There were two reasons why I got Out by Natsuo Kirino, first I noticed the distinctive book cover in the bookshop and secondly a friend of mine who was reading it suggested it. The story is about four financially pressured housewives frustrated with the drudgery of daily, who work the night-shift in a food packing factory. One night Yayoi, the youngest one of the group, crosses the line and chokes her husband to death. Yayoi phones her friend at the factory Masako, who for no apparent reason agrees to help disposing of the body.

The book is 500+ pages long but it's also one of the fastest books I finished in a long time. That brings me to the first characteristic of the book - its pace. The story reads so fast that sometimes you actually feel that you're skimming over the pages rather than reading them. One of the reasons for this is that Natsuo keeps suspense growing throughout the whole book, keeping you guessing what's going to happen next. The characters are well developed and are one of the strong points of the book.

The depth in character development gives the book a psychological twist which keeps you wondering what is motivating the main characters. To help in understanding the characters better the narrator sometimes shifts the event perspective between the main actors of the story. Although this adds a slight repetition to the events it helps give more insight to the individual characters.

The major drawback of the book is the book description on the jacket of the book. The description basically gives off half of the story which always is very annoying. Once you get over the main half of the book though the story plot starts twisting itself away from the usual thrillers and turns quite unpredictable. Having said this, the plot is quite linear and not very intricate. Final say: A very enjoyable fast paced thriller but I'm waiting for the sequel. 4/5