LitQueuelitqueue

After

Fresh disasters

Stuart Woods2007

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The wanted

    Robert Crais2017

    Elvis Cole and Joe Pike investigate a teenager's involvement in high-end burglaries. The case escalates when professional hitmen intervene.

    wry → tense, still noir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • My Name Is Red

    Orhan Pamuk

    In 1591 Istanbul, miniaturists investigate a colleague's murder. Objects and colors narrate chapters alongside the human characters.

    wry → meditative

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+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.

    wry → 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.

    wry → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Phule's Company

    Robert Lynn Asprin1990

    A wealthy captain is court-martialed and sent to lead a group of military misfits on a remote frontier planet.

    wry → playful

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • Indecent exposure

    Stuart Woods2017

    A wealthy lawyer in New York and Bel-Air navigates a series of social scandals and criminal threats. He uses his connections to solve problems.

    Same wry register

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy

    Thomas J. Stanley

    Researchers use surveys to profile the habits of wealthy Americans. They find that high net worth often correlates with frugality and budgeting.

    wry → earnest

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Plugged

    Eoin Colfer2011

    An Irish bouncer in New Jersey searches for his girlfriend's killer while being hunted by the mob. He is also recovering from a hair transplant.

    wry → sardonic, still noir

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Red Harvest

    Dashiell Hammett1929

    A private investigator arrives in a corrupt mining town and manipulates rival gangs into killing each other. The body count is high.

    wry → cynical, still noir

    pace+1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Razorblade Tears

    S.A. Cosby2021

    Two ex-convict fathers, one Black and one white, team up to avenge their murdered gay sons. They seek violent retribution across the South.

    wry → propulsive, still noir

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    wry → cold, still noir

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

  • The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

    John le Carré1963

    A British agent pretends to defect to East Germany to frame a high-ranking official. The focus is on the bureaucratic coldness of espionage.

    wry → cold, still noir

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    wry → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Killer Inside Me

    Jim Thompson1952

    A small-town Texas deputy maintains a boring public persona to hide his identity as a serial killer. He describes his crimes in a flat, cold voice.

    wry → cold, still noir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Shutter Island

    Dennis Lehane2003

    wry → tense, still noir

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Every Dead Thing

    John Connolly1999

    A former detective haunted by his family's murder tracks a serial killer known as the Traveling Man. The story includes supernatural elements.

    wry → bleak, still noir

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2