Fasten your seat belt your going to need it for this heart thumping psychological thriller from French author Clémence Michmallon.

The Quiet Tenant is told from the perspective of three different women who are closed tied to a recently widowed local man called Aidan Thomas . He’s much more than a local doting dad he’s also a violent , sadistic serial killer responsible for multiple murders.


His unsuspecting girlfriend Emily , thirteen year old daughter and a woman hidden and handcuffed upstairs in his house share a bond of survival , trauma and fear as they try to outwit and escape his power and control over them .

A Heart-pounding atmospheric thriller that needs to be on your summer reading radar .

Thank you to NetGalley & Little Brown Book Group UK – Abacus for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book release June 2023

Thank you Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for this eCopy to review.

The Quiet Tenant is a solid read, I found it a little slow in places and for some reason I just didn't warm to the narrator 'Rachel' who is being kept captive by Aiden. I did like the character of Emily a local bartender who is falling in love with Aiden seeing him as the upstanding community member everyone sees him as. There was little suspense which is what made it a bit boring in places. I would have liked some chapters from Aiden's perspective as I felt this would have added some depth to the story and allowed us to understand what drives Aiden to murder and kidnap.

The story also just seems to end, I felt that this could have been developed more and much more tension and drama added.

Some books, although they are excellently written, gripping and intriguing, are hard to read just because of the subject matter. This book is one of those.

Do be aware, it's written in second person - You are in the shed, he comes to visit you - which can make it harder to detach yourself from the story if necessary, as it's far more immediate. It's a really interesting writing tactic! I'd love to see more books try it out.

I would have liked to see more of the resolution of everything, but I always want to know more about what happens 'afterwards', so that's more of a me thing than a story thing. The ending as it is is very satisfying. I'm just greedy, I guess!

If you enjoyed Room, I'd definitely give this one a try.

The book had a promising storyline of kidnapper and victim. I tried hard to get into the book but could not connect with it like so many others did. I was bored sadly and found myself skipping though. Thanks for an ARC to Net Galley.

I really enjoyed this and certainly found it gripping and pacy. Good psychological thriller with a very twisted villain.

I found the two sides of Aidan fascinating. And the conflict between how he was with his daughter and his darker side really interesting.

There were some plot points I found a little far fetched (why on Earth give her run of your house FGS. And I think some things that weren’t quite explained (why the name Rachel?), but overall it was decent and well worth a read

"Thriller" is a genre that promises to keep readers on the edge of their seats, and this definitely delivers. From the very first page, the tension is palpable, and the plot twists and turns in unexpected ways, making it difficult to put the book down. The characters are well-developed and the author does an excellent job of keeping the reader guessing as to who can be trusted and who is hiding something. The pacing is spot-on, with just the right amount of action and suspense to keep the reader engaged. The writing style is gripping and evocative, making it easy to visualise the scenes and feel the emotions of the characters. The author's attention to detail and ability to create a believable world adds to the overall experience of the book. Overall, this is an excellent example of the thriller genre. It's a page-turner that will keep readers guessing until the very end and is sure to satisfy fans of the genre. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a good suspenseful read.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This book is so gripping and had me hooked from the first page. I really liked that this was told from three perspectives, all of which connected to this male serial killer who the whole book is about. First there’s ‘Rachel’, the woman who has been kept in a shed by her captor for five years. Then there’s his current love interest, Emily, who is none the wiser to his true nature. Lastly, we got a bit of perspective from the serial killer’s 13 year old daughter, who idolises her father.

This was extremely interesting to me reading from all three perspectives and how they all eventually connected and met and the climax was incredible. It was quite slow paced in the beginning but towards the end it was full of action and I couldn’t stop reading! I would definitely recommend this and it’s a good twist on a usual serial killer thriller!
Thank you so much to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Quiet Tenant had an excellent premise, albeit one which has been used many times over.
However I was left feeling it didn’t add new perspectives or takes on the theme, and left me feeling other authors have written this subject matter in more thrilling or original ways. Sorry, but this one wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Loved this book and couldn’t put it down. The premise of the story is not unique, but the writing and differing perspectives make this a great read. Highly recommend and will be looking out for more from Clémence Michallon.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers, Little Brown Books for this ARC.

