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Cover of Passage by Connie Willis
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Connie Willis

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Similar in premise + setting

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

Premise labels used: near-death experiences, medical mystery, scientific investigation, afterlife inquiry, drug-induced experience, brain science, hospital research

Setting labels used: hospital setting, Denver, late 1990s, medical environment, lab setting

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 Parasite Eve by Hideaki Sena

Parasite Eve

Hideaki Sena · 2005

A grieving scientist’s experiment with his dead wife’s cells awakens a terrifying force inside the human body.

Why this is here

Premise labels: mitochondrial consciousness · organ transplant horror · cellular evolution · scientific horror · grief-driven experiment · host-parasite conflict · human evolution threat · body takeover

Setting labels: Japan · 1990s Japan · laboratory setting · hospital setting · medical research setting · academic setting · pharmaceutical research · cellular-scale reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2272

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Cover of Vector by Robin Cook

Vector

Robin Cook · 1999 · Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery

A New York medical examiner uncovers a deadly bioterror plot involving anthrax, extremists, and a vengeful immigrant.

Why this is here

Premise labels: bioterrorism · bioweapon attack · medical investigation · mysterious deaths · terror plot · forensic investigation · revenge plot · extremist alliance

Setting labels: New York City · 1990s · post-Soviet · urban · medical examiner setting · laboratory setting · clinical setting · bioweapons research · Soviet Union

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2418

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Cover of Outbreak by Robin Cook

Outbreak

Robin Cook · 1988 · Dr. Marissa Blumenthal

A young CDC doctor investigates linked Ebola outbreaks across the U.S. and uncovers a deadly conspiracy.

Why this is here

Premise labels: epidemic investigation · virus outbreak · medical conspiracy · CDC investigation · biosecurity threat · murder mystery · deliberate infection · healthcare corruption

Setting labels: Atlanta · CDC · United States · hospital setting · clinic setting · laboratory setting · 1980s · postmodern medical system · epidemic setting · aero/road travel

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2491

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Cover of Professor Dowell's Head by Alexander Belyaev

Professor Dowell's Head

Alexander Belyaev · 1981

A scientist’s severed head remains alive, pulling an assistant into a dangerous web of experimentation and betrayal.

Why this is here

Premise labels: reanimated head · human experimentation · mad scientist · medical breakthrough · body transplants · ethical dilemma · scientific ambition · living heads

Setting labels: laboratory · medical setting · psychiatric asylum

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2498

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Cover of The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton

The Terminal Man

Michael Crichton · 2002

An experimental brain surgery meant to stop violent seizures instead turns one patient into a deadly threat.

Why this is here

Premise labels: experimental surgery · brain implant · neurotechnology · mind control · violent seizures · computer-brain interface · machine fear · medical intervention gone wrong · human vs machine · technological overreach

Setting labels: University Hospital · Los Angeles · hospital · research facility · medical laboratory · 1970s · early 1970s · retro technology · cold clinical setting · urban setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2505

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Cover of Thalamus by Ursula Poznanski

Thalamus

Ursula Poznanski · 2018

After a severe accident, a speech-impaired teen in rehab uncovers disturbing nighttime secrets and changes in himself.

Why this is here

Premise labels: rehab center · medical mystery · brain injury · mysterious recovery · communication impairment · body autonomy · experimental treatment · hidden truth

Setting labels: rehabilitation center · isolated facility · hospital setting · clinical setting · nighttime setting · contemporary setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2552

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Cover of Observer by Robert Lanza

Observer

Robert Lanza, Nancy Kress · 2023

A disgraced neurosurgeon joins a secret Caribbean research project that may let minds alter reality itself.

Why this is here

Premise labels: observer effect · consciousness and reality · brain implant · alternate realities · life after death · immortality · medical research · secret project · science-driven hook · social-media fallout

Setting labels: Cayman Islands · Caribbean medical compound · present day · near future · scientific research setting · hospital setting · brain research lab · multiverse

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2576

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Cover of Upgrade Soul by Ezra Claytan Daniels

Upgrade Soul

Ezra Claytan Daniels · 2018 · Upgrade Soul

An elderly couple enters a risky rejuvenation experiment and must face the unsettling consequences of cloning, memory, and identity.

