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Tea with the Black Dragon

R.A. MacAvoy

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Similar in premise + setting

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

Premise labels used: missing daughter, search quest, mysterious stranger, dragon in human form, computer crime, romantic suspense, truth seeking

Setting labels used: San Francisco, 1980s, early 1980s, Silicon Valley, urban setting, contemporary setting, hotel setting, Bay Area

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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The Expert of Subtle Revisions

Kirsten Menger-Anderson · 2025

A woman chasing her missing father is pulled into a dual-timeline mystery linking Wikipedia edits, Vienna academics, and time travel.

Why this is here

Premise labels: missing father · search quest · time travel device · academia under threat · intellectual circle · hidden history · identity search · rewriting history · family mystery

Setting labels: 2016 California · San Francisco Bay Area · Berkeley · 1930s Vienna · pre-WWII Europe · interwar period · academic setting · university setting · off-grid domestic life · boat dwelling

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2302

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The Bad Place

Dean Koontz · 1999

An amnesiac’s nightly disappearances pull two private investigators into a dark, supernatural case with a deadly family secret.

Why this is here

Premise labels: amnesia mystery · sleepwalking mystery · identity search · pursuit thriller · investigation case · supernatural threat · teleportation mystery · hidden family secret · killer on the loose · good vs evil · weird powers

Setting labels: California · Los Angeles · urban setting · 1990s · contemporary setting · multilocational travel · otherworldly places · dark fictional reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2456

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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: 0.2472

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The Perfect Wife

J.P. Delaney · 2019

A grieving tech CEO recreates his missing wife as an AI companion, but her memories uncover dangerous truths.

Why this is here

Premise labels: missing spouse · AI replica · robot wife · memory loss · marital deception · tech company · artificial intelligence · identity mystery · perfect family · cobot

Setting labels: Silicon Valley · tech company · robotics company · near future · contemporary setting · domestic setting · hospital · beach house · art studio

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2473

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Memoirs of an Invisible Man

H.F. Saint · 1987

An accident makes a New York securities analyst invisible, forcing him into a tense survival game against government agents.

Why this is here

Premise labels: invisibility · accidental transformation · hunted protagonist · government pursuit · survival

Setting labels: New York City · 1980s · contemporary setting · urban setting · secret laboratory · financial world · crowded city

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2515

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Terms of Use

Scott Allan Morrison · 2016

After a social network is hacked and a murder follows, an engineer must expose a conspiracy before he’s framed and hunted.

Why this is here

Premise labels: cyberattack · corporate conspiracy · on the run · wrongly accused · privacy invasion · social media manipulation · election interference · hunted protagonist · cover-up · data exploitation

Setting labels: Silicon Valley · contemporary setting · near-future setting · social media world · digital society · international intrigue · China expansion · internet culture · corporate setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2579

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Blood Relations

Jonathan Moore · 2019

A disbarred San Francisco PI is hired to probe an heiress’s death, and uncovers a secret that shouldn’t exist.

Why this is here

Premise labels: private investigator · apparent suicide · wealthy family · missing heir · family secrets · conspiracy · unexplained body · double identity · scientific plot · elite corruption

Setting labels: San Francisco · Bay Area · California · Boston · present day · noir cityscape · wealthy enclave · dangerous neighborhood · urban underbelly · high society

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2598

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One Last Stop

Casey McQuiston · 2021

A cynical young woman in New York falls for a mysterious subway girl who turns out to be stranded in time.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time travel romance · subway romance · found family · queer community · missing person mystery · magical realism · love story

Setting labels: New York City · subway · Q train · Brooklyn · contemporary urban setting · 1970s · transit setting · diner setting · apartment setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2611

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Dark Rivers of the Heart

Dean Koontz · 1994

A man’s barroom attraction pulls him into a deadly government conspiracy, a hidden past, and a desperate chase with a dog.

Why this is here

Premise labels: manhunt · government conspiracy · on the run · secret agency · mysterious woman · memory loss · past trauma · stalker romance · assassin pursuit · dog companion

Setting labels: 1990s · Los Angeles · Las Vegas · Colorado · Mojave Desert · urban California · desert chase · contemporary setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2630

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Walking on Glass

Iain Banks · 2012

Three apparently separate lives in London and a surreal castle edge toward a strange, unsettling convergence.

Why this is here

Premise labels: triple narrative · interwoven stories · parallel lives · love pursuit · paranoia · imprisonment · riddle quest · escape puzzle · collision course

Setting labels: 1980s London · London · contemporary city · surreal castle · alternate reality · fantasy realm · space-time oddity · prison setting · book castle · bioluminescent fish · urban realism · speculative landscape

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2655

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Strange Weather: Four Short Novels

Joe Hill · 2017

Four loosely linked novellas twist memory, weather, guns, and survival into unsettling, high-concept horror.

Why this is here

Premise labels: strange weather · memory theft · mass shooting · sentient cloud · apocalyptic rain · gun violence · post-apocalypse · unreliable hero

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 premise + setting

Distance: 0.2656

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Ebony Gate

Julia Vee, Ken Bebelle · 2023 · Phoenix Hoard

A retired assassin is forced back into clan politics to recover a stolen gate and save San Francisco from the dead.

Why this is here

Premise labels: female assassin · family blood debt · stolen artifact · underworld breach · secret magical society · reluctant hero · city guardian · dragon descendants

Setting labels: contemporary San Francisco · San Francisco’s Chinatown · modern-day city fantasy · hidden magical society · underworld portal · Asian diaspora setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2662

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