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After

The Man Without A Face

David Archer

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More like it

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  • The Day of the Jackal

    Frederick Forsyth1971

    An assassin prepares to kill Charles de Gaulle while a French detective tries to identify him. It details the mechanics of the plot.

    Same clinical register, still thriller

    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.

    clinical → 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.

    clinical → dreamlike

    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.

    clinical → cold

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

    Benjamin Franklin

    Benjamin Franklin recounts his life from his youth as a printer's apprentice to his work as a scientist and diplomat. He lists his daily habits.

    clinical → wry

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • As a Man Thinketh

    James Allen1902

    A short 1903 essay arguing that a person's character and life circumstances are the direct result of their internal thoughts.

    clinical → earnest

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Mere Christianity

    C.S. Lewis1943

    A series of radio transcripts explaining the core tenets of the Christian faith. It uses logic and analogy to define common moral ground.

    clinical → earnest

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Dead Fall

    Brad Thor2023

    Scot Harvath tracks a rogue Russian unit through war-torn Ukraine to exact revenge. He operates alone in a landscape of shifting loyalties.

    clinical → propulsive, still thriller

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • Adrenaline

    Jeff Abbott2010

    A CIA agent’s life is destroyed when his wife warns him of a bombing and then vanishes. He must find her while being interrogated as a suspect.

    clinical → propulsive, still thriller

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • The October List

    Jeffery Deaver2013

    The chapters are told in reverse chronological order, starting with the climax and moving backward to explain a kidnapping.

    clinical → propulsive, still thriller

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

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.

    clinical → 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.

    clinical → 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.

    clinical → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

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.

    clinical → tense

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • 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.

    Same clinical register

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Lord of the Flies

    William Golding1954

    Schoolboys are stranded on an island and try to organize a society. Order collapses into tribalism and violence.

    clinical → tense

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2