Executive Orders

The Russia house

John le Carré1987

A jazz-loving publisher is recruited by British intelligence to verify Soviet nuclear secrets. He must navigate handlers and a Russian contact.

clinical → wry, still political thriller

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

clinical → playful

pace-1·prose+1·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.

clinical → dreamlike

pace0·prose+1·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.

clinical → cold

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

On a Pale Horse

Piers Anthony1983

After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.

clinical → playful

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Medusa

Clive Cussler2009

The NUMA team investigates a missing undersea lab and a bathysphere attack. They uncover a corporate plot involving a deadly virus and jellyfish.

clinical → propulsive, still techno-thriller

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

Royally Screwed

Emma Chase2016

A crown prince visiting Manhattan pursues a bakery worker who threw a pie at him. The story follows their class-clash courtship.

clinical → playful

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Deception Point

Dan Brown2001

An intelligence analyst is sent to the Arctic to verify a NASA discovery. She finds evidence of a hoax that threatens the presidential election.

pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

Oath of Loyalty

Kyle Mills2022

CIA assassin Mitch Rapp goes off the grid to protect his partner while navigating a political conspiracy in Washington.

clinical → propulsive, still political thriller

pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

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.

pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

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.

clinical → dreamlike

pace-1·prose+1·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.

clinical → playful

pace-1·prose+1·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.

clinical → playful

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

Red April

Santiago Roncagliolo2009

A prosecutor in 2000s Peru investigates a series of gruesome murders during Holy Week. He uncovers a conspiracy involving the military and rebels.

clinical → bleak, still political thriller

pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2

Moneyland

Oliver Bullough2018

This nonfiction work tracks how global elites use offshore accounts and shell companies to hide wealth. It follows the history of money laundering.

clinical → tense, still political thriller

pace0·prose0·bleak+2

American Psycho

Bret Easton Ellis1991

A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.

clinical → cold

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2