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After

Tell Me Your Dreams

Sidney Sheldon1998

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still psychological thriller

1 more ↓

  • Daisy in Chains

    Sharon Bolton2016

    A lawyer specializing in lost causes agrees to help a convicted serial killer appeal his case while he remains behind bars.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

  • 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.

    tense → wry

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors

    Annette Marie2020

    A telepathic thief is blackmailed into working for a magical guild. He must use his mental powers to navigate a series of supernatural heists.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Mistress

    Amanda Quick

    A woman poses as the mistress of a reclusive Earl to catch a blackmailer. The two must maintain the ruse while investigating the crime.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • First Grave on the Right

    Darynda Jones

    A private investigator who can see ghosts helps the police solve murders. She is also pursued by a mysterious entity from her dreams.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Firm

    John Grisham1991

    A young lawyer joins a high-paying law firm only to discover it is a front for the mob and the FBI wants him to inform on them.

    tense → propulsive, still legal thriller

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • 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.

    tense → propulsive, still psychological thriller

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • You

    Caroline Kepnes2014

    A bookstore manager becomes obsessed with a customer and uses social media to orchestrate a relationship. He removes obstacles through murder.

    tense → sardonic, still psychological 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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

Same tense register, still psychological thriller

3 more ↓

  • Shutter Island

    Dennis Lehane2003

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • The Wasp Factory

    Iain Banks1984

    A teenager living on a remote island performs violent rituals while waiting for his brother to return from an asylum.

    tense → cold, still psychological thriller

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Birdman

    Mo Hayder1999

    Detective Jack Caffery hunts a serial killer in London who performs surgical procedures on his victims while they are alive.

    tense → bleak, still psychological thriller

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2