Books like Complicity

A drug-fueled, politically charged descent into the darkest corners of justice and moral decay. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Complicity.

gritty
paranoid
claustrophobic
drug-fueled

01
Matter
Banks, Iain M.
A sprawling, awe-inspiring space opera that plunges you into the dizzying depths of an artificial world where feudal politics collide with god-like technology.
Shares:
- cynical
02
Whit
Iain Banks
A wry, culture-clash journey of a sheltered cult member navigating the bewildering landscape of Nineties Britain while her worldview slowly unravels.
Feels:
- quirky
- disorienting
- questioning
03
Surface Detail
Iain M. Banks
A sprawling, darkly funny, and brutally philosophical space opera that asks what happens when a utopian society goes to war against the concept of Hell.
Shares:
- darkly comedic
04
Filth
Irvine Welsh
A hilariously repulsive, drug-addled plunge into the mind of Scotland's worst police officer.
Shares:
- claustrophobic
- cynical
05
The Wasp Factory
Iain Banks
A chilling, darkly comic descent into the meticulously ordered mind of an isolated teenage psychopath.
Shares:
- claustrophobic
06
Mortal Causes
Ian Rankin
A dread-soaked descent into the subterranean shadows of a bustling city, where ancient grudges threaten to ignite modern mayhem.
Shares:
- gritty
- claustrophobic
- cynical
07
Porno
Irvine Welsh
A grimy, high-octane reunion of aging degenerates scheming their way through the sleazy underbelly of Edinburgh.
Shares:
- cynical
- darkly comedic
- unapologetic
08
The Falls
Ian Rankin
A rain-slicked descent into the hidden, obsessive corners of a historic city, guided by a brilliantly flawed detective.
Shares:
- gritty
- cynical
09
Halting State
Charles Stross · 2007
A wry, hyper-connected near-future procedural that drops you directly into the driver's seat of a virtual bank heist.
Shares:
- paranoid
- cynical
10
The blackhouse
Peter May
A bleak, windswept descent into an isolated island community where the landscape is as unforgiving as the past.
Shares:
- gritty
- claustrophobic
11
Rule 34
Charles Stross
A darkly comedic, second-person plunge into the bizarre and paranoid underbelly of near-future internet policing.
Shares:
- gritty
- paranoid
- claustrophobic
- cynical
12
Under the skin
Michel Faber
A masterclass in creeping dread that slowly peels back the mundane to reveal something profoundly alien and devastating.
Shares:
- claustrophobic

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