Debuts about a serial killer are pretty common thriller-fodder, but for me this book stands out from the crowd. Clemence Michallon weaves a tense, emotional story told from the point of view of the women in this serial killer’s life. The writing was hypnotic – I’ve seen reviewers call it overwritten in places – but for me it was just right, and incredibly impressive coming from an author who’s first language isn’t even English.

The main protagonist is known throughout most of the novel as Rachel. She’s been living in Aiden Thomas’s shed for a long time. Her early chapters reminded me ever so slightly of Emma Donaghue’s Room, as the author paints a picture of isolation and survival.

Aiden’s wife has just died, so he and his daughter Cecelia need to move house – to a place with no shed. After years of isolation, Rachel is allowed inside a house again, and meets her captor’s child.

At the same time, Aiden is becoming closer to local restaurant owner Emily, who makes our third main narrator. Emily is younger, alone, and a little too into Aiden to start with, who’s been something of a local hero of the town for years. So it doesn’t take much for her to fall under his spell completely.

Through the narratives of Aiden’s captive, daughter and new love interest, a dark, twisted story is unravelled. There is little time given to consider Aiden’s motivations or perspectives, all of this story is about his victims and the mess the man leaves in his wake. Sprinkled among these are some short vignettes from his previous murder victims, fleshing out this villain and his journey to bona fide psycho serial killer.

The subject matter of this novel is incredibly dark, but the writing is strangely poetic and hypnotic and compelling.

Rachel is a complicated character, and it’s clear that she’s suffered at the hands of Aiden. There are moments throughout the novel where the reader is rooting for her escape so badly, where she receives and opportunity, but chooses not to take it out of fear. They are frustrating, but I don’t think they’re unrealistic. The author has created a portrayal of a strong woman who has been let down too many times, and knows she must work and bide her moment to take her chance

I was totally gripped by the creepy, psychological thriller The Quiet Tennant by Clemence Michallon.

Aidan Thomas seems to be an honest, friendly member of the local community. Of course everything is not as it seems. Rachel, the woman that he keeps chained up in his shed lives in fear and can find no means to escape. Aidan is indebted to the local judge who helps him and his daughter after his wife dies and he needs to find a place to live.

Rachel bonds with Aidan's daughter Cecelia, while Aidan starts a relationship with local bar owner Emily. Each woman has a different view of Aidan - so they must be kept apart.

Harrowing story that might not be for everyone; but I found it to be compulsive reading.

Surprisingly not as twisty as I'd expected, but kept me on the edge of my seat for every page. As a hook-preferred reader, I was pleasantly surprised to see how invested I was in these characters lives without a twist and or reveal on every page. Very clever!

Wow a totally gripping storyline told through different POV a girl held captive and told her name is Rachel, a daughter struggling after the death of her murder, Emily running the local restaurant after her parents death.
Compelling but hard to read in some places, my heart was racing I could not get through the pages quick enough
Thank you to #NetGalley for a copy of this ebook

If you've read Emma Donoghue's Room, try this.

Coming from a different persepctive we learn more about the abductor Aiden and his captive Rachel.

It keeps you wondering how the author will bring it all together, with ultimately fulfilling final chapters.

Recommended.

This complicated read never gelled with me. The characters were unrealistic and as the plot unfolded the reality unravelled.

Although it wasn’t my most favourite recent read, this book was engrossing enough to continue until the end. I did enjoy the varying perspectives which made the reader really pay attention to the plot and to each of the different female perspectives which were featured.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

A woman is kept in a shed for years by a serial killer who is a much-loved father and husband in a small town. When his wife dies of cancer, he is forced to move into another home with his daughter and decides to move the woman from the shed into the house, where she remains his captive but interacts with him and his daughter on a daily basis. The beginning was interesting, with its multiple perspectives - the woman in the shed (told in the 2nd person), a young woman who fancies the hunky serial killer, the killer's tween daughter, and very small vignettes of the women he's killed so far. The psychological aspect of the victim's approach to staying alive was interesting, and there was obvious tension in wondering if she would survive and if the killer would be caught, but the believability suffered when she moved into his home and started having meals at the family table where she was expected to "act normal." There was also more that could have been explored as far as why this man who had a fairly consistent pattern of stalking and killing his victims quickly would keep one alive despite no evidence of him growing any sort of attachment or affection to her - it felt like a missed opportunity to add more to the depth. Overall, though I finished the book, it's not one I would highly recommend though it's clear many other readers have loved it.

This book has been really popular with others who've read and reviewed it. But I found it slow, and difficult to read. I wasn't able to finish it.

"What the stories never said- at the end of the day, if a man wants to kill you, he kills you. It's not on you to convince him not to"

What a book!!! As much as it is a thriller, it also is an astute exploration of trauma bonds and complex power dynamics; this is the part that fascinated me.

What I particularly enjoyed was the fact that, although the killer is in the story, his voice is silenced. Instead the females take centre stage; it is their voices that carry the story through.

It's a quietly disturbing book, a slow drip feed story, dark and full of tension but also depth and emotion . I found it frightening, chilling and utterly page turning, with a heart palpitating race towards the end.

Anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers, I implore you to read this!!! You will not be disappointed

This was an amazing read that kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering how it was going to pan out. With multiple points of view, you could really get a feel of what was taking place and the tension was built easily through the different story tellers. I'd definitely like to see more from this author.

3.8

She was taken and kept in the shed for 5 years, than moved to a room in the house where he lived with his daughter. A respectable man, who would never be suspected of being a serial killer, living an ordinary life.
Will she manage to escape?

