LitQueuelitqueue

After

Shell Game

Carol O'Connell

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Force of Nature

    Jane Harper2018

    Five women go on a corporate hiking retreat, but only four return. Federal Agent Aaron Falk investigates the conflicting accounts of the survivors.

    cold → tense, still police procedural

    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.

    cold → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    cold → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Niccolò Rising

    Dorothy Dunnett1986

    A dyer’s apprentice in 15th-century Bruges uses his intellect to navigate the world of international trade. He builds a mercantile empire.

    cold → wry

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

cold → playful

3 more ↓

  • She Went All the Way

    Meg Cabot2002

    A screenwriter and an actor survive a helicopter crash in the Alaskan wilderness and must hike to safety while being pursued by a killer.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Mile High

    Liz Tomforde2023

    A professional hockey player and a flight attendant clash on the team's private plane during a season-long road trip.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Behind the Net

    Stephanie Archer2024

    A former musician becomes the live-in assistant for a professional hockey goalie she knew in high school.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • UNSUB

    Meg Gardiner2017

    A narcotics detective joins a task force to catch a serial killer who obsessed her father twenty years earlier. The killer uses cryptic codes.

    cold → propulsive, still police procedural

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • Never Lie

    Freida McFadden2022

    A couple trapped in a blizzard at a missing psychiatrist's estate find hidden tapes of her sessions. The story alternates between past and present.

    cold → propulsive, still psychological thriller

    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.

    cold → tense, still psychological 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.

    cold → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    cold → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    cold → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

Heavier

cold → bleak, still police procedural

3 more ↓

  • Shadow Man

    Cody McFadyen2006

    An FBI agent with a traumatic past tracks a serial killer who targets families. The narrative details extreme physical and psychological torture.

    cold → tense, still police procedural

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • The Push

    Ashley Audrain2021

    A mother suspects her daughter is a sociopath while her husband dismisses her. The story follows her descent into isolation and maternal dread.

    cold → tense, still psychological thriller

    pace0·prose0·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.

    cold → tense, still psychological thriller

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2