num_pages: 400
description: 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 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.
language: English
title: Out
titlecomplete: Out
characters: Yayoi, Yoshie, Masako, Kuniko
genres: Asia, Thriller, Japanese Literature, Crime, Asian Literature, Horror, Japan, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Fiction
ratings_count: 37206
places: Japan, Tokyo
awards: awardedAt: 852105600000
name: Naoki Prize 直木三十五賞, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Edgar Award
category: Best Novel, awardedAt: 883641600000
name: Mystery Writers of Japan Award (日本推理作家協会賞)
category: Best Novel, awardedAt: 883641600000
name: このミステリーがすごい！
category: Best Japanese Mystery Novel of the Year
publisher: Vintage