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Sacrifices

Pierre Lemaitre2012

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Camille

    Pierre Lemaitre2015

    After his partner is attacked during a robbery, Commandant Camille Verhoeven seeks vengeance. He operates outside the law to protect her.

    Same tense register, still noir

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Trainspotting

    Irvine Welsh1993

    A group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh navigate poverty, violence, and withdrawal. The narrative uses heavy phonetic Scottish dialect.

    tense → sardonic, still noir

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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

tense → propulsive, still thriller

3 more ↓

  • The Lost Symbol

    Dan Brown2009

    Symbologist Robert Langdon follows a trail of Masonic puzzles through Washington D.C. monuments to save his kidnapped mentor.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Festive in Death

    J.D. Robb2014

    Detective Eve Dallas investigates the murder of a personal trainer in a futuristic New York during the Christmas season.

    tense → propulsive, still police procedural

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Memory Man

    David Baldacci2015

    A detective with a brain injury that prevents him from forgetting anything hunts for the person who murdered his family.

    tense → propulsive, still thriller

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • Mind prey

    John Sandford1995

    Detective Lucas Davenport hunts a kidnapper who records his victims' terror. The story alternates between the investigator and the criminal.

    Same tense register, still thriller

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Persuader

    Lee Child2003

    Jack Reacher goes undercover to infiltrate a drug kingpin's coastal estate. He seeks revenge for a colleague murdered ten years prior.

    tense → propulsive, still thriller

    pace+1·prose-1·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.

    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

tense → bleak, still noir

3 more ↓

  • Acid Test

    Elmer Mendoza2016

    Detective Lefty Mendieta investigates the murder of a stripper in Mexico. The case leads him into the violent conflict between narcos and the state.

    tense → sardonic, still noir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • A killing winter

    Tom Callaghan2015

    Inspector Akyl Borubaev investigates a series of murders in the Kyrgyz capital. The setting is a corrupt, freezing post-Soviet landscape.

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

    Horace McCoy1935

    Two strangers enter a grueling 1930s dance marathon for prize money. The narrative is framed by a murder trial.

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1