FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review from Discover Great New Writers
With volcanic urgency, Kirino's story erupts onto the page with a searing heat, flowing like lava to a remarkable finish. Facing the daily burdens of slavish work conditions, stale marriages, and a society refusing to show them a proper respect, the women on the nightshift at a suburban Tokyo factory are all looking for one thing -- a way out. When pretty young Yayoi takes a beating from her deadbeat husband, her coworkers do little more than help their friend keep pace with the line. But a new kind of sisterhood emerges when Yayoi requires assistance in disposing of her dead husband's body.

Masako Katori emerges as a tenaciously determined leader in the dangerous cover-up, and with the others, provides readers with a disturbing vision of the lengths a human mind will travel in its quest for freedom. For Kirino's women aren't ruthless murderers; they're hardworking housewives with dignity, desperate for respect.

Discover rarely selects a mystery novel for our literary distinction, but unlike more formulaic crime novels, Kirino's work travels outside the boundaries of category fiction and gets under the skin. It's rare when a novel is so well rendered, so reaching in scope, and so thematically relevant that it surpasses its genre and demands a wider readership. Out does that and more. (Fall 2003 Selection)

ANNOTATION

A masterpiece in this genre—Prize jury, Mystery Writers of Japan

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Natsuo Kirino's novel tells a story of random violence in the staid Tokyo suburbs, as a young mother who works a night shift making boxed lunches brutally strangles her deadbeat husband and then seeks the help of her co-workers to dispose of the body and cover up her crime.

The ringleader of this cover-up, Masako Katori, emerges as the emotional heart of Out and as one of the shrewdest, most clear-eyed creations in recent fiction. Masako's own search for a way out of the straitjacket of a dead-end life leads her, too, to take drastic action.

The complex yet riveting narrative seamlessly combines a convincing glimpse into the grimy world of Japan's yakuza with a brilliant portrayal of the psychology of a violent crime and the ensuing game of cat-and-mouse between seasoned detectives and a group of determined but inexperienced criminals. Kirino has mastered a Thelma and Louise kind of graveyard humor than illuminators her stunning evocation of the pressures and prejudices that drive women to extreme deeds and the friendship that bolsters them in the aftermath.

FROM THE CRITICS

San Francisco Chronicle

A masterful and psychologically astute novel.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

A gusty, unflinching foray into the darkest, most dangerous recesses of the human soul.

Black Book

A daring account of empowered Japanese women, and just too damn macabre to discount.

BOOK

Dark, seductive and occasionally brutal, Out explores the lower classes of Japanese society with a distinctive gallows humor.

The New York Times

The underworld of pimping and casinos fuels the novel's suspense, as a Brazilian laborer, a haunted ex-convict and a Chinese prostitute play roles in the sinister plot. At its best, Out has the force of a juicy tabloid scandal: we witness the insidious merging of desperation and violence. … Out is a potent cocktail of urban blight, perverse feminism and vigilante justice. — Katherine WolffRead all 9 "From The Critics" >

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Out will remain in the memory of readers as THE pick of the crop of Japanese mysteries. There is terrific energy in it, from start to finish. — Mainichi Shimbun

Ingenious. — Shukan Asahi

There are few authors who are willing to probe deep into the innards of modern society and write about what they find. This novel is proof that Ms. Kirino is one of them. — Hokkaido Shimbun

Stark realism, lit up by flashes of unexpected humor and psychological insight. — Nihon Keizai Shimbun