After
The Firm
John Grisham1991
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster
More like it
Same propulsive register, still legal thriller
- pace-1prose0bleak0
King and Maxwell
David Baldacci2013
Two former Secret Service agents investigate a soldier's claim that his father, a presumed traitor, is alive. They uncover a government conspiracy.
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Truth or die
James Patterson
An attorney investigates his girlfriend's death after she uncovers a global secret. He teams up with a teenage hacker to find the truth.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
The Client
John Grisham1993
An eleven-year-old boy witnesses a lawyer's suicide and learns a mob secret. He hires a novice lawyer to protect him from the FBI and the mafia.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
The Case of the Reluctant Model
Erle Stanley Gardner1962
Perry Mason defends a model framed for the murder of an art dealer after she becomes entangled in a scheme involving a forged Gauguin painting.
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Turbulence
Stuart Woods2018
Stone Barrington encounters a corrupt politician during a Florida hurricane. The plot involves international schemes and high-stakes aviation.
propulsive → sardonic, still legal thriller
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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+3·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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+3·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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+3·bleak+1
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
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+3·bleak0
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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+3·bleak+2
To recover
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
The Rooster Bar
John Grisham2017
Three law students realize their school is a scam and drop out to pose as lawyers. They steal identities to survive and pay off their debts.
propulsive → sardonic, still legal thriller
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000
L. Ron Hubbard2000
A human survivor leads a rebellion against the Psychlos, an alien race that has strip-mined Earth for a thousand years.
Same propulsive register
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
The case of the fiery fingers
Erle Stanley Gardner1951
Perry Mason defends a nurse accused of theft and poison. The case hinges on forensic evidence involving ultraviolet light and aspirin tablets.
propulsive → wry, still legal thriller
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Serpent
Clive Cussler1999
Kurt Austin investigates a conspiracy involving a sunken luxury liner and pre-Columbian artifacts. It is a fast-paced maritime adventure.
Same propulsive register, still conspiracy
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
Open and shut
David Rosenfelt2002
A sarcastic defense attorney takes on a death row appeal while caring for his golden retriever. He uncovers secrets about his own father's past.
propulsive → wry, still legal thriller
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
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+3·bleak0
- pace-3prose+3bleak+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+3·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+3bleak-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+3·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+3bleak0
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+3·bleak0
- pace-3prose+3bleak+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+3·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace-2prose+3bleak+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+3·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
propulsive → tense
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak+2
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.
propulsive → clinical
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Lord of the Flies
William Golding1954
Schoolboys are stranded on an island and try to organize a society. Order collapses into tribalism and violence.
propulsive → tense
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
