Out

Out is the story of random violence in the staid Tokyo suburbs. A young mother, who works a nightshift making boxed lunches, brutally strangles her deadbeat husband and then seeks the help of her co-workers to dispose of the body to cover up her crime. The ringleader of this cover-up, Masako, finds her own search for a way out of the straightjacket of a dead-end life leads her, too, to take drastic action.The 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 humour that illuminates her stunning evocation of the pressures and prejudices that drive women to extreme deeds and the friendship that bolsters them in the aftermath.Nothing prepares you for the stark, tension-filled, plot-driven realism of Out, a work that took the Japanese literary scene by storm and continues to haunt the popular consciousness.