LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Killer Inside Me

Jim Thompson1952

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Real World

    Natsuo Kirino2008

    Four teenage girls become entangled with a neighbor who has murdered his mother. The story follows their shifting perspectives and justifications.

    Same cold register, still noir

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    cold → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • My Name Is Red

    Orhan Pamuk

    In 1591 Istanbul, miniaturists investigate a colleague's murder. Objects and colors narrate chapters alongside the human characters.

    cold → meditative, still unreliable narrator

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • The Black Dahlia

    James Ellroy1987

    Two LAPD officers become obsessed with the brutal 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short. The investigation destroys their personal lives.

    cold → bleak, still noir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Walking Disaster

    Jamie McGuire2013

    This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.

    cold → propulsive

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-3

  • This Man

    Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

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

    cold → tense

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-3

  • 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.

    cold → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Plugged

    Eoin Colfer2011

    An Irish bouncer in New Jersey searches for his girlfriend's killer while being hunted by the mob. He is also recovering from a hair transplant.

    cold → sardonic, still noir

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-2

  • Red Harvest

    Dashiell Hammett1929

    A private investigator arrives in a corrupt mining town and manipulates rival gangs into killing each other. The body count is high.

    cold → cynical, still noir

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    cold → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    Same cold register, still noir

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

    John le Carré1963

    A British agent pretends to defect to East Germany to frame a high-ranking official. The focus is on the bureaucratic coldness of espionage.

    Same cold register, still noir

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    cold → dreamlike, still unreliable narrator

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1