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Mission Compromised

Oliver North2002

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Dogs of War

    Frederick Forsyth1974

    A businessman hires mercenaries to overthrow an African government to secure a platinum deposit. It details the logistics of a coup d'état.

    earnest → clinical, still military thriller

    pace0·prose+1·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.

    earnest → 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.

    earnest → 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.

    earnest → cold

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Domes of Fire

    David Eddings1992

    The knight Sparhawk travels to a distant empire to investigate a series of supernatural threats. He is accompanied by a group of diverse warriors.

    earnest → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Much Ado About You

    Eloisa James2005

    The eldest of four orphaned sisters seeks a husband to secure her family's future. She enters a complicated arrangement with a wealthy peer.

    earnest → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • The Masque of the Black Tulip

    Lauren Willig2005

    In 1803, a young woman goes undercover in the French court to unmask a Napoleonic spy known as the Black Tulip.

    earnest → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Terminal List

    Jack Carr2018

    A Navy SEAL seeks revenge against a government conspiracy after his entire team is killed in an ambush. He uses his training to hunt targets.

    earnest → propulsive, still military thriller

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • Use of force

    Brad Thor2017

    Navy SEAL Scot Harvath is hired to track a missing terrorist after a body washes up in Italy. He works outside the law to stop a summer attack.

    earnest → propulsive, still military thriller

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • En la línea de fuego/ The Break Line

    James Brabazon2019

    An intelligence operative is sent on an unofficial mission to the Sierra Leone border to investigate a series of brutal murders.

    earnest → propulsive, still military thriller

    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.

    earnest → 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.

    earnest → 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.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    earnest → clinical

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+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.

    earnest → tense

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Shutter Island

    Dennis Lehane2003

    earnest → tense

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2