Cover of De engelenmaker by Stefan Brijs

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Similar in premise + setting

These books are ranked using the premise + setting labels extracted for De engelenmaker. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Premise labels used: return home, small village, secret children, cloning, genetic experiment, scientist doctor, science vs religion, playing God, medical mystery, family secret

Setting labels used: small village, border village, Belgium, German border, Dutch border, 1980s, realist setting, provincial community, religious community

This does not mean the books share the same plot, setting, quality, or difficulty. It means their premise + setting embeddings are close.

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Cover of Doktor Ox'un Deneyi by Jules Verne

Doktor Ox'un Deneyi

Jules Verne · 2017

A mysterious scientist’s free lighting project secretly turns a tranquil town volatile through an unseen gas experiment.

Why this is here

Premise labels: mad scientist · secret experiment · small town · social experiment · free lighting project · gas experiment · scientific interference · human temperament

Setting labels: Flanders · small town · fictional town · 19th century · insular community · utopian village · provincial setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2566

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Cover of Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card

Lost Boys

Orson Scott Card · 1994

A Mormon family’s move to North Carolina brings everyday tensions, eerie friendships, and a slow-building threat to their young son.

Why this is here

Premise labels: missing children · family crisis · imaginary friends · child endangerment · small-town mystery · secret evil · parental fear

Setting labels: 1980s · early 1980s · North Carolina · small Southern town · suburban neighborhood · workplace setting · church community · household setting · real-world setting · contemporary setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2716

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Cover of The God Project by John Saul

The God Project

John Saul · 1983

In an 1980s small town, grieving parents uncover a secret genetic project tied to missing and endangered children.

Why this is here

Premise labels: missing children · child endangerment · genetic engineering · secret experiment · government conspiracy · medical conspiracy · scientific hubris · small-town panic · sudden infant death

Setting labels: small town · Massachusetts · 1980s · New England · contemporary 1980s setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2717

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Cover of Triskellion by Will Peterson

Triskellion

Will Peterson · 2008 · Triskellion

After a divorce, twins sent to rural England uncover a village secret tied to symbols, bees, and buried history.

Why this is here

Premise labels: twins · family secrets · small-town mystery · supernatural investigation · archaeological mystery · hidden history

Setting labels: English village · rural England · small town · old-world atmosphere · modern-and-ancient contrast · countryside · isolated community

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2825

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Cover of The Twilight Children by Gilbert Hernández

The Twilight Children

Gilbert Hernández · 2016

A mysterious orb and an enigmatic woman upend a seaside village, drawing in outsiders and unsettling local lives.

Why this is here

Premise labels: mysterious object · small-town disruption · alien visitation · child blindness · government investigation · magical realism · mystery

Setting labels: remote coastal village · Latin American village · seaside town · small town · contemporary setting · speculative reality · tropical setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2877

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Cover of Sunbirth by An Yu

Sunbirth

An Yu · 2025

In an isolated desert village, two sisters endure a fading sun, strange beacons, and a family mystery tied to their missing father.

Why this is here

Premise labels: vanishing sun · isolated village · sisterhood · family mystery · survival · quiet apocalypse · mysterious transformation · unknowable phenomenon

Setting labels: isolated village · desert settlement · lakeside town · small town · climate-collapse setting · speculative world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2948

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Cover of Bent Heavens by Daniel Kraus

Bent Heavens

Daniel Kraus · 2020

A grieving teen reopens her father’s alien hunt and finds the truth is far stranger—and darker—than anyone believed.

Why this is here

Premise labels: missing parent · alien abduction · small-town mystery · teen investigation · secret trap · captured alien · government conspiracy · family grief · revenge

Setting labels: small-town Iowa · rural Iowa · high school setting · woods · contemporary setting · school environment · present day

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2979

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Cover of Doctor Who: The Crawling Terror by Mike Tucker

Doctor Who: The Crawling Terror

Mike Tucker · 2014 · Doctor Who: New Series Adventures

The Doctor and Clara face giant insects in an isolated English village where WWII secrets and ancient stones collide.

