I've had mixed reactions to kidnapper/victim themed stories. Some I've found compelling and some exploitive. Thankfully, @clemencemichallon's knockout debut falls into the compelling debut falls under the compelling category.

"Rachel" was kidnapped by Aidan five years ago. She has been held prisoner in a shed under Aidan's watchful eye. Aidan informs "Rachel" that they are moving to a new location. The difference is that they will now be living with Aidan's daughter, Cecilia. Cecilia is told that "Rachel" is an old friend that will be staying with them. Cecilia is taken with "Rachel" and they form an unexpected bond. Emily manages her family's restaurant. She sees Aidan and instantly falls in love with him. Aidan is not only a kidnapper, but a serial killer as well. Emily is drawn closer to Aidan while "Rachel" plots to get away from him. The three women form a triangle that connects with Aidan that will resolve with three different endings that may or may not result in new beginnings.

The triangle between the three women is tightly constructed. Michallon is clear about the impact Aidan has made on their lives. The rotating narrative between the three is distinct. The suspense is consistent especially between "Rachel" and Aidan. There's always the question either is she going to get away or is Aidan going to make her his next murder victim?

There were scenes in The Quiet Tenant that I found brutal or disturbing. At same time, I never felt that Michallon was going for shock value. Aidan characterization shows he's a man who's capable of these acts. I actuality thought how he psychologically damaged "Rachel" just as disturbing to read.

"The Quiet Tenant" is one of the few debuts that I have read that lives up to its early hype. I have a feeling it's going to make a lot of noise among readers of psychological suspense.

4.5 stars

“Rachel” (the name her kidnapper gave her) has been living in a shed for five years. When her kidnapper’s wife dies, his in-laws want to sell the house he’s bee living in. An odd arrangement comes of this, as he (Aiden) does not want to kill Rachel. He and his 13-year old daughter move into a house in town, and Rachel moves into a room. Aiden explains this to his daughter as Rachel being a friend who needed a place to stay, and is renting from them. Even so, most of the time, Rachel is handcuffed in her room, but to appear normal, she is sometimes brought down to eat with Aiden and Cecilia. But does this greater “freedom” give Rachel a better chance of getting away? Meantime, Aiden has started a new relationship with a local bartender, Emily.

I thought this was really good. I wanted to keep reading when I already was and when I wasn’t, I wanted to get back to the book. It sounds implausible from my description, but it seems more believable when reading. Viewpoints include Rachel, Cecilia, and Emily the bartender. Rachel needs to figure out when and/or if she should say anything and/or run. Everything she does is to give herself the best chance of survival.

(𝘔𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 @𝘢𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬.) I’ve been on a real roll with thrillers this month and 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗧 by Clémence Michallon has definitely been one of the best. I liked so much about this story of serial killer Aidan Thomas, told primarily by three very important females in his life. One was “Rachel,” the woman he’d for some reason spared. The woman he’d also held prisoner for five long years, chained to the floor of a shed on his property. Another was his 13-year old daughter, Cecilia, who felt about her dad the way most 13-year olds do. The last, Emily, owned a restaurant in their small town, and was very attracted to Aidan, who had recently become a widower. Additionally, oh so briefly, we also heard from the women who did not survive. ⁣
⁣
I think the reason this psychological thriller worked so well for me was because of this chorus of female voices used by the author. Through them she was able to delve into the life and patterns of a serial killer without giving him space. I didn’t want to know him, his excuses, his private pain or regrets. Instead, with each page I turned I grew more and more invested in Rachel, Cecilia and Emily, eager to know how they would finally survive him. You rarely hear me say this, but I cannot wait to see what this debut thriller author writes next. I’ll be first in line for a copy! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25

The Quiet Tenant, by Clemence Michallon

Short Take: This book made me feel so many bad things, and I loved it.

(*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*)

Good evening, my beloved Nerdlings! Like the rest of the world, I have been obsessively following the Titanic submersible story, and I’m greatly saddened by how it ended. I’m sure there are a lot of thoughts and opinions I could throw out there, but I’m just going to leave it at that - it’s tragic.

And speaking of stories in the news….

