After
The Eye of Heaven
Clive Cussler2014
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Typhoon fury
Clive Cussler2017
Juan Cabrillo and his crew discover a plot involving stolen art and a drug that creates super-soldiers. They must stop a Filipino insurgency.
playful → propulsive, still adventure
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak0
The Secret of Chimneys
Agatha Christie1925
A drifter delivers a manuscript to London and becomes the target of an international conspiracy involving a missing prince and a master thief.
Same playful register, still adventure
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak0
Borrower of the night
Elizabeth Peters1973
Art historian Vicky Bliss travels to a German castle to find a 16th-century woodcarving. She competes with a colleague to solve the puzzle.
Same playful register, still treasure hunt
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Hard eight
Janet Evanovich2002
A bounty hunter searches for a missing mother and child while navigating a love triangle and a dangerous criminal. It is a humorous mystery.
Same playful register, still action
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Secondhand Spirits
Juliet Blackwell2009
A vintage shop owner who can feel the history of clothes uses her magic to solve a murder. She must find a killer while hiding her identity.
Same playful register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+3bleak+2
My Name Is Red
Orhan Pamuk
In 1591 Istanbul, miniaturists investigate a colleague's murder. Objects and colors narrate chapters alongside the human characters.
playful → meditative
pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+3bleak+2
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.
playful → cold
pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
Same playful register
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+3bleak+2
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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+3bleak+3
American Psycho
Bret Easton Ellis1991
A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.
playful → cold
pace-1·prose+3·bleak+3
Faster
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Typhoon fury
Clive Cussler2017
Juan Cabrillo and his crew discover a plot involving stolen art and a drug that creates super-soldiers. They must stop a Filipino insurgency.
playful → propulsive, still adventure
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Gone Tomorrow
Lee Child2008
Jack Reacher witnesses a suicide on a New York subway, leading him into a conspiracy involving Al-Qaeda and the Pentagon.
playful → propulsive, still action
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose+1bleak+1
The Nowhere Man
Gregg Hurwitz2016
A former government assassin is kidnapped by a human trafficking ring. He must escape a high-security compound using his specialized combat training.
playful → propulsive, still action
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+1bleak+1
The Bourne Ultimatum
Robert Ludlum1990
A retired assassin is drawn out of hiding to face his rival, a terrorist known as the Jackal, in a global pursuit.
playful → propulsive, still action
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Hard eight
Janet Evanovich2002
A bounty hunter searches for a missing mother and child while navigating a love triangle and a dangerous criminal. It is a humorous mystery.
Same playful register, still action
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
Slower
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
Same playful register
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+3bleak+2
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.
playful → dreamlike
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+3bleak+2
Moby Dick
Herman Melville1851
A sailor joins a whaling voyage led by a captain seeking revenge on a specific whale. Large sections digress into the mechanics of 1850s whaling.
playful → meditative, still adventure
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+3bleak0
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.
Same playful register
pace-2·prose+3·bleak0
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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.
Same playful register
pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace-1prose+3bleak+3
American Psycho
Bret Easton Ellis1991
A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.
playful → cold
pace-1·prose+3·bleak+3
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
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.
playful → tense
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+3
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.
playful → clinical
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+3
- pace0prose+2bleak+3
Lord of the Flies
William Golding1954
Schoolboys are stranded on an island and try to organize a society. Order collapses into tribalism and violence.
playful → tense
pace0·prose+2·bleak+3
