LitQueuelitqueue

After

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Horace McCoy1935

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Dead and Gone

    Andrew Vachss2000

    After a hit squad kills his partner, an underground mercenary gets plastic surgery and hunts his attackers across the country.

    Same bleak register, still noir

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • My Name Is Red

    Orhan Pamuk

    In 1591 Istanbul, miniaturists investigate a colleague's murder. Objects and colors narrate chapters alongside the human characters.

    bleak → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-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.

    bleak → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-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.

    bleak → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • King of Pride

    Ana Huang2023

    A buttoned-up billionaire heir falls for an impulsive bartender while trying to secure a CEO position. They navigate a forbidden workplace romance.

    bleak → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-3

  • The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries

    Emily Brightwell1993

    A Victorian housekeeper and her staff secretly solve crimes for their employer, a clueless Scotland Yard inspector.

    bleak → playful

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-3

  • Royally Screwed

    Emma Chase2016

    A crown prince visiting Manhattan pursues a bakery worker who threw a pie at him. The story follows their class-clash courtship.

    bleak → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-3

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Plugged

    Eoin Colfer2011

    An Irish bouncer in New Jersey searches for his girlfriend's killer while being hunted by the mob. He is also recovering from a hair transplant.

    bleak → sardonic, still noir

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-2

  • Red Harvest

    Dashiell Hammett1929

    A private investigator arrives in a corrupt mining town and manipulates rival gangs into killing each other. The body count is high.

    bleak → cynical, still noir

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • The Da Vinci Code

    Dan Brown2003

    A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.

    bleak → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    bleak → cold, still noir

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

    John le Carré1963

    A British agent pretends to defect to East Germany to frame a high-ranking official. The focus is on the bureaucratic coldness of espionage.

    bleak → cold, still noir

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-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.

    bleak → dreamlike

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1