This book is narrated through different voices and made for an interesting read, and quite frightening.
My only criticism would be whether it is realistic for someone to be tied up all day without being able to go to the toilet, especially as when she was in the shed she was free to go.

Wow! The Quiet Tenant was one of the most powerful novels I've read recently and I'm sure it will stay with me for a long time.
Recently widowed Aiden Thomas is the father of a 13 year old daughter, Cecile, and a well respected member of his community. He is also a serial killer who has murdered 8 woman and has kept his 9th victim Rachel, imprisoned for 5 years. When a local restaurant owner Emily, develops a crush on Aiden she is drawn into his world and his secrets,
The novel is told from the women's perspectives and I found this so powerful. It looks at the psychological impact of imprisonment on Rachel, I was willing her to escape but understood her hesitation. It's a well paced and beautifully written novel that is intense and shocking. A highly memorable and unique novel that I highly recommend.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

This is one of those books that you will either love or hate, it’s topic is not to everyone’s taste but it kept me turning the pages when so many others I have started recently didn’t.
Aidan Thomas is a widower with a thirteen year daughter, loved by all in his small home town. He’s kind and helpful and not bad looking which pleases the young* ladies. He also has a young lady of his own that has been chained up in his shed for the past 5 years and repeatedly raped with the threat of death hanging over her head. He is also a serial killer and why the woman in the shed has been spared is something she doesn’t understand. He tells her, her name is now Rachel and when he has to move to a new place he invents a narrative for her as she will be meeting his daughter. There is no where for him to hide her at the new place except in the house.
The story is told from several points of view, mainly the 3 women in the story, Cecelia, his daughter, “Rachel” his captive and Emily the new lady in his life. It is also interspersed with a one page chapter from each woman he has murdered.
The story shows through the three main women how compelled and controlled they are by this seemingly harmless nice guy. You keep asking yourself why doesn’t Rachel escape, she has many opportunities in her new home, but her reasonings to herself and the thought process seem valid. All in all a satisfying read.

#TheQuietTenant. #NetGalley

A slow start but don’t be deceived. This is the real deal. Have recommended to everyone. It’s not pretty but it’s totally absorbing. Can’t wait to see what this talented author comes up with next.

A clever story, juxtaposing the squeaky clean loving widow and father who the town knows and loves with the kidnapper, the controller, the rapist, who has kept a woman locked up and away from the outside world for many years. As the book develops we learn more of the kidnapper, more of the woman locked up and more about the uncomfortable relationship they have. This is a rather uncomfortable and upsetting book in some respects but at the same time well-written and clever in the way that it develops the reader's understanding of how the woman came to be locked up, and how 'lucky' she was not to face a still worse fate.

Super traumatic; but well-written. Not sure I would recommend just on the basis of it being a really tough read.

The premise sounds good. A woman is abducted and being held prisoner by a man who seems to be just a regular guy who's liked by everyone. She feels he has abducted and killed women before , so wants to escape, but is afraid to, and in order to survive she agrees to everything he wants.
As a reader the tension mainly exists in wishing for this women called 'Rachel' to be able to get away, or for anyone to discover her and help her. That was thrilling enough for me. What annoyed me though was all the talk about how good looking this serial killer was supposed to be. His ‘girlfriend’ was swooning over him like a lovesick teenager and even the abducted woman ‘Rachel’ is impressed by the way he looks. I found this unbelievable. Also the fact that Rachel has a couple of chances to escape, but decides to stay didn't convince me. And what exactly is the motive of the serial killer for killing these women? I would have liked to read some background information on his life, thoughts etc. Or perhaps it was there and I missed it...?
Thank you Little Brown and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Aiden Thomas- a handsome, charming, husband and father who is very much loved by the whole town. He is also a serial killer and has had a woman locked in his shed for five years.

The story is told in multiple POV’s with the main one being told by “the woman in the shed”, then we have POV’s from the women he has murdered, his daughter and Emily- a local restaurant/bar owner who has a huge crush on him.

While it definitely kept me engaged, I did have a few little issues. I didn’t love the writing style and at times it pulled me out of the story. I also didn’t really feel like it was a true thriller. There wasn’t as much suspense as I would have wanted. We also don’t really know why he did the things he did, there was very little explanation. I would have liked “the girl in the shed” to move a little bit quicker than she did, I started to lose patience towards the end. Emily was a really strange character, she was very much obsessed/borderline stalking Aiden which I just found a little weird to be honest.

Overall it was an okay read, it kept me entertained and I did read it quite quickly.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

@currentlyreading__
Book 46 of 2023

Firstly, thank you to @netgalley, the publisher and the author @clemencemichallon for the e-copy of the fantastic thriller 'The Quiet Tenant'. It was published last Tuesday and I've already heard that it will be made for TV so I'm thrilled about that as it will make an excellent series. It is heart-poundingly suspenseful and I'm sure it will translate so well on screen as well as the page.

This is Michallon's debut thriller and is is beautifully written with each chapter focusing on the lives of three women - the woman (Rachel) who has been held captive for five years by the charming upstate widow Aidan Thomas, the woman who is magnetically attracted to him (Emily) as she serves him cherry colas in her bar each evening and Cecilia, his daughter, who is oblivious to the fact her father is a serial killer who's skilled eight women and is planning on killing the ninth very soon.

I loved the fact that it's the women who have a voice in this novel and even though we have plenty of Aidan action, it's always from the perspective of the women. So, it's cat and mouse, father and daughter, widow and prospective partner and I inhaled it from the first page. A beautifully written but macabre tale which I whole-heartedly recommend.


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