LitQueuelitqueue

After

To Kingdom Come

Will Thomas2006

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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Denser prose

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  • Amberes

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    propulsive → cold

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  • The Doves Necklace

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    propulsive → dreamlike

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  • American Psycho

    Bret Easton Ellis1991

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    propulsive → cold

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To recover

propulsive → wry, still mystery

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  • The Pursuit

    Janet Evanovich2016

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  • Rock Chick Revenge

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    propulsive → playful

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  • The Secret Adversary

    Agatha Christie1922

    Two broke friends in post-WWI London form a business for hire. Their first job involves a missing woman and a political conspiracy.

    propulsive → playful, still mystery

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Faster

Same propulsive register, still mystery

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  • Ten Big Ones

    Janet Evanovich2004

    Stephanie Plum witnesses a gang hit and becomes a target herself. She balances the threat with her ongoing romantic indecision.

    propulsive → playful, still mystery

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  • Private Vegas

    James Patterson2015

    Jack Morgan investigates a man who trains women to become killers in Las Vegas. The story follows multiple perspectives in short chapters.

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  • Pines

    Blake Crouch2012

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    propulsive → tense, still mystery

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Slower

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  • 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.

    propulsive → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+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.

    propulsive → playful

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  • 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.

    propulsive → playful

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Heavier

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  • American Psycho

    Bret Easton Ellis1991

    A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.

    propulsive → cold

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+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.

    propulsive → tense

    pace0·prose0·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.

    propulsive → clinical

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2