After
The 39 Steps
John Buchan2010
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Big Four
Agatha Christie1927
Hercule Poirot faces a global criminal syndicate attempting to seize world power. The story follows his pursuit of four high-profile leaders.
Same propulsive register, still spy thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Carte Blanche
Jeffery Deaver2011
James Bond tracks a villain across several continents in a contemporary setting. The plot follows a ticking-clock structure.
Same propulsive register, still spy thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Leopard Hunts in Darkness (Ballantyne Novels)
Wilbur Smith2000
An expatriate returns to Zimbabwe to find his friend, only to be drawn into a government conspiracy and a hunt for hidden gold.
Same propulsive register, still adventure
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak0
Bulldog Drummond's Third Round
H. C. McNeile1924
A gentleman adventurer pursues his recurring nemesis, Carl Peterson, to stop a criminal plot involving a synthetic diamond process.
Same propulsive register, still adventure
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The English Spy
Daniel Silva2015
An assassin tracks a master bomb maker across Europe after a member of the Royal Family is killed. It follows the mechanics of a manhunt.
Same propulsive register, still spy thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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-1·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+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.
propulsive → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
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·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+3
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-1·prose+2·bleak+3
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Code Red
Kyle Mills2023
Operative Mitch Rapp enters Russia to stop a drug cartel from distributing a lethal form of heroin designed to collapse Western society.
Same propulsive register, still spy thriller
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
Medusa
Clive Cussler2009
The NUMA team investigates a missing undersea lab and a bathysphere attack. They uncover a corporate plot involving a deadly virus and jellyfish.
Same propulsive register, still adventure
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Code of conduct
Brad Thor2015
Operative Scot Harvath investigates a video that reveals a global conspiracy within a health organization. He travels internationally to stop it.
Same propulsive register, still spy thriller
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
The Jester
James Patterson2003
A man returns from the Crusades to find his village destroyed and his wife abducted. He assumes a new identity to hunt the killers.
Same propulsive register, still adventure
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
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.
Same propulsive register
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
Slower
- pace-2prose+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.
propulsive → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
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
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
Moby Dick
Herman Melville1851
A sailor joins a whaling voyage led by a captain seeking revenge on a specific whale. Large sections digress into the mechanics of 1850s whaling.
propulsive → meditative, still adventure
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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·bleak0
- pace-2prose+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.
propulsive → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace-1prose+2bleak+3
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-1·prose+2·bleak+3
- pace0prose0bleak+3
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
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+3
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-1·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
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
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
