Grotesque

January 22, 2007
Readers with a taste for ambiguity and oddball characters will enjoy this twisted novel of suspense from Japanese author Kirino (Out
). The Apartment Serial Murders case, which involved the brutal killings of two Tokyo prostitutes, has gripped the country, leading to the arrest of a Chinese immigrant, Zhang Zhe-zhong, for the crimes. Strangely, Zhang freely admits to murdering the first victim, Yuriko Hirata, but denies the near-identical slaying 10 months later of Kazue Sato. The events leading to the killings are related from a variety of perspectives—that of Yuriko's unnamed older sister, bitterly jealous of her sibling's good looks; of each victim; and of the accused. Unusual connections—for example, Kazue was a classmate of the older sister—cast doubt on the veracity of individual narrators. This mesmerizing tale of betrayal reveals some sobering truths about Japan's social hierarchy. 4-city author tour.

March 1, 2007
Kirino ("Out") plumbs the murky depths of troubled women's minds with mixed results. The murder of two prostitutes, both of whom graduated from the same prestigious high school, has Tokyo abuzz with curiosity. The unnamed narrator, whose sister was one of the victims, tries to explain how the women could have met an untimely end, relying on her own reflections as well as the deceased's letters and diaries. The title is definitely apt, and readers who enjoy psychological horror tales might well relish the sordid revelations that serve as Kirino's critique of contemporary Japan. For many readers, however, the stream of ugliness (which includes high school bullying, eating disorders, and an entire phalanx of dysfunctional relatives) could grow wearying, as Kirino hammers home the effects at the cost of fully exploring the causes. Structurally, the novel is sound, but the characters' voices are nearly indistinguishable, and their speeches sometimes border on the didactic. The overall effect, while both ambitious and, yes, grotesque, is ultimately less satisfying than the author's previous work. An optional purchase for larger fiction collections.Leigh Anne Vrabel, Carnegie Lib. of Pittsburgh

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