The quiet tenant tells the story from the victims point of view when kidnapped and held hostage in a shed at the end of a serial killers garden ! To the world Aiden Thomas is your friendly helpful neighbour, father, husband and all round good guy but he is a secret serial killer! In the story his wife dies and he has to move with his daughter so what does he do he takes the hostage with him!
This book was intense had my heart racing which is exactly what I look for in a thriller.
I flew through it, a definite must read, great plot, great characters, great suspense !
Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me to read for an honest review.

This wasn't my typical read - extremely unsettling at times, but fast paced, beautifully written with expert characterisation.

Goodness me this is proper 'heart in the mouth' stuff! My nerves were shot through reading this book about the naivety of a good woman and the pure cruelty of seemingly perfect psychopath (/ sociopath?).

Because it is true what they say:

The devil doesn't come to you with a red face and horns. He comes looking like everything you've ever dreamed of.

Aidan sure was dressed up as the perfect charming man and the local community all fell for the act.

I raced through this book desperate to see how it would end - so many times urging Rachel to run but completely understanding why she didn't.

The fact that this tense thriller was written by the author in a different language to her own makes it all the more impressive as the subtleties and nuances all landed en pointe.

This book was an interesting read. Unsettling at times, and kept me rooting for the abductee all the way through. Clever premise, a few unexplored storylines which had great potential to add more weigh5 to the novel, but overall a fast paced, psychological thriller.

This was a good book- it kept me gripped and I liked the multiple narratives. The characters were interesting and realistic. Cece was portrayed very well. However, I was expecting a twist which never came- the story played out rather predictably.

Oh wow, you really don’t know who people are, especially in the case of Aidan! I was rooting for Rachel to survive! Definitely a good read.

This is a original, harrowing story which leaves you with your heart in your mouth. Rooting for the unnamed narrator,the author has created an astonishing account of a kidnapped victim. Even more astonishing is she wrote it in English, not her first language of French.
I admit there are aspects of the novel that raise questions of courses of action taken by the unnamed narrator including the way she tackles the kidnapper's daughter situation.
Denying the woman in the shed/house an identity,save the kidnapper has given her adds to the sense that she is a non being.
The accounts of previous victims adds to what is a uncomfortable read but nevertheless a riveting one. It does leave questions unanswered like why was this woman spared but overall an assured well excited debut

When I read the reviews for this before reading and saw people expressing how unsettling it was, I really wasn't expecting it to be so much. It's gritty and raw, incredibly unsettling but so beautifully written. It's one of those books that makes you think about it for days afterwards. My heart was racing the entire time and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Highly recommended

Wow. I read this in one sitting as I simply couldn't put it down. The story centres around a woman - 'Rachel' - who is being kept prisoner by a man called Aidan and has been with him for five years. Aidan is a pillar of the local community and the widowed father of a 13-year-old girl, no one suspects that he's hiding some shockingly dark secrets. It's hard to say anything more without spoiling the story, but it reeled me in and kept me hooked - my nails took a bit of a battering though! It took a little while for me to get into, a few chapters, but as soon as I was in, it was game over for me. I'm glad I stuck with it. The POV jumps around quite quickly right from the start but as soon as my brain caught up with that, it wasn't a problem. The only thing I didn't like were the chapters from victims - I don't think these added anything to the book. I really liked how the author used the trope of the single father - you know, the community think he's a hero, women swoon etc because he's doing what thousands of mothers do - to hide a monster.

CW - sexual assault is alluded to although not explicit. There's also some murder and one quite violent scene of male violence.

CLEMENCE MICHALLON – THE QUIET TENANT *****

I read this novel in advance of publication through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Most authors write in their first language, and if the book is successful, it is translated into other languages. Clemence Michallon decided not to do it that way. She’s French and decided to write her book in English. That is remarkable in itself, but nothing by comparison with the power of the novel she wrote. Without doubt it must be the most gripping, exhausting novel I have read in years. I found myself scrambling over the words to see what happened next.

This is the story of a serial killer, told from the perspective of the unnamed ‘woman in the shed’ who becomes the ‘woman in the house’. Told in the more unusual second person (other characters, and the killer’s previous victims told in the first), you’re there with her every thought. Every nightmare. This is claustrophobic stuff, where a wrong move or word out of place would mean he would kill you too.

Because of problems of his own, the killer must move house and takes her with him. From being chained up in the garden shed she finds herself chained her to a radiator. If she calls out, or makes a sound, he will kill her. He knows everything she does, even when he is out at work. To make matters more complicated, he has a young daughter upstairs and a locked cellar in which he keeps souvenirs of his victims.

So why has she been kept alive for five years when he has previously killed each victim? And who is he stalking now? And why?

Not going to tell you. It’s a sensational story. Read it for yourself. Once you get into her world, where she can’t even remember her name, she won’t let you go.

This was a struggle to finish. It felt like a serial killer fanfic that gets no resolution and misses 90% of the tense beats it takes a long time to set up.

A real shame as the premise was great but this just doesn’t go anywhere.

The Quiet Tenant is an amazing book, I was willing Rachel to stay alive. It was a great portrayal of Aidan as an upstanding member of society who has the darkest secret that nobody in the town suspects. This was a survival story and a brilliant one at that.

A woman has been held captive for five years by a respected member of the community and suddenly, he brings her into his world… a world in which he lives with his daughter. This isn’t his first kidnapping; in fact, he’s a bit of a serial killer. When Rachel moves in with him and Cecilia, surely she’s too traumatised to run? I found it quite a slow start but given the level of detail revealed, it grew to an interesting read.

This serial killer novel delivers everything we need from the genre and more. The structure, set from the perspective of three women, each at their own stage of relationship with a dangerous predator, provides a searing insight to the complexity of human nature. Rapid, suspenseful and compulsive, it was impossible to put it down until the last page. A finish in a sitting book. Clear your diary for this book.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I loved every second of reading it. It dealt with a particular type of story that's been written many times, both fictional and factual. But it did it from a totally different and original viewpoint. I was rooting for the heroine every step of the way. I loved this book and was hooked from the very second I started reading it, to the very last page.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased review.
I liked the idea of this storyline, but wasn't sure in reality the author would be able to pull it off and give it justice.
I need not of worried as this storyline reeled me in very early and once I got used to the writing style and pieced together who everybody was, this was a belter of a storyline which the author pulled off in a gripping manner..A cracking debut thriller and look forward to more from the same author

I was gripped by this book from start to finish, the writing was engaging, the story was compelling and atmospheric and the characters were well developed. There are some hard hitting issues withimn the books, but that didn't a;ter the enjoyment of the read.

Because of the subject matter it’s hard to say this is a good book. However, I can say that I was riveted from start to finish. The pacing was great. I went in blind to the plot and I feel like it’s the best way to read the story.