I love a serial killer story and this one did not disappoint! I enjoyed the multiple POVs and seeing how Aiden played everyone. Rachel had me rooting for her the entire time, even when I was screaming "run!" in my head at her. Emily, on the other hand, was kind of a ninny and I would have dropped red flags off at her restaurant every day until she got the hint. The small chapters from the POVs of Aiden's victims were very well done and amped up the tension. This is a great book for true crime fans!

Wow! This was a 5-star thriller for me.
A serial killer's story told from three outside perspectives of women in his life. The writing in this book is done so well. I know some people don't like the second person perspective, but I thought it was so well done here and really moved the story along! I could not stop turning the pages, and I don't want to say too much because the small parts that reveal themselves along the way are part of the reason I liked the book so much! I hope that this one gets the attention it deserves, this author is definitely one to watch for me.

I requested The Quiet Tenant from Netgalley because of book recommendations from readers I trust and I was not disappointed. The story is told from three different women’s perspectives with their experiences with Aidan Thomas, a kidnapper and serial killer. A shocking and gripping psychological thriller that kept me turning the pages but also not wanting the story to end. At one point, my heart was racing during a particular scene, it was that intense. The author did a great job of keeping me engaged from start to finish. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
I received an electronic advanced copy (eARC) from publisher Knopf and Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview this book.

"One of the most anticipated novels of 2023..." That phrase, as well as the cover of the book, sparked my attention. The horror of this pulse-pounding psychological thriller was hard to accept as you get to know a serial killer through the eyes of his 13 year old daughter, one of his victims spared, and his girlfriend.
The suspense of women being fooled by the very ones they trust will have you look around every corner as a serial killer lurks around locating and destroying his victims, except the one he decided to keep chained outside in a shed, while his wife and daughter are inside their home.
Aidan is known as a hard working family man doing good deeds around the community. When his wife dies of cancer, the community holds a fundraiser for him and his daughter. When he moves, he takes his victim, Rachel with him and creates new boundaries as she lives in the house with his daughter. She has been captive for 5 years.
This story is more about the victim Rachel once a runner and independent woman. It is told through her eyes, as well as his daughter, Cecilia and new girlfriend, Emily. Rachel is in survival mode, as she is given more freedom around the house, she is so beyond brainwashed it is seared into her brain she can't leave.That he will find her.
My heart ached for her and her family. I can't even imagine the horror for her and all his victims that did not survive. The author did a great job keeping it real but nothing in detail what he did to her. The story will ring familiar with other books and the endurance of captivity.
Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Clemence Michallon’s The Quiet Tenant

A literary thriller about a serial killer narrated by those closest to him: his 13-year-old daughter, his girlfriend, and the one victim he has locked in a shed.

Rule number one of staying alive in the shed: He always wins. For five years, you have made sure of it.

3 Things I Appreciated About The Quiet Tenant:

Quiet Tenant reads more like a character study than a thriller, IMO, but it works for me. It’s a character-driven, lyrical drama that allows for an immersive reading experience & a chance to witness the many ways a human spirit can be broken and then stitched back together with hope.

***Note: If you’re looking for a “pulse-pounding thriller,” as the synopsis states, you will be disappointed.

Michallon does a phenomenal job capturing abductee Rachel’s stress reactions—fear, cognitive impairment, dissociation, grief, and anger. (Rachel is not the victim’s real name; it’s the one abductor Aidan gives her.) I don’t know how anyone can survive five years of captivity in a shed, but Rachel does, and readers read about how she manages to endure.

While I wouldn’t say this book is suspenseful, it’s full of dread. The writing style wowed me! Michallon’s choice to tell this story from the POVs of 3 women made it unputdownable.

Told from the points of view of the woman held captive for five years, the thirteen year old daughter, and the new (almost) girlfriend, this thriller about the serial killer that everyone thinks is the perfect neighbor might make the readers think twice about everyone around them. Aiden Thomas is his small town's darling, but no one knows his secrets until the one woman that he chose to keep instead of kill escapes.

I appreciated the tension throughout the book and the way that "Rachel" played into the man's ploys in order to stay alive. The excellent use of second person in her chapters added to the stress I felt as I read the book. I also really thought the ending was a clever choice, keeping the focus on the women rather than the killer.

