After
Inferno
Dan Brown2013
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Novels (Angels & Demons / Da Vinci Code)
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist solve puzzles and follow historical clues to stop a religious conspiracy in Europe. The plot is a timed chase.
Same propulsive register, still race against time
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Act of war
Brad Thor2014
Operative Scot Harvath tracks a cell of terrorists planning a large-scale attack on American soil. The story moves between global locations.
Same propulsive register, still race against time
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The October List
Jeffery Deaver2013
The chapters are told in reverse chronological order, starting with the climax and moving backward to explain a kidnapping.
Same propulsive register, still race against time
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak-1
The President Is Missing
Bill Clinton2018
The U.S. President goes underground to stop a cyberattack that threatens to wipe out the nation's electrical and financial infrastructure.
Same propulsive register, still techno thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+3bleak+1
My Name Is Red
Orhan Pamuk
In 1591 Istanbul, miniaturists investigate a colleague's murder. Objects and colors narrate chapters alongside the human characters.
propulsive → meditative
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+3bleak+1
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.
propulsive → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
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-3·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-2prose+3bleak+1
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-2·prose+3·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
propulsive → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
To recover
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
How Will You Measure Your Life?
Clayton M. Christensen2012
A business professor applies management theories to personal life choices regarding career, family, and ethics.
propulsive → earnest
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Digital Fortress
Dan Brown1998
The NSA's code-breaking supercomputer encounters an unbreakable algorithm. A cryptographer and a professor race to find the kill code.
Same propulsive register
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Mammoth
John Varley2005
The discovery of a frozen mammoth and a prehistoric man wearing a modern wristwatch triggers a time-travel investigation.
propulsive → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Corrupting Dr. Nice
John Kessel1997
A scientist in a dinosaur-filled 150 BC Jerusalem meets a con artist and her daughter. It is a time-travel comedy about morality and scams.
propulsive → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
The Code Breaker
Walter Isaacson2021
A biography of Jennifer Doudna and the development of CRISPR gene editing. It covers the laboratory race and the subsequent ethical debates.
propulsive → earnest, still race against time
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
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-3·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-3prose+3bleak+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.
propulsive → dreamlike, still amnesia
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+3bleak-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-3·prose+3·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
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-3·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-3prose+3bleak+1
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.
propulsive → meditative
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
propulsive → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
Sharp Objects
Gillian Flynn2006
A reporter returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two girls while grappling with her own history of self-harm.
propulsive → tense
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
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-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