We’ve seen stories of women being held captive, who seem to have the opportunity to escape, and still keep silent. Elizabeth Smart, Jaycee Dugard, and so on. And we all wonder, why didn’t she scream and run at the first opportunity? Surely she knew that if she was out in public, someone would see what was going on, and help her? Did she WANT to be with him?

In The Silent Tenant, Ms. Michallon does a masterful job of answering those very questions. The unnamed narrator, referred to but such titles as “The Woman In The Shed” has been a prisoner of Aidan Thomas for five years. She is locked in a shed, fed sometimes, raped daily, and told by him, over and over, that he has eyes, ears, cameras, and surveillance equipment everywhere, and that any move she makes will end in her death.

Because she has no choice but to believe him, when he moves her into the house with both him and his thirteen year old daughter, Celeste, she does as she is told. Celeste doesn’t see that the woman is handcuffed to the radiator at night, or that her father visits the woman’s room nightly. And Celeste definitely doesn’t know that her father is a serial killer, and that every other woman who has caught his eye is dead.

It doesn’t help that everyone in the small town seems to know and love Aidan.

Duckies, I can’t fully express the rage this book brought out of me. It’s narrated by all the women - Aidan’s victims, his daughter, his lover - and every last word is about him. There’s so much to unpack, but mainly, it’s hammered home over and over how women are forever and mainly defined by their relation to a man. And if the man is a terrible one, a violent one, then the woman’s name is even more entwined with his. It’s always his story, and she’s just a background character.

It’s maddening, and infuriating, and depressing, isn’t it? And even in a book like this, where the women are smart and sympathetic and resourceful and interesting and all the things you want in a female character, it’s all about the man. Even when I was racing through the last few chapters, with my non-book-holding hand clenched and my heart racing (OMG so freakin intense), I was still so, so angry. And really, just so very, very sick and tired of that man.

Which is all to say, everyone should definitely read this book, and keep some small, soft throwable items nearby. You’ll be glad you did.

The Nerd’s Rating: FIVE HAPPY NEURONS (and a long walk to shake this one off. It’s going to take a while.)

The title makes you think the woman is there by choice. Maybe she was just renting space in the home of a man and his daughter, or maybe she is just trying to stay alive. She makes rules to stay alive and it has worked for five years. Who is the tenant, why is she there, and how did she stay alive? From page one these are all the questions that were runnning in my head.

This book is a gripping thriller and many may compare the Room. I think it is bettter than that one, It did take me a bit to understand if I was in the past or the present with the titles of the chapters. It only refers to a woman and where she is at that moment, Once I got used to it and moved along in the story it all fell into place. I guess that is my only con. I really liked the characters and the story was well written. This is a really good debut novel, I will certainly pick up the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read in exchange for my honest review. Honestly, it was a solid 4 star read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Publishing Group for gifting me a digital ARC of the debut thriller by Clémence Michallon - 5 stars!

Aidan Thomas is hard working and beloved by the small community in Upstate New York where he lives with his daughter, Cecilia, after her mother's death. But Aidan is hiding a huge secret - he's a kidnapper and serial killer. He has "Rachel" locked in a shed and she's been there over 5 years. When Aidan and Cecilia have to move, he is forced to integrate Rachel into the household, telling Cecilia that she is a family friend in need of a place to stay. Then there's Emily, a restaurant owner in town, who has a crush on Aidan.

This story is told from the POV of all the women currently in Aidan's life as well as those speaking from the grave. I really loved the way this story was written, as we got background information in snippets, yet allowing us to see the big picture as well. It's a bit of a slow burn as the author delves into these women's thoughts but it all worked for me and I couldn't put it down. I can't wait to read more from this author!

Aidan Thomas is a hardworking family man, known in his small upstate town as someone always ready to lend a hand, someone with a kind word to say about everyone. Already beloved, the community doubles down on their goodwill by rallying around Aidan and his teen daughter after Aidan’s wife loses her second battle with cancer.

But what they don’t know is that Aidan has been keeping a dark secret: he’s a serial killer. He has eight victims under his belt with his eyes on a ninth — and one victim, a woman he’s dubbed Rachel, has been imprisoned in his backyard shed for the past five years.

THE QUIET TENANT has only been out in the wild a few days but has already received heaps of praise — and deservedly so! Told through three perspectives: the woman (the captive he’s calling Rachel); Cecelia, his 13-year-old daughter; and Emily, a bartender in town harboring a big time crush on the handsome widower, this was a novel that kept me flipping the pages.

