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Out
Oct 2, 2024 6:25 PM

Author:Natsuo Kirino

Out

In the Tokyo suburbs four women work the graveyard shift at a factory. Burdened with heavy debts, alienated from husbands and children, they all secretly dream of a way out of their dead-end lives.

A young mother among them finally cracks and strangles her philandering, gambling husband. She confesses her crime to her colleagues and unexpectedly, they agree to help. But then the dismembered body parts are discovered, the police start asking questions and more dangerous enemies begin to close in.

OUT is a psychologically taut and unflinching foray into the darkest recesses of the human soul, an unsettling reminder that the desperate desire for freedom can make the most ordinary person do the unimaginable.

'Grimly satisfying - like no one you've ever read before' Kirkus Reviews

VINTAGE JAPANESE CLASSICS - five masterpieces of Japanese fiction in gorgeous new gift editions.

Reviews

Daring and disturbing, OUT is prepared to push the limits of this world - not only in violence and sex but also in human outlook… Remarkable

—— Los Angeles Times

OUT is a potent cocktail of urban blight, perverse feminism and vigilante justice

—— New York Times Book Review

A shockingly intense read

—— Daily Telegraph

Brings the mystery thriller to new levels of intensity and realism - OUT has great plot twists, vigour and an ending that would make Hannibal Lecter smile

—— Library Journal

In this top-drawer page-turner, Kirino offers a clever snapshot of her own culture...slyly amusing and compulsive

—— Metro

OUT got my heart beating this year... The tone of the novel, flat and chill, fits its subject to perfection, and admiration for Kirino grows all the way

—— Rose Tremain , Daily Telegraph

The gritty realism comes across with pungent force

—— Publisher's Weekly

Grimly satisfying - like no one you've ever read before

—— Kirkus Reviews

No gritty urban American tale of violence can match the horror of OUT

—— USA Today

It’s bleak, twisted and heightened reality is compelling

—— Alastair Mabbott , Herald

I started reading #SecretaryBook last night and couldn’t put it down . . . Such a deliciously dark, hugely satisfying read.

—— Paul Burston, author of THE BLACK PATH

The Secretary is an excellent, dark and clever thriller with a compelling central character. The story draws you in from the start and builds and builds to an intense and unsettling conclusion. I loved it.

—— Jenny Quintana, author of THE MISSING GIRL

The Secretary is an absolute masterpiece of pace, plot and precision to detail. Renée Knight so deftly winches up the tension that I found I was shallow breathing by the end, desperate to see the conclusion but terrified to watch all at once. I loved Disclaimer and now with The Secretary following it, Renée Knight has become a must read author for me.

—— Holly Seddon, author of TRY NOT TO BREATHE

A superb read - I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

—— Prima

The Secretary is a dark addictive tale - utterly compelling - with characters drawn with such a subtle and subversive touch they compel you to plunge in headlong from page one to follow their twisted fate.

—— Kate Hamer, author of THE GIRL IN THE RED COAT

I totally loved #TheSecretary. Fabulous tale of the person in the room who is so often overlooked. Office politics at their most evil.

—— Clare Pooley, author of THE AUTHENTICITY PROJECT

A bitter betrayal spirals into a chilling comeuppance. Readers are sure to be left breathless.

—— Publishers Weekly

A stunning finale. Knight, whose debut, Disclaimer, was highly praised, again shows her skill in creating an absorbing psychological thriller.

—— Booklist

A cinematic page-turner steeped in atmosphere and just awaiting its adaptation to mini-series.

—— Kirkus

Knight builds tension in this page-turning story about misplaced loyalty, secrets, manipulation, and class . . . slowly revealing what happens when one woman’s desire to be helpful and needed ruins her life. Highly recommended.

—— Library Journal

[T]here is a twist so shocking and surprising in Harris' most recent work The Second Sleep that I don't want to say anything more than: prepare to be amazed [...] Writing is deeply tricky. Harris, over decades of practice, manages to craft all the elements to ensure reader satisfaction. The description is articulated in a clear way with the dialogue managed suitably. Characters sound like real people instead of clunky dialogue which is all too common. Most importantly, events actually take place. Exposition of place, setting and context is essential [...] Harris without doubt continually does this and creates a refreshing sense of relief, which will ensure I continue to read his works for many decades to come.

