LitQueuelitqueue

After

Even

Andrew Grant2009

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still thriller

1 more ↓

  • The lost key

    Catherine Coulter2014

    Two FBI agents investigate a stabbing on Wall Street. They discover the victim was a naval historian involved in a high-stakes conspiracy.

    tense → propulsive, still thriller

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+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-1·prose+3·bleak+2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Guards! Guards!

    Terry Pratchett1989

    A secret society summons a dragon to take over a fantasy city. A group of cynical, underfunded night watchmen must stop the beast.

    tense → wry

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Rescuing Macie

    Susan Stoker2019

    A military specialist rescues a woman from a dangerous situation. He stays by her side to ensure her safety as she recovers.

    tense → earnest

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Alloy of Law

    Brandon Sanderson2001

    A lawman returns from the frontier to a developing city to save his family estate. He uses metal-based magic to fight a criminal syndicate.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

Faster

tense → propulsive, still thriller

3 more ↓

  • Dark Tide

    Elizabeth Haynes2013

    A woman living on a boat in London discovers a body in the water. The narrative follows the police investigation and her own history of debt.

    Same tense register, still thriller

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Pursuit

    Thomas Perry2001

    A specialist who tracks down killers is hired to find a man who committed a mass shooting at a restaurant.

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Baptism

    Max Kinnings2012

    A blind hostage negotiator manages a crisis involving a hijacked London Underground train and a series of related murders.

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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-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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

  • 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-2·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

tense → bleak, still crime

3 more ↓

  • Páradais

    Fernanda Melchor2020

    Two teenagers in a luxury housing complex plot a crime to escape their lives. The prose consists of long, rhythmic, and breathless sentences.

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Full Dark, No Stars

    Stephen King2010

    Four novellas explore the themes of retribution and the capacity for violence. Characters commit and suffer from crimes in isolated settings.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • The Virgin Suicides

    Jeffrey Eugenides

    A group of neighborhood boys obsessively observes five sisters in 1970s Michigan. They document the girls' lives leading up to their suicides.

    Same tense register, still crime

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2