Wow. WOW. W o w. Y’all I haven’t read a thriller this good in such a long time!!

It was the writing that made this for me. Second person is such a rare pov and so tricky to pull off but I couldn’t imagine this story any other way. This was so flawlessly executed, I’m just in awe.

This is also one of those thrillers that just hurts your heart. Because it’s second person, you feel so much more for the woman in the shed and her fight to stay alive becomes your fight.

And the way this wove the other women into the story? The chapters where each talked about the moments before their deaths were absolutely chilling.

This is honestly one of the best thrillers I’ve *ever* read and definitely a favorite of the year. An absolute masterclass in storytelling. I already cannot stop thinking about this one!

I also cannot sing enough praises for this book!! If you’re a thriller lover, PLEASE pick this one up!!

Thank you SO MUCH to Knopf & NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review (and for the beautiful finished copy!) What an absolute treat!!

Aiden is well known and well loved in his small town. If only they knew his secret: he’s a serial killer and he’s been hiding a woman in his shed for 5 years. When his wife dies and he has to move, he decides to take his captive with him and hide her in plain sight.

This book was different than any thriller I’ve ever read with its multiple points of view. We hear from the girls Aiden already killed, Rachel the tenant, Cecilia the young daughter, and Emily the love interest. Rachel’s second person point of view felt so disturbing and really puts the reader in the story. It’s rare I find second person in a book and this one really did its job.

As for Emily, she really started to bother me as her choices became increasingly questionable. But then I have to ask: were they all that bad or did they feel worse to me because I knew something she didn’t? A lot of them were pretty bad though.

This is the scariest type of thriller to me. One that makes you wonder could this happen to me? Is there someone I know that’s hiding a dark secret? Is it possible to be a beloved part of town and also be capable of such evil? It’s so interesting to see the three sides of him. What his daughter sees, what the town sees, and what Rachel sees.

Thank you Netgalley and Knopf Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Quiet Tenant by Clemence Michallon is outstanding. Serial killers have been done a million times and The Quiet Tenant manages to take this and make it completely fresh. Chilling and visceral, I read this in one day because I couldn’t put this down. You can feel the sinister vibes coming off the page. I will now read whatever Michallon writes.

“Rule number two of staying alive in the shed: he’s always right, and you’re always sorry.”

Quick Summary: Aidan Thomas is a family man, beloved by his small New England town. He is also a serial killer who has held a woman captive in his shed for five years. When he is forced to move, he makes the surprising decision to take “Rachel”, the woman he’s kidnapped, with him. Aidan tells his daughter, Cecilia, they are helping a woman in need.

Genre: psychological thriller
Length: 320 pages
My Rating: 4 stars
Read If You Like: stories about serial killers in plain sight, slow-burn psychological thrillers, “Girl A” by Abigail Dean

I really enjoyed this debut thriller! The story is told from 3 perspectives: Rachel (the woman held captive), Cecilia (the serial killer’s daughter), and Emily (a local woman with a crush on the serial killer). The writing style is phenomenal. The three POVs elevate the mystery and fear surrounding the serial killer, Aidan, since he isn’t given a voice. Rachel’s POV is most of the book and written from the second person POV. Cecilia and Emily’s perspectives are written from the first person POV.

THE QUIET TENANT is a character-driven psychological thriller. It’s an exploration of human endurance. I wouldn’t say that is it super suspenseful but it stressed me out nevertheless. There were moments so filled with dread that I was holding my breath. It begged the question, “How well do we really know our neighbors?” And do I need to start breaking into my neighbor’s backyard sheds to check for kidnapped women?

I think it is super impressive that the author wrote this book in English with her first language actually being French. So cool! I’m sure that was no easy task.

This would be a great thriller to binge this summer. But it would also be a good selection for fall spooky szn reading!

Thank you @aapknof for the #gifted copy of “The Quiet Tenant”!

Aidan Thomas is a sympathetic figure in town - his wife recently passed away and her parents told Aiden and his 13-year-old daughter Cecilia that they had to leave the house they lived in. The town comes together to help Aiden and Cecilia during this difficult time. But when Aiden has to move, he has a problem. Namely, Rachel, the woman he's kept imprisoned in his backyard shed for 5 years. Aiden decides to introduce Rachel as a family friend needing a place to stay. Terrified for her life, Rachel is too brainwashed to escape.

I really liked this one. Rachel's POV is told in second person, which I found really interesting and I felt added a lot to Rachel's telling of her story. The writing throughout the book is really well done and I was completely sucked in. Adding in Emily, owner of a local restaurant, accentuated to me how these types of monsters just move through life without suspicion.

Overall, this was an excellent book and I would definitely read more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Available June 20, 2023.

4.5 stars rounded up

Aidan Thomas is a well-liked member of his community, but Aidan’s got a secret - he’s a kidnapper and serial killer. He’s murdered eight women, and has his ninth victim living in a shed in his backyard. When Aidan is forced to move, he decides to bring Rachel along and moves her in with him and his daughter as a family friend needing a place to live. Rachel is a fighter and gets stronger as she tests the boundaries of her new living situation.

