LitQueuelitqueue

After

The October List

Jeffery Deaver2013

5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster

More like it

Same propulsive register, still thriller

1 more ↓

  • 15 Seconds

    Andrew Gross2012

    A plastic surgeon is pulled over for a minor traffic violation that escalates into a murder charge. He goes on the run to clear his name.

    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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-3·prose+3·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.

    propulsive → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

  • 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

Same propulsive register, still thriller

3 more ↓

  • The Moving Finger

    Agatha Christie1942

    A pilot moves to a quiet village to recover from an injury. He and Miss Marple investigate a wave of anonymous, malicious letters.

    propulsive → wry

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Thus was Adonis murdered

    Sarah L. Caudwell1981

    A group of London barristers exchange letters to solve a murder committed during a holiday in Venice. An academic narrates the investigation.

    propulsive → wry

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Sea of Greed

    Clive Cussler2018

    Kurt Austin investigates the destruction of oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. The trail leads to a billionaire with a plan to end the oil age.

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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