Books Out: A Thriller  by Natsuo Kirino (Author)

"Out: A Thriller" by Natsuo Kirino is a dark and gripping Japanese thriller about four women working the night shift at a bento factory who become entangled in a gruesome crime. After Yayoi, one of the women, kills her abusive husband, she turns to her coworkers for help in disposing of the body. Masako, a cool and pragmatic woman, takes the lead in orchestrating the cover-up, pulling in the other women: Yoshie, a single mother caring for her ailing mother-in-law, and Kuniko, a flaky and vulnerable coworker. The body is dismembered and hidden around Tokyo, but complications arise as bags are discovered, the police get involved, and tensions building among the women lead to betrayals and blackmail.