LitQueuelitqueue

After

Private Vegas

James Patterson2015

5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster

More like it

Same propulsive register, still thriller

1 more ↓

  • Deception Point

    Dan Brown2001

    An intelligence analyst is sent to the Arctic to verify a NASA discovery. She finds evidence of a hoax that threatens the presidential election.

    Same propulsive register, still mystery

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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, still mystery

    pace-3·prose+3·bleak0

  • 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

  • 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

3 more ↓

  • The Book Case

    Nelson DeMille2011

    Detective John Corey investigates a murder in a locked bookstore. He uses sarcasm to navigate the NYPD and legal systems.

    propulsive → sardonic, still mystery

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra

    Vaseem Khan2015

    A retired police inspector in Mumbai investigates a boy's death while caring for a baby elephant inherited from his uncle.

    propulsive → warm, still mystery

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Thus was Adonis murdered

    Sarah L. Caudwell1981

    A group of London barristers exchange letters to solve a murder committed during a holiday in Venice. An academic narrates the investigation.

    propulsive → wry, still mystery

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-3·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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-3·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.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-3·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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