Find similar books by
Combine common axes
These books are ranked using the setting labels extracted for The Straw Men.
Setting labels used: Montana, California, Pennsylvania, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, contemporary, global scope, small-town to national scale, modern society, fictional reality
This does not mean the books share the same plot, setting, quality, or difficulty. It means their setting embeddings are close.
An amnesiac’s nightly disappearances pull two private investigators into a dark, supernatural case with a deadly family secret.
Why this is here
Setting labels: California · Los Angeles · urban setting · 1990s · contemporary setting · multilocational travel · otherworldly places · dark fictional reality
Semantic match: ranked by setting
Distance: 0.1874
A queer Hollywood screenwriter fights a studio's demands and is hunted by his own creations in a meta horror thriller.
Why this is here
Setting labels: Hollywood · film industry · television industry · Los Angeles · Montana · near-future · contemporary · show business
Semantic match: ranked by setting
Distance: 0.1920
A struggling actor’s life spirals when a mysterious self-help audiobook starts speaking back and steering him off course.
Why this is here
Setting labels: Los Angeles · Hollywood · Silicon Valley · gig economy · wealthy neighborhood · contemporary · modern life
Semantic match: ranked by setting
Distance: 0.1938
A small-town sheriff’s death inquiry leads to a hidden tech project, strange realities, and an AI-shaped crisis.
Why this is here
Setting labels: California · Sierra Nevada · Silicon Valley · small town · mountain wilderness · futuristic near-future · parallel universe · contemporary
Semantic match: ranked by setting
Distance: 0.1948
A dead-letter clerk uncovers a hidden power and triggers a surreal, apocalyptic struggle over dreams and reality.
Why this is here
Setting labels: Omaha · New Mexico · California · small town · suburbia · Hollywood · modern America · dream sea · other dimension · liminal space · metaphysical realm · crossroads
Semantic match: ranked by setting
Distance: 0.1956
Fourteen darkly funny, unsettling stories follow alienated misfits, bodily disgust, and failed attempts at connection.
Why this is here
Setting labels: contemporary America · urban setting · New York · Los Angeles · small town · working class setting · middle class setting · everyday realism · grounded realism · slightly surreal
Semantic match: ranked by setting
Distance: 0.1978
A woman races to save a disabled girl from abusive guardians while a strange boy and his dog flee across America.
Why this is here
Setting labels: California · cross-country · trailer park · road trip · small communities · contemporary · earthbound science fiction · urban and rural mix · modern America
Semantic match: ranked by setting
Distance: 0.2009
A near-future cyberattack cripples food and infrastructure systems, sending multiple survivors into a rapid societal collapse.
Why this is here
Setting labels: near future · present-day United States · global scale · urban setting · supercities · Washington DC · San Francisco · international setting · realistic fictional reality · crisis setting
Semantic match: ranked by setting
Distance: 0.2041
Four loosely linked novellas twist memory, weather, guns, and survival into unsettling, high-concept horror.
Why this is here
Setting labels: 1980s · American settings · Silicon Valley · Boulder, Colorado · Colorado · coastal Florida · mall · suburban town · post-apocalyptic world · contemporary America · small town · skyborne setting · alternate reality
Semantic match: ranked by setting
Distance: 0.2106
A career-spanning Ray Bradbury story collection mixing strange, nostalgic, dark, and whimsical tales across decades.
Why this is here
Setting labels: mid-century America · not-so-distant past · unknown future · small-town America · Midwest · Southern US · California · space setting · rural setting · Hollywood
Semantic match: ranked by setting
Distance: 0.2139
Six teens discover their parents are secret supervillains and run away together to survive, resist, and uncover the truth.
Why this is here
Setting labels: contemporary · Los Angeles · suburban wealth · secret society · superhero reality
Semantic match: ranked by setting
Distance: 0.2175
A social media influencer and a secret agent team up after a UFO sighting sparks a government mystery—and chemistry.
Why this is here
Setting labels: Los Angeles · contemporary · modern day · social media age · government office · mountains · public internet · extraterrestrial reality · spy-movie world
Semantic match: ranked by setting
Distance: 0.2192