Quite a sinister thriller told from the perspective of several characters. Hooked right from the very beginning this book is definitely a page turner as you race to the end to find out if the captive makes it. Highly recommended

A dark, sinister and unnerving novel about a serial killer told from various viewpoints including his only surviving victim.

This was a dark and disturbing novel (and I read a lot of crime) but this stayed with me long after I'd finished the last page.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the concept of this book - kidnapper and victim storyline. But I feel like it was lacking the suspense that it needed. I would’ve liked the kidnappers perspective to get more of an insight into how it all happened and why.

An excellent thriller and a brilliant plot. I loved the relationship between the female characters and watching this develop.

This is the most gripping book I’ve read in quite a while. ‘Rachel’ is being held captive in a house and bit by bit the reader gets an insight into her existence and into that of her captor. There’s more to this book than your standard thriller because it also provides the perspective of the captor’s daughter, his other victims, and a potential future victim.

This book is bound to be a huge hit, and I’ll happily recommend it to anyone on the lookout for a new read!

The premise of The Quiet Tenant is truly a chilling one – a man who has abducted a woman who has been living in his shed for five years is forced to move house and moves her in with his teenage daughter as ‘his tenant’.

We see the story through 3 main perspectives – the woman he has abducted who is nicknamed ‘Laura’, his 13-year-old daughter Cecilia and Emily, a waitress at a local restaurant who has an unsuspecting crush on the serial killer and starts to date him. There are also other short chapters giving us insights from other women he has killed along the way. It’s very well paced, and the stakes are kept high at every turn - you are forever rooting for Laura, feeling sorry for Celicia and getting frustrated for Emily, who is falling in love with someone you know is evil to the core. Laura’s chapters are written in second person perspective which is quite unusual but works really well here to put the reader in her shoes but also disassociates her from what is going on around her. In the notes we discover that the author’s first language is French which emphasises what an achievement this book is as well.

Obviously, there’s a lot of trigger warnings needed for a book like this and readers should take care upon reading it. I got a little frustrated at times that Laura didn’t take some of the more obvious routes to escape although I understand the Stockholm syndrome and her attachment to Cecilia. Some of the chapters written from the perspectives of the other women didn’t add too much to the narrative either and just served to slow the plot down - I think these could have been condensed. I did really like that we only got perspectives from the women in Aidan’s life and never from him as a character though.

Overall, I was completely gripped by this high stakes thriller – it’s a creepy and unsettling read that had me hooked. Thank you to NetGalley & Little Brown Book Group UK – Abacus for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fantastic psychological thriller , wonderful exploration between the characters . A teenage , a prisoner and a lonely lady with a male who certainly treats them all differently. The storyline is gripping from start to finish .

I wasn’t sure what to expect but found myself unable to put this one down! Aidan, a serial killer and kidnapper, is a complex character and only his prisoner, Rachel, knows who he really is - that is, apart from the brief narratives of his previous victims. Five years of captivity has her seemingly subservient but a change in circumstances, forcing him to move house and take her with him changes everything. Loved it, right to the denouement.

Sorry I couldn't continue to read this book. I have read far too many of this style of book and didn't want to read another.

What a debut! Clemence Michallon is destined to take this genre by storm with a gripping thriller, full of suspense and an antagonist that oozes menace from every pore. ‘Rachel’ (as Aidan christens her) is conditioned to obey to stay alive, and I love how Michallon explores this conditioning and the limits to which Aidan is prepared to test it. It reminded me of Room, which I loved, and I very much enjoyed the different points of view which gave the story depth and perspective, and added just the right degree of uncertainty to the reading experience.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this book to anyone who loves a suspense-filled, ‘will-she-won’t-she make it?’ thriller.
Thank you to Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley for the chance to read an ARC, and big congrats to Clemence Michallon on a brilliantly executed suspense novel.

Michallon had me hooked in this gripping and tense novel. I loved the narrative switches between the women who had a voice, despite being voiceless. Would definitely recommend.