After Aidan’s wife passes, he and Cece move out of their home…which causes a problem for Aidan. What to do about Rachel? Overnight she becomes a down-on-her-luck cousin, seen by the town as a woman moving in with relatives, while in reality, she’s handcuffed to a radiator each night. Will she see a chance at escape?

I don’t say this lightly, but there genuinely were several moments that had me gasping. Is Aidan getting sloppy and careless or is he playing the long game?? Watching it all play out was such a thrill and I enjoyed every minute of the journey.

This English-language debut is a fantastic way to kick off your summer reading! And to add to its already incredible release week, word was recently announced THE QUIET TENANT will be adapted for the small-screen! This is definitely not one to miss!!

This book had me hooked from the beginning! Loved it up until the end. Clemence did a wonderful job with her first book and I hope that there is more to come

It has been a minute since I have been so enthralled with a debut novel, and I have Clémence Michallon to thank for getting me out of that slump! The Quiet Tenant is one of my favorite books that I have read so far this year, and I already know it is going to be making my top 10 list for the ENTIRE year. There are so many unique things about this novel, from the chapter titles down to the storyline, and it was a breath of fresh air in a world where many themes and tropes get repeated. Serial killers aren't a new subject, but the approach is different, and I absolutely loved it. There is a ton of suspense throughout the book, and I didn't think there was even a dull moment. I loved every single thing about this, and the end had me on the proverbial edge of my seat.

If you read it or if you listen to it, there is no wrong way to enjoy The Quiet Tenant but throwing this out there - I do believe the audiobook is going to be making my list of all-time favorites. There is an entire cast and every single narrator felt perfectly selected and suited for their role and character. The author even makes an appearance on the audio, and I ended up going back and listening to her chapter again so I could fully appreciate that. There are a lot of viewpoints but never once was it confusing, and the author's writing is absolutely incredible. I would love to see this get turned into something for television, be it a movie, mini-series, or frankly, anything else. It would be a great watch and I just know as incredible as it is as a book, it could be even better if you got to see the characters and story come to life. I do recommend going in as blind as possible, and just letting this baby take you away!

Entertaining but a little slow. It’s written as a thriller but doesn’t have very many nail-biting moments, if at all, or a twist at the end. It’s more about the trauma and Stockholm Syndrome the MC faces as she is held captive. It was a good read but not what I was expecting. Also, there’s no real closure as it just seems to end.

Thank you Clemence Michallon, Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC.

The summary of this book drew me in. It was about a serial killer who let one woman live. She was locked in his shed for years until he had to move. Rather than killing her, he decided that she was going to move in with him and his 13 year old daughter.

I liked the storyline. However, I could not get in to the writing style. The entire book was written in second person point of view between the kidnapped woman, Emily (a local restaurant owner with obsessive tendencies who was falling for the serial killer) and Cecilia, the serial killer’s daughter.

The characters made me mad at times. I couldn’t figure out why they did what they did sometimes. Parts of the story felt too unrealistic.

The relationships between certain characters seemed off and a little weak. Maybe it was the second person point of view, but I felt like the relationships between certain characters could have been a little stronger. I think it would have justified the kidnapped woman’s actions a little more.

Also, there wasn’t a twist anywhere in the book. The whole story lead up to what we knew the outcome was going to be.

All in all, the storyline was dark and interesting. But the second person point of view got to me and I struggled to get through it. 3/5 stars.

Yes, yes, yes. This was eerie, fantastic, and so unique. I was SWEATING while reading this and loved it from start to finish. Such a great suspenseful drama, with a touch of "thrill." I read a lot of books and I know it's good when it stays with me for more than 10 minutes-HA. I can't stop thinking about this. So good!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. It was very slow starting and hard for me to get into. The different perspectives were interesting, but it was hard for me to see the connection between them all.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this ARC and provide an honest review.

The Quiet Tenant was such an interesting premise, the viewpoints of the many women surrounding a serial killer including his daughter, his new love interest, women he had killed in the past, and the one who he kept. It was an enjoyable read that had me on the edge of my seat at the end! It was dark and disturbing and I loved that we never got his POV, as it was more focused on the women. Thank you to aaknopf for the gifted copy, I mainly read from the physical copy, but would switch between that and an audio from prhaudio. The audio was very well done, with an entire cast! I was very pleased with the ending and how everything wrapped up!

