170. "Real World" by Natsuo Kirino

Real World, Natsuo Kirino's third novel to be translated into English, opens with a high school boy murdering his mother. The girl next door, also a teenager, overhears the crime take place, and then she has an odd encounter with the boy, whom she has nicknamed Worm. For reasons she can't explain, she lies to the police and her parents about her interaction with Worm. In the meantime Worm, who has stolen her cell phone, begins calling the girl and her three closest friends. Each of them has her own distinct reaction to the crime and the criminal, and he brings out conflicting urges and motivations that will have profound ramifications for them all.

I didn't think Real World was as good as Kirino's previous works Out and Grotesque (which is an excellent and troubling read; I found myself wondering how, as a writer, Kirino lived with such nasty characters without becoming totally unhinged), but it's still a strong novel and very cognizant of the challenges surrounding the surreal lives of Japanese teenagers. Kirino points out the constant sense of threat adolescent girls face and the dangers they encounter daily; this pervading aura of dread and fear shapes the characters and their actions.