LitQueuelitqueue

After

Positive

David Wellington2015

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Violence

    Delilah S. Dawson2022

    A virus causes people to erupt into sudden, uncontrollable violence. A mother and daughter use the chaos to escape an abusive patriarch.

    Same propulsive register, still post-apocalyptic

    pace0·prose0·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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-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-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Niccolò Rising

    Dorothy Dunnett1986

    A dyer’s apprentice in 15th-century Bruges uses his intellect to navigate the world of international trade. He builds a mercantile empire.

    propulsive → wry

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Mane Event

    Shelly Laurenston2007

    A female cop reunites with a childhood friend who is now a lion-shifter. They navigate a romantic attraction while he pursues her in New York.

    propulsive → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Mile High

    Liz Tomforde2023

    A professional hockey player and a flight attendant clash on the team's private plane during a season-long road trip.

    propulsive → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Behind the Net

    Stephanie Archer2024

    A former musician becomes the live-in assistant for a professional hockey goalie she knew in high school.

    propulsive → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Housemaid's Secret

    Freida McFadden2023

    A housemaid with a criminal record takes a job for a wealthy couple. She becomes obsessed with the wife she is forbidden from seeing.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Behind Closed Doors

    B.A. Paris2016

    A woman is held captive by her husband in a high-security home. She must find a way to escape before her sister moves in with them.

    Same propulsive register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Kiss the Girls

    James Patterson1995

    Detective Alex Cross tracks two serial killers operating on opposite coasts who are communicating and competing with one another.

    propulsive → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

  • 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-2·prose+2·bleak-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-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Survivor Song

    Paul Tremblay2020

    A pregnant woman and a doctor race across Massachusetts during a fast-acting rabies-like outbreak. It takes place over a few hours.

    propulsive → tense, still horror

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • Full Dark, No Stars

    Stephen King2010

    Four novellas explore the themes of retribution and the capacity for violence. Characters commit and suffer from crimes in isolated settings.

    propulsive → bleak, still horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Enterre Seus Mortos

    Ana Paula Maia2018

    A road worker collects animal carcasses and takes them to a grinder. His routine breaks when he finds a human body and decides to hide it.

    propulsive → bleak, still horror

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1