LitQueuelitqueue

After

El Amo Del Juego/Masters of the Game

Sidney Sheldon1905

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same propulsive register

1 more ↓

  • Ocean Prey

    John Sandford2021

    Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers join a federal task force after three Coast Guardsmen are murdered at sea during a drug hand-off.

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Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

  • 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.

    propulsive → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

  • Niccolò Rising

    Dorothy Dunnett1986

    A dyer’s apprentice in 15th-century Bruges uses his intellect to navigate the world of international trade. He builds a mercantile empire.

    propulsive → wry

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

To recover

propulsive → playful

3 more ↓

  • While We Were Dating

    Jasmine Guillory2021

    An advertising executive and a famous actress begin a fake relationship for publicity. They navigate Hollywood sets and family health issues.

    propulsive → warm

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Wedding Game

    Meghan Quinn2021

    Two rivals compete on a reality TV show to see who can plan the best wedding. They must work together while their families clash.

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Marriage Mistake

    Jennifer Probst2012

    After a one-night stand is discovered by family, a businessman and his friend's sister enter a forced marriage to satisfy Italian tradition.

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Faster

Same propulsive register

3 more ↓

  • Behind Closed Doors

    B.A. Paris2016

    A woman is held captive by her husband in a high-security home. She must find a way to escape before her sister moves in with them.

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • Dark Matter

    Blake Crouch2016

    A physics professor is kidnapped and wakes up in an alternate reality where he chose career over family. He must navigate the multiverse to return.

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • You

    Caroline Kepnes2014

    A bookstore manager becomes obsessed with a customer and uses social media to orchestrate a relationship. He removes obstacles through murder.

    propulsive → sardonic

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    propulsive → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

  • 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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak-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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    propulsive → clinical

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Lord of the Flies

    William Golding1954

    Schoolboys are stranded on an island and try to organize a society. Order collapses into tribalism and violence.

    propulsive → tense

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Shutter Island

    Dennis Lehane2003

    propulsive → tense

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2