After
Run
Andrew Grant2014
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster
More like it
Same tense register, still crime
- pace0prose0bleak0
Dark Tide
Elizabeth Haynes2013
A woman living on a boat in London discovers a body in the water. The narrative follows the police investigation and her own history of debt.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
The Butterfly Garden
Dot Hutchison2016
A survivor recounts her time in a garden where a man keeps kidnapped women as human butterflies. The story unfolds through an FBI interrogation.
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Pretty Girls
Karin Slaughter2001
Two estranged sisters reunite after one's husband is murdered. They discover links between the killing and their third sister's disappearance.
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Cross My heart
James Patterson2013
A criminal mastermind targets detective Alex Cross by systematically kidnapping his family members.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak0
End of Watch
Stephen King2016
A retired detective tracks a comatose mass murderer who has gained the ability to influence people's minds and force suicides.
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
My Name Is Red
Orhan Pamuk
In 1591 Istanbul, miniaturists investigate a colleague's murder. Objects and colors narrate chapters alongside the human characters.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
tense → cold
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+2bleak-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.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
tense → cold
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
tense → playful, still crime
- pace-1prose-1bleak-2
Fast & loose
Stuart Woods2017
Wealthy investigator Stone Barrington deals with a hostile family after a boating accident. He manages legal and financial assets in Maine.
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose-1bleak-2
Four to score
Janet Evanovich1998
Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum tracks a fugitive while competing with a rival. The story features slapstick humor and a romantic triangle.
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose-1bleak-2
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
tense → playful
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
tense → propulsive
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose-1bleak-2
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James2000
A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.
tense → earnest
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-3prose+2bleak-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.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+2bleak-2
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.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+2·bleak-2
- pace-3prose+2bleak-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.
tense → playful
pace-3·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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.
tense → meditative
pace-3·prose+2·bleak0
Heavier
tense → bleak, still crime
- pace-1prose0bleak+1
Gone, Baby, Gone
Dennis Lehane1998
Private investigators search for a missing four-year-old girl in Boston. They navigate a criminal underworld and face a final moral choice.
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+1bleak+1
2666
Roberto Bolaño2004
Five interconnected stories center on a series of unsolved murders in a Mexican border town and a reclusive German author.
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Páradais
Fernanda Melchor2020
Two teenagers in a luxury housing complex plot a crime to escape their lives. The prose consists of long, rhythmic, and breathless sentences.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak+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.
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
The Virgin Suicides
Jeffrey Eugenides
A group of neighborhood boys obsessively observes five sisters in 1970s Michigan. They document the girls' lives leading up to their suicides.
Same tense register, still crime
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1