After
The Pursuit
Janet Evanovich2016
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from, nothing faster
More like it
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
The Road To Ruin
Donald E. Westlake2004
A group of career criminals plots to steal a collection of vintage cars from a corrupt CEO. They compete against vengeful employees for the haul.
Same playful register, still caper
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
The Christmas thief
Mary Higgins Clark2004
Two amateur sleuths investigate the theft of a massive Christmas tree and a hidden stash of diamonds. It is a holiday-themed caper.
Same playful register, still caper
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Fearless Fourteen
Janet Evanovich2008
A bounty hunter searches for a missing bank robber while a stoner guards a cop's house. The plot involves a hidden nine-million-dollar fortune.
Same playful register, still caper
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Body Movers
Stephanie Bond2006
A department store employee joins a body-transport service for a trip to Florida that involves a missing socialite and a loan shark.
Same playful register, still romantic suspense
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Heat wave
Richard Castle2009
A New York homicide detective investigates a real estate mogul's death while a magazine journalist shadows her. It is a police procedural.
Same playful register, still romantic suspense
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
playful → meditative
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
playful → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+3bleak+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.
Same playful register
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
playful → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+3
Slower
- pace-3prose+3bleak+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.
Same playful register
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+1
- pace-3prose+3bleak+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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
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.
Same playful register
pace-3·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-3prose+3bleak+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.
Same playful register
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+1
- pace-3prose+3bleak+2
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.
playful → meditative
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+2
Heavier
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
playful → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+3
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
playful → tense
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
playful → clinical
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+3
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
playful → tense
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+3
