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After

The Stranger Diaries

Elly Griffiths2018

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still mystery

1 more ↓

  • Flashback

    Nevada Barr2003

    A park ranger takes a post at a remote island fortress. She uncovers secrets in the present and from the site's history as a Civil War prison.

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Hot mahogany

    Stuart Woods2008

    A lawyer guards a former spy with amnesia who restores antique furniture. They uncover a conspiracy linked to the man's service in Vietnam.

    tense → wry, still mystery

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • This Girl

    Colleen Hoover2013

    A husband retells the story of his early relationship to his wife. It uses dual timelines to revisit events from the first book in the series.

    tense → earnest

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Score

    Elle Kennedy2016

    A college senior has a one-night stand with a hockey player to get over a breakup. They continue the arrangement as graduation approaches.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

tense → propulsive, still mystery

3 more ↓

  • Ten Big Ones

    Janet Evanovich2004

    Stephanie Plum witnesses a gang hit and becomes a target herself. She balances the threat with her ongoing romantic indecision.

    tense → playful, still mystery

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Private Vegas

    James Patterson2015

    Jack Morgan investigates a man who trains women to become killers in Las Vegas. The story follows multiple perspectives in short chapters.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • Pines

    Blake Crouch2012

    A Secret Service agent searches for missing colleagues in an Idaho town he cannot leave. The townspeople and physics itself seem to work against him.

    Same tense register, still mystery

    pace+1·prose-1·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.

    tense → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Picnic at Hanging Rock

    Joan Lindsay1970

    Several schoolgirls and a teacher vanish during a Valentine's Day outing in 1900. The story follows the aftermath and the search for answers.

    tense → dreamlike, still mystery

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    tense → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