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After

Dangerous illusions

Irene Hannon2017

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still romantic suspense

1 more ↓

  • Coffin Road

    Peter May2016

    An amnesiac on a Scottish island tries to reconstruct his identity using a map. Meanwhile, a detective investigates a body found on a nearby rock.

    Same tense register, still mystery

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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-1·prose+2·bleak+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-1·prose+2·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.

    tense → cold

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Blood Vow

    J.R. Ward2017

    A trainee in a vampire brotherhood works as a bodyguard for an aristocrat while they investigate a family murder.

    tense → earnest

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • Heat Seeker

    Lucy Monroe2013

    A former Marine attempts to rescue an undercover operative who refuses to leave her informant. They must evade capture in a high-stakes setting.

    Same tense register, still romantic suspense

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Hunt the Stars

    Jessie Mihalik2022

    A female bounty hunter and her crew are hired by their former enemy, a telepathic general, for a secret mission. It is a romance set in deep space.

    tense → propulsive, still romantic suspense

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Faster

tense → propulsive, still mystery

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → playful, still mystery

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • Pines

    Blake Crouch2012

    A Secret Service agent searches for missing colleagues in an Idaho town he cannot leave. The townspeople and physics itself seem to work against him.

    Same tense register, still mystery

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    Same tense register

    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.

    tense → clinical

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    Same tense register

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2