After
Protect and Defend
Vince Flynn2007
- 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 espionage
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Warriors
Ted Bell2014
Spy Alex Hawke attempts to rescue a kidnapped scientist while the United States and China move toward nuclear war.
Same propulsive register, still techno-thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
When the Wind Blows
James Patterson1847
A veterinarian and an FBI agent discover winged children created in a secret laboratory. They go on the run to protect the girl from her creators.
Same propulsive register, still techno-thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Runner
Patrick Lee2014
A retired special forces operative protects a young girl with no memory from armed government agents. The plot is a high-speed chase.
Same propulsive register, still techno-thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Consent to kill
Vince Flynn2006
CIA assassin Mitch Rapp becomes the target of a multi-million dollar bounty funded by a Saudi billionaire and a former East German spy.
propulsive → tense, still espionage
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
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-1prose0bleak-1
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.
Same propulsive register, still one-man army
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
The Princess Bride
William Goldman1973
A farm boy seeks to rescue his true love from a prince. The story is presented as an abridged version of a fictional historical text.
propulsive → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
These Old Shades
Georgette Heyer1926
The Duke of Avon buys a young person in boy's clothing to use in a revenge plot. He soon discovers his new servant is a girl in disguise.
propulsive → wry
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Digital Fortress
Dan Brown1998
The NSA's code-breaking supercomputer encounters an unbreakable algorithm. A cryptographer and a professor race to find the kill code.
Same propulsive register, still techno-thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Six of Hearts
L.H. Cosway
A cynical office worker falls for a street performer who hides his true identity as a famous illusionist.
propulsive → playful
pace-1·prose+1·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-1prose+1bleak+2
Never
Ken Follett2021
Global leaders and intelligence officers struggle to prevent a series of small international incidents from escalating into a nuclear world war.
propulsive → tense, still techno-thriller
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
- 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
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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
- 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
