After
Consent to kill
Vince Flynn2006
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster
More like it
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Rain on the Dead
Henry Patterson2001
Assassins target a former US president on Nantucket. Operative Sean Dillon must find out how the security breach occurred.
Same tense register, still thriller
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Protect and Defend
Vince Flynn2007
CIA operative Mitch Rapp travels to the Middle East to prevent Iranian retaliation after an Israeli strike. He works to stop a terrorist plot.
tense → propulsive, still espionage
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
Red sparrow
Jason Matthews2013
A Russian intelligence officer trained in seduction is assigned to compromise a CIA operative in a game of tradecraft.
Same tense register, still thriller
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Use of force
Brad Thor2017
Navy SEAL Scot Harvath is hired to track a missing terrorist after a body washes up in Italy. He works outside the law to stop a summer attack.
tense → propulsive, still espionage
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Kiss the Girls
James Patterson1995
Detective Alex Cross tracks two serial killers operating on opposite coasts who are communicating and competing with one another.
Same tense register, still thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+3bleak0
My Name Is Red
Orhan Pamuk
In 1591 Istanbul, miniaturists investigate a colleague's murder. Objects and colors narrate chapters alongside the human characters.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-2prose+3bleak0
Amberes
Roberto Bolaño2002
A fragmented series of fifty-six short sections follows a police officer, a redhead, and a hunchback through a series of loosely linked crimes.
tense → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+3bleak-1
Blood on the dining-room floor
Gertrude Stein1948
A repetitive, circular narrative about a death in a country house. It uses experimental prose to obscure the facts of a traditional mystery.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+3·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+3bleak0
The Doves Necklace
Raja Alem2014
A detective investigates an unidentified woman's body found in a Mecca alleyway. The city itself narrates parts of the story.
tense → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-2prose+3bleak+1
American Psycho
Bret Easton Ellis1991
A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.
tense → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
To recover
- pace-1prose+1bleak-2
Hopscotch
Brian Garfield1967
A retired CIA agent writes a memoir exposing international secrets to force his former employers into a global game of hide-and-seek.
tense → wry, still thriller
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose0bleak-2
Better Off Dead
Lee Child2021
Jack Reacher investigates a staged car crash in Arizona and infiltrates a dangerous local crew to find a missing woman.
tense → propulsive, still thriller
pace-1·prose0·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
Under the Whispering Door
TJ Klune2021
A selfish lawyer dies and waits in a supernatural tea shop to transition to the afterlife. He befriends the shopkeeper and other ghosts.
tense → warm
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-2prose0bleak-2
This Girl
Colleen Hoover2013
A husband retells the story of his early relationship to his wife. It uses dual timelines to revisit events from the first book in the series.
tense → earnest
pace-2·prose0·bleak-2
- pace-1prose0bleak-2
The Score
Elle Kennedy2016
A college senior has a one-night stand with a hockey player to get over a breakup. They continue the arrangement as graduation approaches.
tense → playful
pace-1·prose0·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-3prose+3bleak-1
Blood on the dining-room floor
Gertrude Stein1948
A repetitive, circular narrative about a death in a country house. It uses experimental prose to obscure the facts of a traditional mystery.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+3·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
Dhalgren
Samuel R. Delany1975
An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.
tense → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+3·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+3bleak-2
Gödel, Escher, Bach
Douglas R. Hofstadter1979
An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+3·bleak-2
- pace-3prose+3bleak-1
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-3·prose+3·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
A maça no escuro
Clarice Lispector1961
A man flees into the Brazilian interior believing he killed his wife. He works on a remote farm while navigating his own internal monologue.
tense → meditative
pace-3·prose+3·bleak0
Heavier
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
Deep fathom
James Rollins2012
An ex-Navy SEAL explores a massive undersea pillar as solar flares trigger global tectonic shifts and the threat of nuclear war.
Same tense register, still thriller
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+3bleak+1
American Psycho
Bret Easton Ellis1991
A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.
tense → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Sharp Objects
Gillian Flynn2006
A reporter returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two girls while grappling with her own history of self-harm.
Same tense register
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
In Cold Blood
Truman Capote1965
A reconstruction of the 1959 murder of a Kansas family and the subsequent investigation. It follows both the victims and the killers.
tense → clinical
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Lord of the Flies
William Golding1954
Schoolboys are stranded on an island and try to organize a society. Order collapses into tribalism and violence.
Same tense register
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
