killed. She balances the case with her work for a demanding boss.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Executioner

    Chris Carter2010

    A Los Angeles detective hunts a serial killer who murders victims using their specific phobias. Each crime scene features a blood-scrawled number.

    Same tense register, still police procedural

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • The Bone Collector

    Jeffery Deaver1996

    A quadriplegic forensics expert and a young policewoman track a serial killer who uses old New York history as a template for his crimes.

    Same tense register, still psychological thriller

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • UNSUB

    Meg Gardiner2017

    A narcotics detective joins a task force to catch a serial killer who obsessed her father twenty years earlier. The killer uses cryptic codes.

    tense → propulsive, still psychological thriller

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Ulysses

    James Joyce1914

    Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    tense → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Birdman

    Mo Hayder1999

    Detective Jack Caffery hunts a serial killer in London who performs surgical procedures on his victims while they are alive.

    tense → bleak, still psychological thriller

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Motherthing

    Ainslie Hogarth2022

    A woman moves in with her cruel mother-in-law, who commits suicide and returns as a ghost to haunt the house.

    tense → sardonic, still psychological thriller

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • A Certain Hunger

    Chelsea G. Summers2020

    A food critic recounts her life of culinary refinement and the murders she committed to consume her lovers.

    tense → eerie, still psychological thriller

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1