LitQueuelitqueue

After

Deal Breaker

Harlan Coben1995

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same wry register, still mystery

1 more ↓

  • Hugger mugger

    Robert B. Parker2000

    Private investigator Spenser travels to Georgia to protect a horse trainer and investigate threats at a wealthy racing stable.

    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.

    wry → cold

    pace-1·prose+3·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.

    wry → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+3·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.

    wry → cold

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    wry → playful, still mystery

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Finger Lickin' Fifteen

    Janet Evanovich1994

    A bounty hunter investigates a celebrity chef's murder while juggling her family's antics and two romantic interests.

    wry → playful, still mystery

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • The Boy Next Door

    Meg Cabot2002

    A gossip columnist looks after her neighbor's pets after an attack and falls for the man she thinks is the woman's nephew. It is told in emails.

    wry → playful, still mystery

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Faster

wry → propulsive, still mystery

3 more ↓

  • You

    Caroline Kepnes2014

    A bookstore manager becomes obsessed with a customer and uses social media to orchestrate a relationship. He removes obstacles through murder.

    wry → sardonic, still crime

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    wry → playful, still mystery

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

  • Gone

    James Patterson2013

    A drug lord escapes prison and hunts Detective Michael Bennett, who is hiding in the California woods with his ten children.

    wry → propulsive, still crime

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

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.

    wry → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·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.

    wry → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·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.

    wry → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 2666

    Roberto Bolaño2004

    Five interconnected stories center on a series of unsolved murders in a Mexican border town and a reclusive German author.

    wry → bleak, still crime

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Páradais

    Fernanda Melchor2020

    Two teenagers in a luxury housing complex plot a crime to escape their lives. The prose consists of long, rhythmic, and breathless sentences.

    wry → bleak, still crime

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Full Dark, No Stars

    Stephen King2010

    Four novellas explore the themes of retribution and the capacity for violence. Characters commit and suffer from crimes in isolated settings.

    wry → bleak, still crime

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2