After
Tier One Wild
Dalton Fury2012
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster
More like it
- pace-1prose0bleak0
The guns of Navarone
Alistair MacLean1957
A team of specialists attempts to infiltrate a Nazi-held island to destroy two massive radar-controlled guns. The mission is a timed sabotage.
Same tense register, still military thriller
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Days of rage
Brad Taylor2014
A black ops team tracks a weapon of mass destruction from Russia to a Nigerian extremist group. The plot moves quickly across global locations.
tense → propulsive, still military thriller
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
In the Blood
Jack Carr2022
A former Navy SEAL tracks an assassin across the globe after a plane explosion. He uses sniper tactics and surveillance to uncover a conspiracy.
tense → propulsive, still military thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Intensity
Dean Koontz1985
A young woman survives a home invasion and follows the killer to save his next victim. The story focuses on her sensory experience and endurance.
Same tense register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Book of the Dead
Douglas Preston2006
An FBI agent tracks his brilliant, murderous brother through a New York museum. The plot involves ancient Egyptian artifacts and a series of murders.
Same tense register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
tense → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
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.
tense → cold
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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-3·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
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
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
To recover
tense → playful
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Royally Screwed
Emma Chase2016
A crown prince visiting Manhattan pursues a bakery worker who threw a pie at him. The story follows their class-clash courtship.
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
On a Pale Horse
Piers Anthony1983
After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Grunge
Larry Correia2016
A Marine killed in a bombing is resurrected to hunt supernatural creatures. He joins a private company that kills monsters for government bounties.
tense → sardonic
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
A Galaxy Unknown
Thomas DePrima2010
An ensign uses her tactical skills to rise through the ranks of a space navy while fighting pirates and internal bureaucracy.
tense → earnest
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose-1bleak-1
The Princess
Lori Wick2006
In the fictional land of Pendaran, a prince enters an arranged marriage with a commoner who must learn the ways of the royal court.
tense → warm
pace-2·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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-3·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-3prose+2bleak+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.
tense → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+2bleak-1
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-3·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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-3·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-3prose+2bleak+1
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-3·prose+2·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
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
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose0bleak+2
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.
Same tense register
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak+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.
tense → clinical
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
Same tense register
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