This book was flat-out fantastic. It was a bit of a slow burn in the beginning but once the pieces started falling into place, I couldn't put it down. Aidan was such an intriguing character with 2 completely separate sides to himself. The author also dedicated small chapters to each of the victims, which I haven't witnessed in any other book before. They are just as much a part of the story. The chapters about "The Girl in the Shed/House/Etc" are written in second person narration, which kind of threw me off at first. However, after reading "you" so many times, I started putting myself in the position of the girl and it made the book so much more personal. I will rave about this book to everyone!

I was excited to receive a copy of this ARC because the synopsis had me hooked. This was dark but but also quite an easy read. I liked that it was told from the perspective of the woman in the shed, with snippets from the daughter and the other woman in town.

The plot mostly revolves around Rachel (the woman in the shed) and her being kept in captivity by Aidan, the beloved, nice-guy, widower in town everyone loves. But Rachel isn’t his first victim, she’s just the only one he’s kept alive for 5 years. Experiencing the “good guy/father” Aidan vs the psychopathic serial killer Aidan from Rachel’s eyes was great – you really got an idea of just how manipulative and twisted this guy is.

I’d recommend this for any lovers of the crime/thriller genre. I think the story is told in an interesting way, and getting to be in the headspace of these 3 women in Aidan’s life, especially of his victim Rachel’s, really added to my enjoyment of the story.

Excited to read more by this author in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Woman has lived in a serial killer's shed for five years. The killer, Aiden, keeps her like a pet until he can't anymore because his wife dies and he needs to move to a house with fewer unused sheds. Spotting an opportunity, and worried Aiden will just kill her if he can't find a use for her, The Woman offers to move with him. He sets her up in his spare room, somehow hiding from his twelve year old daughter that the tenant who eats dinner with them spends the rest of her time handcuffed to a radiator...or worse. A third woman, Emily, enters into what she thinks is a romance with Aiden. She's probably his next mark, but unluckily for Aiden she's got weird stalker vibes and messes up all of his plans.

PRO: the story is told in a unique way, from the POV of the three women in Aiden's life. Attacks on The Woman are described as something like 'he did to me what he had decided he needed to do to somebody' give insight into the attacker without the reader being forced to witness any details. CON: this POV choice means that every bit of their thoughts revolve around Aiden, making him the star of a novel that is supposed to be about women surviving. There's something so yuck about the way everyone makes allowances for him, even The Woman. And Emily is absolutely insufferable. There are plenty of patrons who will be happy to read The Quiet Tenant and I will recommend it to them, but personally I just feel a bit dirty having read it.

💭Thoughts:
This book is pure psychological thriller. The way the story is told from the view point of the victim is fascinating. What really got me freaked out was the POV of the multiple murdered victims. A very interesting and moving way to tell a story. The story was fragmented, but it worked well with the way it all unfolded.

The book did slow a bit in the middle, but I kept pushing through. If you are looking for a fast paced thriller with lots of twists, just know that is not this book. This is a very slow burn. I wanted a bit more from the ending. I won’t go into detail about that. I think the less the reader knows going into the book the better.

Overall, a dark and moving look at a serial killer through the eyes of his victims, his daughter, and his love interest. Don’t read this one alone at night and expect to fall asleep!

🏠 BOOK / REVIEW 🏠

WOW. The #thequiettenant was so creepy 😳 And I absolutely loved it 😏.

I was shocked to see so many wish washy reviews, but this was a fantastic book. I found out that this was actually written in the author, @clemencemichallon, 2nd language, which blew me away.

The fact that this was written in 3 separate POV's that all played a different role in this book was SO unique and helped captivate me the entire time. I couldn't flip through the pages quickly enough, and the ending had me hyperventilating!!

I would read another book by her in a heartbeat. It was compelling, chilling, and totally wicked. Highly recommend!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟

I read this book in one afternoon. It was incredibly gripping and definitely a page turner. My only critique is that while it was a page turner, I realized everything at the end turned out the way I thought it would end which is not the case in a five star thriller.