I’m surprised about all of the mixed reviews I’m seeing for this book. I thought it was done so well, and I really liked it. I thought the way the women in the shed was written was really interesting being second person isn’t used often. It gave me an unsettling feeling reading it that way. I also thought it was brilliant that Michallon gave Aidan’s victims a voice in this story by giving each of them a chapter.

This book had a slow build up, and because of that, I felt the ending seemed rushed. Also, I would have liked more of a backstory on Aidan to explain why was he doing this. Was it only because his wife got sick or was there more that happened in his life to make him this way.

Overall I really liked this one. I look forward to reading more from this author. Thank you Knopf and NetGalley for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.

I wish I could give this book 10 stars! Have you ever read a book that was so intense that every couple chapters you had to close it and walk away. But then you couldn't stand not knowing what would happen next? So you picked it up again and read a few more chapters and put it down again. I don't often try to communicate out loud with the characters in a book but I found myself constantly talking to Rachel and Emily as if they could hear me. If you are looking for an excellently written book that will keep your adrenaline flowing, go buy this book.

This was a darn good read! Creepy, heart string pulling, and suspenseful! I loved how the various points of view overlapped a little to give the full picture and how through them we see the different sides on the serial killer. The intermission like chapters from his various victims over the course of time provided a nice mental break for the reader as well as a foundation to how he himself evolved separate from the three povs narrating the story. It is hard to believe that this is the first book this author has written in English! Word usage was so strong and on point but still brought in the more European (Scandinavian noir) feel that I love in my reading. This is definitely an author I will keep on my radar!

I have finished The Quiet Tenant, but I am not finished thinking about and feeling this book! It is one of those books that remains with the reader long after the final page as been turned.

This is not the typical serial killer book, but it lands in that realm within the thriller genre. The book is told from the POV of three females. Rachel, a kidnapping victim that has survived the last five years being chained in a shed. Cecilia is the 12 year old daughter of Aiden Thomas. Emily is a restaurant owner, and trying to build a relationship with Aiden, who is a grieving widower, having recently lost his wife to cancer.

The pacing of the book is pretty steady. It is not until the very end that things really ramp up and the action takes off. It is more of a steady burn as we see the story revealed through each of these three characters. Along the way we get brief information about the different women that have been murdered by Aiden. We also find out how close Rachel was to meeting the same fate, but then randomly uttered a phrase that had an alternate impact in the life of Aiden. The story is less about a serial killer/kidnapper/rapist who is beloved in his small town, and more about the strength, courage, fight, survival instinct, and growth of the females, particularly Rachel. It is a dark story. There is no way around that, but thankfully the depravity isn't the primary focus, although it is never far from the mind of the reader.

I did enjoy the writing style and the story. I was impressed that this was a debut thriller for the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an advance copy in exchange for my thoughts and impressions of the book.

Just when you think there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to psychological thrillers, comes along a book like The Quiet Tenant.

This is the story of a serial killer told through the eyes of three women. The woman he let live and has held captive whom he calls Rachel. His thirteen-year-old daughter Cecilia. And Emily, a local restaurant owner, has quite a crush on him.

It’s so interesting seeing the serial killer through all of these different sets of eyes. The most interesting character is Rachel who he has held captive. She talks about herself in the third person a lot when she is held captive, which I think makes sense, she is having to separate herself from what is happening. It’s almost like she is looking at something that is happening to another person.

When the serial killer’s wife dies, he moves Rachel into his house and she meets his daughter Cecilia. Rachel’s interactions with Cecilia were a bit of a puzzle. She immediately cared about the girl and made some unwise decisions, which were completely unlike her methodical character up to this point.

Emily was the most frustrating. She pursued the killer, throwing herself at him, and came off as immature. She was almost school-girlish in her behavior, I wouldn’t be surprised if she doodled his name with hearts drawn on it, on her notebook.

I really enjoyed this book, I thought it approached the psychological thriller genre from a slightly different angle.

The Quiet Tenant is filled with slow building tension and doesn’t let up until the dramatic ending. Despite only having minimal amounts of action, Clémence Michallon creates fear and suspense through multiple points of view that heavily rely on the girls’ feelings and train of thought. The terror “Rachel” felt was palpable. It is a true psychological thriller, perfectly capturing the mindsets of all the characters.

I couldn’t put this book down and finished it in a day. It is a fabulously thrilling debut novel.

I will be posting this review on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/CttxWeRrbLs/?igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==

Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5178976367

And Amazon

Twisty, turning, wonderfully written and fantastically well-plotted, THE QUIET TENANT by Clémence Michallon is an extraordinary story -- not just because I am not a diehard fan of thrillers and serial killers, but because of the way the perspectives of those women around an exceptionally dangerous serial killer are given. I cannot remember the last time I read a story presenting outside perspectives of victims and relatives of a deranged person so convincingly, reminiscent of Alice Sebold's THE LOVELY BONES. Remarkably strange and wonderful. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

You can feel how eerie this one is just from the cover!

