LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Last Time I Saw You

Liv Constantine2019

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still psychological thriller

1 more ↓

  • The Patient's Secret

    Loreth Anne White2022

    A jogger's body is found in a coastal town, threatening to reveal the past identity of a local psychologist.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

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

  • 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, still unreliable narrator

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Fifty Shades Freed

    E.L. James2011

    The final entry in a trilogy following a newly married couple as they navigate their erotic life and a threat from the past.

    tense → earnest

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Door into Summer

    Robert A. Heinlein1957

    An engineer is tricked into a thirty-year cryogenic sleep by his business partner. He wakes up in 2000 and seeks a way to use time travel for revenge.

    tense → wry

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • RoomHate

    Penelope Ward2016

    A woman returns to her childhood home and must share it with her former best friend. They navigate past betrayals and current attraction.

    tense → warm

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Faster

tense → propulsive, still psychological thriller

3 more ↓

  • Verity

    Colleen Hoover2018

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

    Same tense register, still psychological thriller

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • No Time for Goodbye

    Linwood Barclay2007

    Twenty-five years after her family vanished overnight, a woman receives a series of clues suggesting they may still be alive.

    tense → propulsive, still domestic 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 ↓

  • 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.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • 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