'Out' by Natsuo Kirino

Out, Natsuo Kirino (3.0)

This macabre story of murder, cover-up, Japanese mobsters and terribly sad people is not for the faint of heart or squeamish. While I found the graphic murder and dismemberment scenes (yes, there are several) off-putting, the characters were interesting and the plot was gripping. I particularly enjoyed the depiction of the regular workers of Tokyo, who consider an office job an enviable one. This was not the Tokyo I had seen or people I had met on my many visits. The story revolves around 4 women who work the night shift at a lunch box factory – assembling the familiar rice, pork, and pickle lunch boxes seen at all corner 7-elevens in Tokyo. Each woman has her own unique reason for working the night shift.  In a private culture, such as found in Japan, you wouldn’t call these women ‘friends’, but they did form a team in order to survive their hours in the factory. This teamwork is called upon again when one of the women kills her husband. The story follows the aftermath as the characters struggle with what they’ve done, who they’ve gotten involved and what will happen next. I appreciate that Kirino-san did not take the obvious or easy way out for the guilty, though the ending was slightly mystifying to me and I found it took a bit away of my admiration for the writing.

'Shift' by Hugh Howey

Shift (#2 in the Wool series), Hugh Howey (4.0)

I rarely like a second book in a series as much as I liked the first book. In the case of ‘Shift’, I can happily say it is true. Mr. Howey has taken the prequel concept seriously and shares the up front story of the creation of the silos and describes the lives running in parallel as ‘Wool’ transpired. Once again his fast paced plot had me pouring quickly through the book. While there are a couple of hitches in the logic (which I will not mention so as not to spoil any plot points), the basic idea and linkages to Wool were ingeniously done. When we left ‘Wool’, the reader has realized that there is more than one silo and a main character has made it successfully to a second one. We still don’t know why the silos are there in the first place and what possible reason for multiple silos with no communication between them for presumably centuries. ‘Shift’ does a good job of providing explanations and has some strong hints at what we should expect to find out in the third installation. Lucky for me, I’ve waited long enough that it’s already been written.

'The Strange Library' by Haruki Murakami

The Strange Library, Haruki Murakami (4.0)

Whatever you do – don’t read this book on Kindle. Part of the charm of this very short book (96 pgs) is the format. Besides the unique front horizontal flap, almost 50% of the book’s pages are covered in strange illustrations. While Murakami is known for his enormous and interesting tomes, this book packs a strong punch as a brief parable of loss, as seen through the eyes of a small boy. This boy goes to his city library and finds a very different place than what he expected.  A nefarious man leads him into the undiscovered depths of the library, where he’s told he must memorize books in order to be released. Throughout all of this process, he hints at a recent traumatic event (bit by a large dog), and two possible upcoming tragedies (death of his pet bird and a worrying his mother till she’s sick). The message given to him by the sheep-man (a pseudo caretaker) is a good summary of what he needs to absorb: ‘You got dealt an unlucky card, that’s the long and short of it. These things happen.’ Albeit short, this story has all the good Murakami-ness: strange characters, sadness, and a little bit of magic.