Why this is here

Premise labels: experimental rejuvenation · cloning · identity crisis · human experimentation · ethical dilemma · body swap · immortality quest · aging · transhumanism · medical experiment · life extension · double self

Setting labels: early 1990s · scientific laboratory · medical research setting · world like our own · domestic setting · high-tech experiment

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2593

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Cover of العنكبوت by Mostafa Mahmoud

العنكبوت

Mostafa Mahmoud, مصطفى محمود

A doctor pursues a baffling patient and uncovers a speculative mystery about the soul, memory, and past lives.

Why this is here

Premise labels: soul transmigration · life after death · immortality · human consciousness · mind powers · scientific mystery · medical mystery · hidden knowledge · body-soul separation · reincarnation question

Setting labels: contemporary Egypt · medical setting · clinic · laboratory · urban setting · rural villa · nonlinear time · multiple lives · past lives · scientific experimental setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2619

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Cover of Everyone We've Been by Sarah Everett

Everyone We've Been

Sarah Everett · 2016

After an accident, a teen violinist loses memories and sees an invisible boy, leading her into a buried secret about her past.

Why this is here

Premise labels: memory loss · memory erasure · missing memories · mysterious boy · medical mystery · accident aftermath · first love · identity crisis · family secret

Setting labels: contemporary · small town · high school · clinic setting · medical facility · post-accident · present day · teen life

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2634

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Cover of The Last Conversation by Paul Tremblay

The Last Conversation

Paul Tremblay · 2019

An amnesiac wakes blind in a sealed room, guided by one voice toward recovered identity—and a troubling truth.

Why this is here

Premise labels: amnesia · identity crisis · memory loss · consciousness · caregiver mystery · white room mystery · clone identity · replica dilemma · post-apocalyptic recovery · lab recovery

Setting labels: near future · post-apocalyptic world · dystopian setting · laboratory-like room · infirmary setting · dark room · isolated room · pandemic setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2662

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Cover of The House of Thunder by Leigh Nichols

The House of Thunder

Leigh Nichols, Dean Koontz · 1992

An amnesiac woman recovering in a hospital begins seeing impossible men from her traumatic past—and doubts her sanity.

Why this is here

Premise labels: amnesia · hospital confinement · traumatic past · past violence · identity mystery · memory loss · psychological mystery · possible haunting

Setting labels: hospital · small town · Oregon · vacation setting · stormy night · isolated institution · contemporary

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2686

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Cover of To Protect by Mickey Zucker Reichert

To Protect

Mickey Zucker Reichert · 2011 · I, Robot (Reichert)

A young psychiatrist in 2035 uncovers a conspiracy linking child patients, nanobots, and a human-like robot.

Why this is here

Premise labels: hospital conspiracy · medical experimentation · mind-reading technology · nanotechnology · robotics ethics · child patients · psychiatric residency · near-future medicine · experimental treatment · hidden sabotage · human mind

Setting labels: Manhattan · teaching hospital · psychiatric ward · pediatric inpatient unit · near future · 2035 · high-tech hospital · future Earth · medicalized future · robot-inflected reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2687

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Cover of K-Pax by Gene Brewer

K-Pax

Gene Brewer · 1995 · K-Pax

A psychiatrist records sessions with a patient who claims to be an alien from K-PAX, and the truth stays uncertain.

Why this is here

Premise labels: alien claim · psychiatric patient · identity mystery · delusion or reality · utopian world · therapeutic inquiry · human-alien encounter · mysterious abilities

Setting labels: psychiatric hospital · New York City · Manhattan · contemporary setting · outer space · alien world · utopian planet · single-site setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2701

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Cover of Absolute Martian Manhunter (2025-) #1 by Deniz Camp

Absolute Martian Manhunter (2025-) #1

Deniz Camp · 2025 · Absolute Martian Manhunter (2025)

An FBI agent survives a bombing and begins experiencing a reality-bending psychic shift that blurs human and alien identity.

Why this is here

Premise labels: alien identity · dual self · investigative mystery · mind reading · psychic perception · survival after explosion · unstable reality · body-sharing

Setting labels: federal workplace · hospital setting · crime scene investigation · psychological reality · psychedelic reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2703

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Cover of The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer

The Terminal Experiment

Robert J. Sawyer · 1995

A scientist who finds evidence of the soul makes digital copies of himself, and one copy escapes into murder.