I love a good psychological thriller and this one delivered. I definitely will have me paying attention to my surroundings and sharing my location!

We meet the woman in the shed. She's been told her name is Rachel. She was kidnapped and has been held in a shed for five years. At this point, anyone looking for her certainly assumes she is dead.

Rachel is not Aiden Thomas' first victim. But she is the only one alive. He's a serial killer, and why he kept her alive she does not know.

Aiden is a true narcissist. He has lost his wife and plays the widower and father to Cecilia, age 12, to his advantage. He is charming and smart and deceitful.

When his wife dies and her parents ask him to move from their home, Aiden convinces Rachel to move with himself and Cecilia. He will say she is an old family friend staying with them. She goes along with it, because the other option likely leaves her dead. He chains her up and locks her in a bedroom when he is away or at night. She joins them for dinner most nights and plays the part.

We also meet Emily, a local restaurant owner, who met Aiden when she was younger and has a crush. Aiden feeds the flames and she grows more and more drawn in as time goes on.

This one kept me on the edge of my seat.

The ending was well done!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I think this is my thriller of the summer? The one I'm going to push into everyone's hands? Could it be the thriller of the year for me?

The Quiet Tenant ramped up the locked room feeling with a closed cast of POVs from various women involved in the story (victims, daughter, and lover). Each chapter added a little more terror to the story, just like a good thriller should.

This was a pure, dark, thriller. No mystery and plenty of trauma and will to survive. I had to drop everything to finish

This was so creepy and fun to read! If you’re a true crime person, this is very Ted Bundy-esque. The local man that everyone thinks is a solid, all around good guy. Oh boy does he have a dark, dark secret. The things he gets away with in his on home, in plain sight, absolutely blew my mind. Told from four different POVs and I enjoyed each one of them. A total nail biter that has you hooked the whole way through.

Sometimes the people who seem like the most upstanding citizens can be hiding the darkest secrets; they’ve just gotten really good at covering them up. But in The Quiet Tenant by author Clémence Michallon, a dangerous man starts to underestimate those under his control.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery.

The Quiet Tenant is about a recently widowed father Aiden Thomas and who is adored by the whole town and would give the shirt off his back for anyone. His one major fault is that he is a serial killer and has a young woman help captive in his shed. This story is told from multiple POV's to include his kidnapped victim "Rachel", his 13 year old daughter Cecelia, his love interest Emily and the multiple women that he has murdered.

The description that this debut novel was very intriguing and I liked the idea of the story being told by the victims instead of the killer. Unfortunately, this book was not as gripping and thrilling as I had hoped. It is a slow burn and at times was kind of boring. The overall premise is great, but unfortunately fell a little short for me.

Thank you Knopf and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one seems to be getting quite the buzz here on booksta, and I definitely would agree it's a unique book that you're either going to love or hate.

The main polarizing thing I've seen: the majority of the book is told from a second person POV. Some hate it, but I didn't mind it. I like when authors try something different and thought the second person POV really worked here.

Aidan Thomas is a man leading many lives. He is a father, a widower, a reliable man in town, and a serial killer. This book is told from the perspectives of the various women in his life: his daughter, a love interest, the women he's killed, and mainly the woman he captured and has held hostage for five years, "Rachel."

I felt so much tension when reading this book. Rachel is trying to make sure she stays alive while also trying to plan her escape. Although there isn't a ton of action in this book, I found the tension to be palpable. I was totally hooked, hoping Rachel would escape and out her captor, and hoping that the love interest, Emily, wouldn't be next.

Overall, I thought this one was a fun read. It's not going to be for everyone, but it worked for me.

This was a fantastic read! I was a little confused at the beginning trying to figure out the timeline and who our main character was. Since we’re not given her name at the beginning, I wasn’t sure if the other women being mentioned were her in a different timeline or someone completely different. Once I figured it out, I had no issues. It was a little slow for me at the beginning and it wasn’t until I got about half way through that I found myself flying through the rest. The story was gripping, I was rooting for the main character the entire time, and there were so many great moments of tension. I really ended up enjoying my time with this one overall.

I want more! I want to hear Aidan's side of the story. I want more from the victims. And I want more from Cecilia. I hope that doesn't make it sound like the book was left unresolved, because that is not the case. I was left pretty satisfied at the end, despite... wanting more!

This was a fun read with the chapters being divided up by a different person telling their story. Of course you're going to have your thoughts about "Rachel" and your thoughts about Emily, but that was the fun of it. Loving or hating each of them in different moments based on different scenarios.

This was also a terrifying story, obviously. Imagine being put in this situation. Damn, no thanks. But this would make for a good movie. The scenes would hop around but still tell a story and all intertwine in the end. I'd watch it.