I read Kirino's GROTESQUE a year or two ago and enjoyed its look at life in Japan from the point of view of how life treated several young women from a prestigious high school. In OUT, Kirino focuses on four women who are struggling to make ends meet by working the night shift at a boxed-lunch factory. All of the women have their crosses to bear and are burdened with debt and bad family lives. One of the women, Yayoi, has an abusive husband who beats her and who spends his time gambling and chasing after a younger woman employed at an escort club. Yayoi can't take it anymore and strangles her husband in a fit of rage. But what about the body? She contacts one of her coworkers from the factory, Masako, who agrees to help get rid of the body. Masako in turn gets the help of two other women to dismember and dispose of the body so it will not be found or identified. But one of the women is careless and leaves body parts in a park which leads to their discovery and ultimate identification. The night club and casino owner where Yayoi's husband frequented is charged with the crime but will it stick? And then a loan shark also finds out what really happened. All of this leaves the women in jeopardy.
This was really quite a disturbing noir novel that really kept my interest. The consequences of the women's actions become more and more dire as the novel progresses. The dialog in the novel which was translated from the Japanese was somewhat like watching or reading Manga or anime but the overall story was very creative. I also enjoyed the descriptions of life in Japan including the factory the women worked in and the routine of daily life. The novel to me was a bit far-fetched. One thing I was perplexed about was why the police seemed to give up on the case even though one of the detectives seemed to have puzzled out the solution to what had really happened. Overall though a very compelling crime novel with a very different locale.
This was really quite a disturbing noir novel that really kept my interest. The consequences of the women's actions become more and more dire as the novel progresses. The dialog in the novel which was translated from the Japanese was somewhat like watching or reading Manga or anime but the overall story was very creative. I also enjoyed the descriptions of life in Japan including the factory the women worked in and the routine of daily life. The novel to me was a bit far-fetched. One thing I was perplexed about was why the police seemed to give up on the case even though one of the detectives seemed to have puzzled out the solution to what had really happened. Overall though a very compelling crime novel with a very different locale.
