LitQueuelitqueue

After

Rosemary’s Baby

Ira Levin2013

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Fifty Mice

    Daniel Pyne2014

    A man is snatched from his life and placed in a remote witness protection facility. He must determine if he is being hidden or imprisoned.

    Same tense register, still paranoia

    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.

    tense → cold

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    tense → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Ace of Hearts

    Chantal Fernando2018

    A woman finds herself drawn to a member of a motorcycle club after a chance encounter leads to a series of dates.

    tense → propulsive

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Overdue Life of Amy Byler

    Kelly Harms2019

    An overworked single mother takes a summer break in New York City for a makeover and a dating life. She rediscovers her identity apart from her kids.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Redshirts

    John Scalzi2012

    Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

tense → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • Behind Closed Doors

    B.A. Paris2016

    A woman is held captive by her husband in a high-security home. She must find a way to escape before her sister moves in with them.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Kiss the Girls

    James Patterson1995

    Detective Alex Cross tracks two serial killers operating on opposite coasts who are communicating and competing with one another.

    Same tense register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • Verity

    Colleen Hoover2018

    A ghostwriter moves into a secluded estate to finish a series for an injured author and finds a hidden, disturbing autobiography.

    Same tense register

    pace+1·prose-1·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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-2

  • 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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

    Patrick Süskind

    In 18th-century France, a man with a genius sense of smell murders women to capture their scents. The prose is detached and sensory.

    tense → cold, still psychological horror

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Full Brutal

    Kristopher Triana2018

    A popular high school student commits increasingly depraved acts of violence and manipulation. The story follows her total moral collapse.

    tense → bleak, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • In the Miso Soup

    Ryū Murakami2003

    A nightlife guide leads an American tourist through Tokyo's red-light district. He begins to suspect his client is a violent serial killer.

    Same tense register, still psychological horror

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1