LitQueuelitqueue

After

Lamb to the Slaughter

Roald Dahl2012

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same sardonic register, still crime

1 more ↓

  • Kill City Blues

    Richard Kadrey2013

    Sandman Slim hunts for a weapon in a supernatural mall filled with monsters and gods. It is a noir story set in a gritty Los Angeles.

    Same sardonic register, still noir

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

sardonic → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Wieland and Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist

    Charles Brockden Brown2009

    A religious man hears mysterious voices that drive him toward violence and madness. It is an early American gothic told through letters.

    sardonic → tense

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Gormenghast

    Mervyn Peake1950

    A young heir and a social climber navigate the rigid rituals of a decaying, labyrinthine castle. The prose is dense and descriptive.

    sardonic → dark

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

    James Hogg1824

    A religious fanatic becomes convinced he is predestined for salvation and commits crimes at the behest of a mysterious stranger.

    sardonic → cold

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Better Off Dead

    Lee Child2021

    Jack Reacher investigates a staged car crash in Arizona and infiltrates a dangerous local crew to find a missing woman.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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-1·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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Rising

    Brian Keene2003

    A father travels across an apocalypse where the dead are possessed by malevolent, intelligent demons. The world is ending permanently.

    sardonic → bleak

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2

  • Shattered

    Dean Koontz1973

    A man and his future stepson drive across America while being stalked by the woman's vengeful ex-husband.

    sardonic → tense

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • The kings of cool

    Don Winslow2012

    This prequel follows three young marijuana dealers in Laguna Beach during the 2000s. It details how they built their operation and met their rivals.

    Same sardonic register, still crime

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    sardonic → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    sardonic → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Gone, Baby, Gone

    Dennis Lehane1998

    Private investigators search for a missing four-year-old girl in Boston. They navigate a criminal underworld and face a final moral choice.

    sardonic → bleak, still crime

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • Dead and Gone

    Andrew Vachss2000

    After a hit squad kills his partner, an underground mercenary gets plastic surgery and hunts his attackers across the country.

    sardonic → bleak, still crime

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • Frankenstein

    Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley1818

    Victor Frankenstein assembles a living being from scavenged parts. The narrative follows the creature's rejection and its violent revenge.

    sardonic → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2