Why this is here

Premise labels: giant insects · small village · isolation · ancient mystery · WWII secret · alien invasion · scientific experiment · zombie-like trance

Setting labels: small English village · English countryside · Wiltshire · Ringstone · WWII era · 1940s · present day · isolated location · stone circle · science park

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2998

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Cover of Masterminds by Gordon Korman

Masterminds

Gordon Korman · 2015 · Masterminds

A boy in a perfect New Mexico town uncovers a hidden experiment that makes him and his friends question everyone.

Why this is here

Premise labels: hidden conspiracy · isolated community · crime-free town · secret experiment · clones · criminal masterminds · truth discovery · parents are hiding something · escape plot · investigation

Setting labels: small town · isolated community · New Mexico · present day · utopian veneer · desert setting · controlled environment · secluded town · fictionalized contemporary reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3014

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Cover of Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold by Umar Turaki

Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold

Umar Turaki · 2022

A quarantined village’s children, spared by a color-draining plague, struggle to survive, reunite, and find hope.

Why this is here

Premise labels: mysterious plague · quarantine · survival · found family · young survivors · sibling journey · adult immunity · isolated community · search for cure

Setting labels: small village · isolated town · quarantine zone · barricaded community · Africa · Nigeria · fictional village · post-apocalyptic world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3048

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Cover of It Came From the Sky by Chelsea Sedoti

It Came From the Sky

Chelsea Sedoti · 2020

A teen science nerd and his prankster brother fake an alien invasion, and their small-town lie spirals wildly out of control.

Why this is here

Premise labels: alien hoax · science experiment gone wrong · small-town chaos · brother prank · cover-up · social experiment · fake alien invasion · mass belief

Setting labels: small town · Pennsylvania · family farm · high school · contemporary setting · real-world setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3055

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Cover of Seize the Night by Dean Koontz

Seize the Night

Dean Koontz · 2001 · Moonlight Bay

A light-shy man hunts for missing children in a secretive California town where a military base hides twisted science.

Why this is here

Premise labels: missing children · abandoned military base · genetic experiments · nocturnal protagonist · rare genetic disorder · secret research · small-town secrets · animal intelligence · time-travel experiment · kidnapping investigation

Setting labels: small town · California · coastal town · abandoned military base · underground laboratory · nighttime setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3061

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Cover of The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey

The Book of Guilt

Catherine Chidgey · 2025

In an alternate 1979 England, isolated triplet boys and a sheltered girl uncover the truth behind a hidden government scheme.

Why this is here

Premise labels: government experiment · children under control · secret program · orphanage mystery · alternate history Britain · mysterious illness · secluded girl · hidden origin

Setting labels: 1970s England · alternate reality · alternate Britain · post-war Britain · Hampshire countryside · New Forest · Exeter · seaside resort · institutional setting · children's home

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3063

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Cover of Brain Child by John Saul

Brain Child

John Saul · 1985

After experimental brain surgery revives a teen, he returns changed, and an old local vengeance begins to stir.

Why this is here

Premise labels: brain surgery · teen transformation · medical miracle · memory loss · emotionless protagonist · revenge curse · ancient vengeance · experimental science · small-town mystery · reanimated body

Setting labels: small town · California · 1980s · contemporary setting · historical backstory · local history · high school setting · suburban community

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3073

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Cover of Mothtown by Caroline Hardaker

Mothtown

Caroline Hardaker · 2023

A lonely boy grows up amid disappearances and family secrets, chasing clues to his grandfather and a possible other world.

Why this is here

Premise labels: missing persons · family secret · search for truth · alternate worlds · grief journey · identity crisis · belonging · unreliable reality

Setting labels: small town · hostile landscape · bleak setting · surreal landscape

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3075

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Cover of Swashbucklers by Dan Hanks

Swashbucklers

Dan Hanks · 2021

A middle-aged dad returns home and must relive a childhood monster battle when a pirate ghost threatens the town again.