—— The Boar

Totally engrossing and I kept on thinking, one more chapter... an intelligent page-turner that makes you question everything

—— Araminta Hall

Truly horrifying in the most delicious way. Samantha Downing sucks you in with a great story, pitch-perfect prose and disturbingly dead-on insights into the dark side of human nature. I hope I never meet her in a dark alley....

—— Nick Petrie

I couldn't pull myself away from this story - a terrifying and riveting window into the mind of the perfect suburban mother with a taste for murder. Make sure you clear your schedule before you pick it up. Absolutely unputdownable

—— Liv Constantine

It's no mean feat to find something fresh in the crowded thriller field, but Downing pulls off an indisputable triumph with My Lovely Wife. Exemplary writing and outstanding pacing confirm Downing's talent, but it's her deliciously depraved characters that kept me flying through the pages. Couldn't get enough of this subversive love-gone-sideways tale!

—— Sophie Littlefield

Deliciously dark and twisted... It's a remarkable achievement, full stop.

—— Shelf Awareness

Best new books to read this March

—— Cosmopolitan

A highly original and dark look at the shifting power structure in a modern marriage. . . A funny, smart book

—— Daily Mail

Darkly witty and strangely plausible, it's a read-in-one-sitting firecracker of a thriller, laced with explosive twists

—— The People

A marital, psychological thriller with darkly comedic undertones

—— The Wrap

Bold and brilliant

—— Big Issue

This is a ringer of a yarn, shot through with enough tooth-clenching moments to make you have your dentist on speed dial

—— Connaught Telegraph

With a twisty plot that will leave you gasping, this deliciously dark thriller is on a par with Gone Girl

—— That's Life Monthly

One of the best thrillers I've ever read

—— Judy Finnigan

What. A. Book! 2019’s best thriller and a one-sitting read.

—— Red Magazine

Brilliantly dark and unsettling, Lisa Jewell’s latest novel might just be her best yet.

—— Culturefly

A work of utter genius ... you’re going to love it.

—— Mark Edwards

Lisa Jewell is the most wonderful writer, and funnily enough we've written about a similar theme with our new books - cults, in microcosm and macrocosm. I can't rant enough about how brilliant The Family Upstairs is.

—— Alex Marwood

I absolutely loved The Family Upstairs. Intriguing, absorbing, unputdownable with characters so real they jump from the page.

—— Laura Marshall

Couldn’t put it down. Wish I’d written it. With characters that light up the pages, a twisty plot which unravels at perfect pace, and a house rammed with the darkest secrets, it’s brilliant.

—— Amanda Jennings

Brilliantly dark and disturbing ... Absolutely couldn’t put it down, it’s so good!

—— B.A. Paris

Outstanding. So compelling, twisty-turny and riveting. I just couldn’t stop reading.’

—— Mel Sherratt

All I want to do for the rest of the day is find out what’s at the bottom of it all. Too good.

—— Fanny Blake

Utterly compelling. Deliciously dark and twisty with characters who live on in your head. Lisa Jewell just keeps getting better and better.

—— Jane Corry

Compelling and suspenseful for a long and chilly autumn night’s reading.

—— My Weekly

A gripping psychological thriller.

—— Choice magazine

This is without a doubt one of my favourite reads of the year.

—— Ronnie Turner (Blog)

Featuring two entangled families and a house with the darkest of secrets, this is a compulsive new thriller from Lisa Jewell.

—— Sheer Luxe

From the first page we were hooked. If you’ve got a lazy day planned over the Christmas break, this is the type of novel you could read in a day…It makes us shiver just sharing the plot and we guarantee you’ll be on the edge of your seats throughout.

—— Yahoo! Style UK

Of the crop of great thrillers out this year, this is my pick [...] Lisa Jewell is brilliant at creating a menacing atmosphereand this is almost unbearably tense at times, with a knock-the-wind-out-of-you ending.

—— Good Housekeeping

An enthralling tale rich in psychological suspense that mixes family saga with domestic noir.

—— Vouchercodes

Part family saga and part-psychological thriller, this is an exceptional read.

—— Sunday Express

Breathtaking thriller

—— i Paper

Perfect book to inhale by the fire. Had no idea how creepy and nuanced it would be but couldn’t put it down and stayed up half the night reading it. Highly recommend.

—— iNews
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