After
Pursuit
Thomas Perry2001
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster
More like it
Same propulsive register, still thriller
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Gone
James Patterson2013
A drug lord escapes prison and hunts Detective Michael Bennett, who is hiding in the California woods with his ten children.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Baptism
Max Kinnings2012
A blind hostage negotiator manages a crisis involving a hijacked London Underground train and a series of related murders.
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak0
The Watchman
Robert Crais2007
A bodyguard takes a witness into the Los Angeles underworld to hide from assassins. He enlists a private investigator to help them survive.
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Extreme Prey
John Sandford2016
While working on a presidential campaign, Lucas Davenport tracks an armed man planning to assassinate the governor.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Anonymous sources
Mary Louise Kelly2013
A journalist follows a lead from a student's death in London to a nuclear conspiracy in Washington. She uses her social access to gather intel.
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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+2·bleak+2
To recover
Same propulsive register, still thriller
- pace-1prose-1bleak-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.
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown2009
Symbologist Robert Langdon follows a trail of Masonic puzzles through Washington D.C. monuments to save his kidnapped mentor.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Fast & loose
Stuart Woods2017
Wealthy investigator Stone Barrington deals with a hostile family after a boating accident. He manages legal and financial assets in Maine.
propulsive → playful, still crime
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
The Chef
James Patterson2019
A New Orleans police detective who moonlights as a food truck chef is framed for murder. He must clear his name while uncovering a conspiracy.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace0prose-1bleak-1
Ghost Ship
Clive Cussler2014
Kurt Austin survives a yacht sinking but suffers from conflicting memories. He investigates a global cybercrime conspiracy to find the truth.
Same propulsive register
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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+2·bleak0
- pace-3prose+2bleak+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+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+2bleak-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+2·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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+2·bleak0
- pace-3prose+2bleak+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+2·bleak+1
Heavier
propulsive → bleak, still crime
- pace-1prose0bleak+2
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.
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+1bleak+2
2666
Roberto Bolaño2004
Five interconnected stories center on a series of unsolved murders in a Mexican border town and a reclusive German author.
pace-2·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace-1prose0bleak+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.
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
The Virgin Suicides
Jeffrey Eugenides
A group of neighborhood boys obsessively observes five sisters in 1970s Michigan. They document the girls' lives leading up to their suicides.
propulsive → tense, still crime
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2