After
Tom Clancy's True Faith and Allegiance: INSPIRATION FOR THE THRILLING AMAZON PRIME SERIES JACK RYAN
Mark Greaney1950
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing faster
More like it
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Deception Point
Dan Brown2001
An intelligence analyst is sent to the Arctic to verify a NASA discovery. She finds evidence of a hoax that threatens the presidential election.
Same propulsive register, still techno-thriller
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
White plague
James Abel2015
A doctor races to rescue a burning submarine in the Arctic. He has thirty-six hours to save the crew before a foreign vessel arrives.
propulsive → tense, still techno-thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Shadow Watch
Tom Clancy1999
The director of a private space agency investigates the sabotage of a space station while a global conflict looms. It is a techno-thriller.
Same propulsive register, still techno-thriller
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Bloodline
James Rollins2012
A special ops team protects a pregnant woman from a global conspiracy involving a genetic secret. The action moves from Dubai to the jungle.
Same propulsive register, still techno-thriller
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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+2·bleak+2
To recover
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
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.
propulsive → wry, still conspiracy
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Dark Lover
J. R. Ward2005
A vampire king seeks revenge against the slayers who killed his parents while protecting a woman discovering her own supernatural heritage.
Same propulsive register
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Assistant to the Villain
Hannah Nicole Maehrer2023
A woman takes a job as an administrative assistant to a local villain to support her family. She manages his office while ignoring his evil deeds.
propulsive → playful
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Fearless Fourteen
Janet Evanovich2008
A bounty hunter searches for a missing bank robber while a stoner guards a cop's house. The plot involves a hidden nine-million-dollar fortune.
propulsive → playful
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
Big bad beast
Shelly Laurenston2011
A wolf-shifter Marine investigates a hybrid fighting ring while dealing with her persistent boss. It is a paranormal romance set in an urban world.
propulsive → playful
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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+2·bleak0
- pace-3prose+2bleak+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+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-3prose+2bleak-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+2·bleak-1
- pace-3prose+2bleak0
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+2·bleak0
- pace-3prose+2bleak+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+2·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace-1prose0bleak+2
Never
Ken Follett2021
Global leaders and intelligence officers struggle to prevent a series of small international incidents from escalating into a nuclear world war.
propulsive → tense, still techno-thriller
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak+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·prose0·bleak+2
- pace-2prose+1bleak+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+1·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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+1·bleak+2
