Urban Fiction

1

Neverwhere

by Neil Gaiman

24,932 members

578 reviews

4.1

3 Members: hipdeep, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

2

Tales of the City

by Armistead Maupin

4,983 members

107 reviews

3.9

3 Members: aulsmith, ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda
Explanations: aulsmith: San Francisco - 1970s

3

Another Country

by James Baldwin

2,927 members

41 reviews

4.1

2 Members: aulsmith, ManWithAnAgenda
Explanations: aulsmith: New York City - 20th century

4

The Yiddish Policemen's Union

by Michael Chabon

10,380 members

421 reviews

3.8

2 Members: ahef1963, crookedcat

5

The Alienist

by Caleb Carr

9,486 members

250 reviews

4

2 Members: aulsmith, ahef1963
Explanations: aulsmith: New York City - historical

6

A Confederacy of Dunces

by John Kennedy Toole

21,375 members

475 reviews

3.9

2 Members: hipdeep, ManWithAnAgenda
Explanations: hipdeep: New Orleans

7

A Tale of Two Cities

by Charles Dickens

36,655 members

456 reviews

3.9

2 Members: aulsmith, ahef1963
Explanations: aulsmith: London and Paris - historical

8

Dancer from the Dance

by Andrew Holleran

1,009 members

11 reviews

3.9

2 Members: aulsmith, ManWithAnAgenda
Explanations: aulsmith: New York City - 1970s

9

The No. 1 Ladiesʼ Detective Agency

by Alexander McCall Smith

14,140 members

400 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: ahef1963, crookedcat
Explanations: ahef1963: Gaborone, Botswana, 1990s.

10

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

by Robert Louis Stevenson

17,130 members

315 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: aulsmith, ahef1963
Explanations: aulsmith: Edinburgh - 19th century

11

Murder Must Advertise

by Dorothy L. Sayers

3,781 members

106 reviews

4.2

2 Members: aulsmith, ahef1963
Explanations: aulsmith: London - ca. 1930

12

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

by Michael Chabon

18,795 members

414 reviews

4.2

2 Members: aulsmith, ahef1963
Explanations: aulsmith: New York City - speculative

13

The Goldfinch

by Donna Tartt

14,895 members

803 reviews

3.9

2 Members: ahef1963, ManWithAnAgenda

14

44 Scotland Street

by Alexander McCall Smith

3,406 members

123 reviews

½ 3.5

2 Members: aulsmith, ahef1963
Explanations: aulsmith: Edinburgh - 1980s?

15

Cities in Flight

by James Blish

1,773 members

36 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: New York City - speculative

16

Memories of a Butterfly

by Ivan Vlasov

7 members

2 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: exvano

17

Invisible Man

by Ralph Ellison

16,177 members

212 reviews

4

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: New York City - 20th century

18

The Water Knife

by Paolo Bacigalupi

1,807 members

94 reviews

3.8

Member: hipdeep
Explanations: hipdeep: Phoenix - near future

19

Push

by Sapphire

3,665 members

161 reviews

3.8

Member: crookedcat

20

The Android's Dream

by John Scalzi

2,361 members

103 reviews

3.8

Member: hipdeep
Explanations: hipdeep: Washington, DC - speculative fiction

21

The Catcher in the Rye

by J. D. Salinger

69,544 members

1,080 reviews

3.8

Member: ahef1963

22

Dhalgren

by Samuel R. Delany

3,734 members

74 reviews

3.8

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: A highly speculative view of Delany's life in New York City in the 1960s and 70s

23

Down by the River Where the Dead Men Go

by George P. Pelecanos

284 members

5 reviews

3.9

Member: hipdeep
Explanations: hipdeep: Washington, DC

24

Cry, the Beloved Country

by Alan Paton

9,369 members

182 reviews

4

Member: hipdeep
Explanations: hipdeep: Johannesburg - 1940/

25

Go Tell It on the Mountain

by James Baldwin

5,755 members

112 reviews

3.9

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: New York City - 20th century

26

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

by E. L. Konigsburg

16,185 members

278 reviews

4.2

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

27

The hearse you came in on

by Tim Cockey

329 members

6 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: hipdeep
Explanations: hipdeep: Baltimore

28

Stand on Zanzibar

by John Brunner

3,210 members

52 reviews

3.9

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: New York City - speculative

29

Firmin

by Sam Savage

1,799 members

120 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

30

City of Night

by John Rechy

1,021 members

8 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

31

Perdido Street Station

by China Miéville

9,391 members

314 reviews

4

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

32

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet

by David Mitchell

5,905 members

315 reviews

4.1

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: Nagasaki - historical

33

The Unconsoled

by Kazuo Ishiguro

3,568 members

82 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: ahef1963

34

Shanghai Girls

by Lisa See

4,628 members

302 reviews

3.8

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: Shanghai and San Francisco - historical

