After
Trainspotting
Irvine Welsh1993
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier, nothing denser
More like it
Same sardonic register, still noir
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Moth Smoke
Mohsin Hamid2000
An unemployed banker in Lahore falls into a cycle of drug use and an affair with his best friend's wife as his social standing collapses.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Nobody move
Denis Johnson2009
A gambler in debt and a woman on the run cross paths in California. They flee from hitmen and the law in a series of violent encounters.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Skagboys
Irvine Welsh2012
A group of friends in 1980s Edinburgh descend into heroin addiction. The narrative uses heavy dialect to track their social and physical decay.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose-2bleak-1
Urban Renewal
Andrew Vachss2014
A professional hitman navigates the criminal underworld on a mission of vengeance. The story is told in a sparse, cynical noir style.
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak-1
Dallas noir
David Hale Smith2013
This anthology features short stories from various authors, each set in a different neighborhood of Dallas, Texas.
pace0·prose-2·bleak-1
To recover
- pace0prose-3bleak-3
Play
Kylie Scott2014
A drummer for a famous rock band hires a woman to pose as his girlfriend to improve his public image. They live together to sell the lie.
sardonic → playful
pace0·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace0prose-3bleak-3
Final Offer
Lauren Asher2023
An alcoholic heir returns to his family's lake house to secure his inheritance. He finds his ex-girlfriend living there with a child he never knew.
sardonic → earnest
pace0·prose-3·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-3bleak-3
The case of the lucky legs
Erle Stanley Gardner1931
Defense attorney Perry Mason represents a woman accused of murdering a promoter who scammed her in a beauty contest.
sardonic → propulsive, still noir
pace0·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace0prose-3bleak-3
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
sardonic → playful
pace0·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
sardonic → propulsive
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
She rides shotgun
Jordan Harper2017
An ex-convict and his eleven-year-old daughter go on the run from a white supremacist gang. He teaches her how to survive a life of crime.
sardonic → propulsive, still noir
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-1
Deadline at Dawn
Cornell Woolrich1944
A sailor and a dancer have until sunrise to find a killer and clear their names. The story follows their frantic search through New York City.
sardonic → tense, still noir
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
Plugged
Eoin Colfer2011
An Irish bouncer in New Jersey searches for his girlfriend's killer while being hunted by the mob. He is also recovering from a hair transplant.
Same sardonic register, still noir
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
sardonic → propulsive
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-3bleak-2
The Housemaid's Secret
Freida McFadden2023
A housemaid with a criminal record takes a job for a wealthy couple. She becomes obsessed with the wife she is forbidden from seeing.
sardonic → propulsive
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-2prose0bleak-2
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.
sardonic → playful
pace-2·prose0·bleak-2
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Les gommes
Alain Robbe-Grillet1953
A detective spends twenty-four hours in a labyrinthine city searching for an assassin. The prose focuses on clinical, geometric descriptions.
sardonic → clinical, still noir
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak-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.
sardonic → cold, still noir
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-2prose-2bleak-3
The miracle at Speedy Motors
Alexander McCall Smith2008
Mma Ramotswe helps a woman find her long-lost family in Botswana. The story follows small domestic complications and slow-paced investigations.
sardonic → warm
pace-2·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
John le Carré1963
A British agent pretends to defect to East Germany to frame a high-ranking official. The focus is on the bureaucratic coldness of espionage.
sardonic → cold, still noir
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