Why this is here

Premise labels: childhood hero · forgotten past · small-town return · evil returns · parenthood · world saving · monster attacks · memory loss

Setting labels: small town · modern day · Christmas setting · 1980s nostalgia · England · Manchester · portal fantasy · alternate worlds · other realms · holiday setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3080

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Cover of The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman

The Obsidian Blade

Pete Hautman · 2012 · The Klaatu Diskos

A teen chases his missing parents through time portals that warp history, faith, and his family’s future.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time travel · family mystery · missing parents · portal travel · faith crisis · destiny · alternate realities

Setting labels: small-town Minnesota · rural America · future world · alternate reality · historical periods · religious community · postdigital future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3097

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Cover of The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham

The Midwich Cuckoos

John Wyndham · 1957

A quiet English village wakes to find all its women pregnant after a mysterious blackout, and the children are not ordinary.

Why this is here

Premise labels: alien invasion · brood parasitism · mass impregnation · hidden threat · small village

Setting labels: English village · rural England · 1950s England · post-war Britain · small-town setting · contained setting · Cold War context

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3133

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Cover of Flux by Jeremy Robinson

Flux

Jeremy Robinson · 2019 · Infinite

A security chief and stranded townspeople are hurled through time by repeating energy waves, fighting monsters to get home.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time travel · temporal anomaly · small-town survival · rescue mission · return home · family reunion · scientific experiment · alternate timeline · collective displacement

Setting labels: Appalachian mountains · Kentucky · small town · 1980s · multiple eras · prehistoric era · mythic landscape · contemporary setting · alternate timeline · single-location time fracture

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3146

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Cover of The Fountain by Casey Scieszka

The Fountain

Casey Scieszka · 2026

An immortal woman returns to the Catskills to undo her condition, but a hidden family secret and a land-buying company complicate her search.

Why this is here

Premise labels: immortality · fountain of youth · return home · search for a cure · reverse immortality · family secret · mysterious company · land grab · longevity research · small-town intrusion

Setting labels: Catskills · Hudson Valley · upstate New York · small town · rural community · forest · forest ranger setting · contemporary setting · multiple time periods · multi-century span · American Northeast · real-world with magical elements · magical realism setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3156

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Cover of The Tommyknockers by Stephen King

The Tommyknockers

Stephen King · 1993

A buried alien force in a Maine town slowly twists its residents, as two damaged friends dig toward the truth.

Why this is here

Premise labels: alien object · buried spaceship · small-town takeover · mysterious influence · mind control · body horror · invasive force · discovery turns dangerous

Setting labels: small town · rural community · Maine · woods · backyard discovery · isolated town · post-Cold War era · 1980s

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3165

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Cover of Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond

Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds

Gwenda Bond · 2019 · Stranger Things

A prequel to Stranger Things follows Terry Ives into a secret 1969 lab experiment behind Eleven’s origins.

Why this is here

Premise labels: government experiment · mind control · secret lab · test subjects · backstory prequel · conspiracy · psychic powers

Setting labels: 1960s · late 1960s · early 1970s · Indiana · college campus · remote lab · small town

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3174

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Cover of American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett

American Elsewhere

Robert Jackson Bennett · 2013

An ex-cop inherits a house in a hidden New Mexico town and uncovers a family mystery tangled with cosmic horrors.

Why this is here

Premise labels: inheritance mystery · small-town secrets · ex-cop protagonist · missing mother · hidden town · research-lab fallout · cosmic intrusion · otherworldly residents · family mystery · outsider enters closed community

Setting labels: New Mexico · small town · rural America · isolated town · desert setting · mesa setting · mountain town · post-1950s aesthetic · mid-century atmosphere · parallel reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3175

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Cover of The Dead of Summer by Ryan La Sala

The Dead of Summer

Ryan La Sala · 2025 · The Dead of Summer

When a queer teen returns to an island home, a hidden illness erupts into a surreal outbreak and a fight to survive.

Why this is here

Premise labels: return home · island secret · mysterious illness · outbreak survival · found family · government cover-up · queer community

Setting labels: small island · coastal Maine · summer setting · beach town · quarantine · isolated community · vacation island · queer haven · military ship

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.3179

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