The Egyptologist

Comrade Koba

Robert Littell2020

A ten-year-old boy hiding in the Kremlin walls meets an aging Joseph Stalin. They engage in a series of cynical dialogues about power.

Same sardonic register, still historical fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

sardonic → cold

pace0·prose+1·bleak0

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.

sardonic → playful

pace-1·prose+1·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.

sardonic → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator

pace0·prose+1·bleak0

This Man

Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.

sardonic → tense

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

Ready Player One

Ernest Cline2008

A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Love Is Blind

Lynsay Sands2006

A clumsy woman removes her glasses to appear attractive to a suitor, resulting in physical comedy and accidents. They navigate a Regency romance.

sardonic → playful

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

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.

sardonic → propulsive

pace+2·prose-2·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.

sardonic → tense

pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

Verity

Colleen Hoover2018

A ghostwriter moves into a secluded estate to finish a series for an injured author and finds a hidden, disturbing autobiography.

sardonic → tense, still unreliable narrator

pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

Gilead

Marilynne Robinson2004

An elderly preacher in 1950s Iowa writes a letter to his young son about their family history. He reflects on his father and grandfather.

sardonic → meditative, still epistolary

pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

A Month in the Country

J. L. Carr1980

A WWI veteran spends a summer in a quiet village restoring a medieval mural in a church. He reflects on his trauma while observing local life.

sardonic → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

The miracle at Speedy Motors

Alexander McCall Smith2008

Mma Ramotswe helps a woman find her long-lost family in Botswana. The story follows small domestic complications and slow-paced investigations.

sardonic → warm

pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

Affinity

Sarah Waters1999

A grieving socialite visits a medium in a Victorian women's prison. Their relationship develops through diary entries and clandestine meetings.

sardonic → bleak, still historical fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Libra

Don DeLillo1988

A fictionalized biography of Lee Harvey Oswald. It follows his life and the CIA conspiracy that leads to the assassination of JFK.

sardonic → eerie, still historical fiction

pace+1·prose0·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.

sardonic → cold, still unreliable narrator

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1