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.

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.

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.

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.