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After

Headhunter

Michael Slade1984

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still police procedural

1 more ↓

  • From Potter's Field

    Patricia Cornwell1995

    Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta tracks a serial killer through forensic clues in Central Park during a snowy Christmas season.

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

tense → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Ghost Stories

    Henry James2001

    A collection of Victorian tales where the existence of ghosts is often left to the reader's interpretation.

    tense → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Racconti [55 stories]

    Edgar Allan Poe2011

    A collection of 55 stories featuring unreliable narrators and gothic settings. Themes include obsession, premature burial, and the macabre.

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Gormenghast

    Mervyn Peake1950

    A young heir and a social climber navigate the rigid rituals of a decaying, labyrinthine castle. The prose is dense and descriptive.

    tense → dark

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

tense → propulsive, still police procedural

3 more ↓

  • Ghost Ship

    Clive Cussler2014

    Kurt Austin survives a yacht sinking but suffers from conflicting memories. He investigates a global cybercrime conspiracy to find the truth.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Lost Symbol

    Dan Brown2009

    Symbologist Robert Langdon follows a trail of Masonic puzzles through Washington D.C. monuments to save his kidnapped mentor.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Walking Disaster

    Jamie McGuire2013

    This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.

    tense → propulsive

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Executioner

    Chris Carter2010

    A Los Angeles detective hunts a serial killer who murders victims using their specific phobias. Each crime scene features a blood-scrawled number.

    Same tense register, still police procedural

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • Johnny Gruesome

    Greg Lamberson2008

    A murdered teenager returns from the grave to kill the classmates who betrayed him. It is a fast-paced slasher story with high gore.

    tense → sardonic, still splatterpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Clickers

    J. F. Gonzalez2000

    Giant carnivorous crabs emerge from the ocean to attack a small Maine town. A group of survivors attempts to escape the escalating gore.

    tense → propulsive, still splatterpunk

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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+2·bleak-1

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    tense → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

tense → bleak, still splatterpunk

3 more ↓

  • The Girl Next Door

    Jack Ketchum1989

    A group of children in the 1950s witness and participate in the prolonged torture of two sisters held captive in a basement.

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • The Rising

    Brian Keene2003

    A father travels across an apocalypse where the dead are possessed by malevolent, intelligent demons. The world is ending permanently.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

  • The Light at the End

    John Skipp2000

    A group of New Yorkers hunts a punk-rock vampire who is killing people in the subway system during the 1980s.

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1