After
Days of rage
Brad Taylor2014
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Use of force
Brad Thor2017
Navy SEAL Scot Harvath is hired to track a missing terrorist after a body washes up in Italy. He works outside the law to stop a summer attack.
Same propulsive register, still military thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
One Rough Man
Brad Taylor2011
A former covert operator discovers a terrorist plot involving a powerful weapon. He works outside the law to stop the attack.
Same propulsive register, still military thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Missing
James Patterson2015
A private investigator in Sydney searches for a missing CEO whose digital and physical footprint has been erased. The search becomes a race.
Same propulsive register, still ticking clock
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Terminal List
Jack Carr2018
A Navy SEAL seeks revenge against a government conspiracy after his entire team is killed in an ambush. He uses his training to hunt targets.
Same propulsive register, still military thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Angels & Demons
Dan Brown2000
A symbologist and a scientist race through Rome to stop an ancient secret society from destroying the Vatican. It takes place over 24 hours.
Same propulsive register, still ticking clock
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
propulsive → meditative
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
propulsive → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
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.
propulsive → playful
pace-3·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
propulsive → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
propulsive → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
To recover
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Domes of Fire
David Eddings1992
The knight Sparhawk travels to a distant empire to investigate a series of supernatural threats. He is accompanied by a group of diverse warriors.
propulsive → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
Closer to the Chest (Valdemar: The Herald Spy)
Mercedes Lackey2016
A spy and his wife use a network of informants to find a blackmailer targeting the women of a royal court.
propulsive → earnest
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
His Majesty's Dragon
Naomi Novik2006
A British naval captain captures a dragon egg and becomes its handler during the Napoleonic Wars. The story follows their bond and aerial training.
propulsive → earnest
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Hot mahogany
Stuart Woods2008
A lawyer guards a former spy with amnesia who restores antique furniture. They uncover a conspiracy linked to the man's service in Vietnam.
propulsive → wry
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Dark Lover
J. R. Ward2005
A vampire king seeks revenge against the slayers who killed his parents while protecting a woman discovering her own supernatural heritage.
Same propulsive register
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
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.
propulsive → playful
pace-3·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-3prose+3bleak+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.
propulsive → dreamlike
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+3bleak-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
pace-3·prose+3·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
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
pace-3·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-3prose+3bleak+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.
propulsive → meditative
pace-3·prose+3·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
propulsive → cold
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+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.
propulsive → tense
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