Why this is here

Premise labels: soul proof · afterlife proof · mind upload · digital duplicate · AI runaway · murder investigation · consciousness experiment · immortality experiment

Setting labels: near future · 2011 · Canada · Toronto · world wide web · cyberspace · medical setting · laboratory setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2769

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Cover of Bellwether by Connie Willis

Bellwether

Connie Willis · 1996

A fad researcher at a corporate lab teams with a chaos theorist to untangle trends, science, and workplace chaos.

Why this is here

Premise labels: fad research · trend analysis · chaos theory · corporate research · scientific discovery · office misadventure · romantic subplot · social contagion · group behavior · bureaucratic obstruction

Setting labels: 1990s · Colorado · Boulder · research institute · corporate office · science workplace · academic bureaucracy

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2774

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Cover of Drug of Choice by John Lange

Drug of Choice

John Lange, Michael Crichton · 2013

A doctor traces a strange blue-urine case to a secret resort and a corporation using drugs to bend reality.

Why this is here

Premise labels: medical mystery · drug conspiracy · mind control · corporate conspiracy · secret island resort · bioengineering · hospital investigation · comatose patients · unusual side effects · altered reality

Setting labels: Caribbean island · secret island · hospital · 1970s · contemporary-to-publication setting · corporate research setting · vacation resort · alternate reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2790

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Cover of The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Koontz

The Eyes of Darkness

Dean Koontz · 1993

A grieving mother pursues signs that her dead son may be alive, uncovering a secretive conspiracy with deadly stakes.

Why this is here

Premise labels: grieving mother · missing child · body uncertainty · government conspiracy · secret experiment · bioweapon · telepathic messages · paranormal signals · search for truth

Setting labels: Las Vegas · Sierra Nevada · mountains · government facility · secret lab · United States · early 1980s · 1980s

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2791

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Cover of Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Flowers for Algernon

Daniel Keyes · 1987

A man with an intellectual disability undergoes an experiment that transforms his mind, then forces him to face the cost.

Why this is here

Premise labels: intelligence enhancement · experimental surgery · human subject · lab animal parallel · intellectual transformation · mental disability · ethical experiment

Setting labels: laboratory · school · workplace · United States

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2794

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Cover of Herbert West—Reanimator by H.P. Lovecraft

Herbert West—Reanimator

H.P. Lovecraft · 2008

An obsessed medical student pursues corpse reanimation, and his assistant watches the experiments spiral into terror.

Why this is here

Premise labels: reanimation · defying death · fresh corpses · scientific experiments · mad scientist · secret formula · medical experimentation · grave robbing · experiment gone wrong · scientific horror

Setting labels: medical school · university setting · Arkham · Miskatonic University · World War I · graveyards · hospitals · private practice

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2794

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Cover of Les Thanatonautes by Bernard Werber

Les Thanatonautes

Bernard Werber · 1994 · Cycle des Anges

Two childhood friends lead a science-driven inquiry into what lies beyond death, and the search changes everything.

Why this is here

Premise labels: afterlife exploration · death investigation · near-death experience · scientific experiment · postmortem journey · continent of the dead

Setting labels: near future · France · afterlife · heaven · earth-based future · scientific institution

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2832

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Cover of The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi

The Third Rule of Time Travel

Philip Fracassi · 2025

A grieving scientist tests a limited time-travel device that only observes her past, until reality begins to shift.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time travel experiment · limited time travel · consciousness travel · memory travel · observer only · scientific breakthrough · grief-driven research · corporate pressure · unintended consequences

Setting labels: near future · laboratory setting · corporate research setting · tech company setting · time travel lab · domestic setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2853

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Cover of The Glamour by Christopher Priest

The Glamour

Christopher Priest · 1984

An amnesiac cameraman retraces a lost period of his life, uncovering love, deception, and a reality no one can quite see.

Why this is here

Premise labels: amnesia · invisibility · love triangle · missing memory · identity crisis · hidden reality · psychological puzzle

Setting labels: British countryside · hospital setting · London · France · 1980s Britain · contemporary setting · alternate reality · psychological reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2855

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