35

Rosemary's Baby

by Ira Levin

4,619 members

138 reviews

3.8

Member: ahef1963

36

Duplicate Keys

by Jane Smiley

725 members

17 reviews

3.1

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

37

The Plague

by Albert Camus

18,493 members

249 reviews

4

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

38

Rubyfruit Jungle

by Rita Mae Brown

3,243 members

59 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: New York City - 1970s

39

The Big Sleep

by Raymond Chandler

10,291 members

284 reviews

4

Member: ahef1963

40

Brightness Falls

by Jay McInerney

750 members

12 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

41

The Saturdays

by Elizabeth Enright

1,748 members

30 reviews

½ 4.3

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: New York City - 1950s

42

The Good Life

by Jay McInerney

678 members

19 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

43

The Gods of Gotham

by Lyndsay Faye

1,337 members

121 reviews

4

Member: ahef1963

44

Slaves of New York

by Tama Janowitz

723 members

6 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

45

Dubliners

by James Joyce

19,704 members

227 reviews

3.9

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Dublin, early 1900s.

46

River of Gods

by Ian McDonald

1,634 members

46 reviews

3.9

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: Varanasi, India - speculative

47

Palimpsest

by Catherynne Valente

1,306 members

71 reviews

3.8

Member: ManWithAnAgenda

48

The Windup Girl

by Paolo Bacigalupi

6,225 members

304 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: Bangkok - speculative

49

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

by Junot Díaz

13,092 members

487 reviews

3.8

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1950s.

50

The New York Trilogy

by Paul Auster

9,817 members

155 reviews

3.9

Member: ahef1963

51

334

by Thomas M. Disch

692 members

18 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: New York City - speculative

52

A Fine Balance

by Rohinton Mistry

9,163 members

255 reviews

½ 4.4

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Mumbai, India, 1970s - 1980s.

53

The City, Not Long After

by Pat Murphy

491 members

21 reviews

3.9

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: San Francisco - speculative

54

North and South

by Elizabeth Gaskell

7,417 members

245 reviews

4.1

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: 19th century Manchester

55

Forty Signs of Rain

by Kim Stanley Robinson

1,422 members

47 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: Washington, DC

56

The Night Watch

by Sarah Waters

4,391 members

153 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: World War II London

57

Roman Blood

by Steven Saylor

1,528 members

42 reviews

3.8

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: Rome - historical fiction

58

The Redbreast

by Jo Nesbø

4,456 members

158 reviews

3.8

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Oslo, Norway, 2000s.

59

London

by Edward Rutherfurd

4,524 members

75 reviews

3.9

Member: ahef1963

60

Bride of the Rat God

by Barbara Hambly

530 members

19 reviews

3.8

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: Los Angeles - historical speculative fiction

61

Palace Walk

by Naguib Mahfouz

2,789 members

60 reviews

4

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Cairo, Egypt, circa the First World War.

62

Boulevard

by Jim Grimsley

168 members

2 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: New Orleans - 1970s

63

Jar City

by Arnaldur Indridason

2,956 members

139 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Reykjavik, Iceland, 1990s.

64

A Free Man of Color

by Barbara Hambly

915 members

38 reviews

4

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: New Orleans - historical fiction

65

The Winter Queen

by Boris Akunin

2,317 members

80 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: 19th century Moscow.

66

Fellow Travelers: A Novel

by Thomas Mallon

292 members

10 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: Washington, DC - 1050s

67

The Man from Beijing

by Henning Mankell

2,445 members

116 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Beijing, 1990s.

68

The Bat

by Jo Nesbø

3,835 members

187 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Sydney, Australia, 1990s.

69

If Beale Street Could Talk

by James Baldwin

2,120 members

60 reviews

4.1

Member: aulsmith
Explanations: aulsmith: New York City - 20th century

70

Life Before Man

by Margaret Atwood

1,957 members

28 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1980s.

71

Tea with the Black Dragon

by R. A. MacAvoy

1,478 members

37 reviews

3.9

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: San Francisco, 1980s.

72

The Devotion of Suspect X

by Keigo Higashino

1,845 members

240 reviews

3.8

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Tokyo, 1990s.

73

419

by Will Ferguson

601 members

50 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Lagos, Nigeria, present-day.

74

The Book of Secrets

by M. G. Vassanji

359 members

10 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: ahef1963
Explanations: ahef1963: Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, 1913-1914.

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