Also, the fact that English is not the author's first language is surprising - I never could have guessed. I look forward to reading anything else she writes going forward.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.

The Quiet Tenant
Genre: psychological thriller
Rating: 4⭐

Thanks so much @aaknopf for the #gifted finished copy! This book is out 6.20.23

I went into this blind, and quickly wondered if the plot was going to be too intense or disturbing for me. That wasn’t the case at all - while certainly a dark and traumatic subject matter, Rachel’s abuse was not described in detail on page, and the story mostly focused on her strength and determination to survive.

The first half was incredible! It was fast paced and heart pounding, and kept me on the edge of my seat and had me turning pages so quickly. Told from three main point of views, this thriller also gives voice to other victims of the stiry’s serial killer and was a really unique viewpoint as they narrate their final few moments. In the second half the paced slowed a bit, and there were certain parts that felt awfully convenient and fairly far fetched. While the ending was satisfying, it was pretty abrupt and I was left with a question or two. Still, I couldn’t put this down and overall found it really bingeable.

Read if you enjoyed: Room, Rena Olsen’s The Girl Before, Mary Kubica’s The Good Girl, or Lisa Gardner’s Find Her

I. AM. SHOOK.

There is a “before” you read this book. And there is an “after”.

Blows any and all other thriller writers, the overhyped ones specifically, out of the water. Step aside because this is a f***ing book!

Told from the female perspectives of the captured, the victims, the lover and the daughter. This book was high anxiety until the very end.

Wow! This was a great slow burn book that truly will captivate you and blow your mind. I would have never known that English was not the authors first language.
Written from two perspectives, it tells of a woman that has been held captive for 5 years, by a family man that everyone in towns knows and loves.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for this early release in exchange for my honest opinion.

Pub date: 20 June 2023

4.5/5 stars (rounded up to 5 on here)

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
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Okay so I went into this book completely blind. I saw Abby (Crimebythebook) post about it and was giving such a good review for it, that as soon as it was announced it was on NetGalley, I requested it. Let me say, it does not disappoint and I loved going into the book blind. I feel like it helped me understand what all was going on and I loved that there were different POV that included the woman in the house, the other victims, the daughter of the abductor, and the girlfriend of the abductor. I have to say though that it didn’t get confusing or repetitive with the various POV and I absolutely loved them. I feel like it helped moved the story along at such a great pace and there were many times that I didn’t want to put the book down and if I didn’t have a toddler, I probably wouldn’t have. This is one that I would definitely recommend and was one of my most anticipated novels this year! Cannot wait to get a copy of it for my shelves!
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This review will be posted to my Instagram blog (read_betweenthecovers) in the near future!

So refreshing to have a title for a thriller that does not include girl, woman, wife, etc. in the title. It is clear the author is pushing back on how thrillers and true crime focus mostly on the perpetrator by giving us the perspectives of his victims and two women who love him. We slowly get to know the only named victim Rachel almost exclusively through her thoughts and the flashbacks we get. Through the flashbacks we learn how she was captured and what she did to ensure her survival. It was also interesting to see him through the eyes of his daughter and a new love interest in his life, neither of whom have any idea of his true nature.

This is a slow burn, more character driven than your typical thriller, so much so I actually hesitate to call it a thriller at all, But the author provides enough suspense to keep you reading so you can learn more about the central characters and how much they do or do not know about Aidan.

There are books that are read and books that are devoured. The Quiet Tenant falls firmly in the latter category. It tells a familiar tale in a wholly original way; a serial killer through the eyes of the women in his life - his daughter, his new love interest and the woman he’s held captive for the last five years.

As tense as it is insightful, it's a literary thriller that defies easy categorization.

Thank You to Netgalley and Publisher for this ARC.
What a read! This book is incredible, from beginning to end it was heart-pounding. It's a slow burn but it will easily be the best thriller of the year. Please give it a try and stick to the end because you will not be disappointed.

5/5 looking forward for more books from this Author.

We have been taken through a wild ride! Aiden, cunning, manipulative yet charming and everyone in town loves him and his daughter. Set in a small town where this lovely man is filled with secrets. 4.5 stars!

🌟Book Review 🌟

📚 The Quite Tenant
by Clemence Michallon

Release Date: June 20, 2023

Read if you like......

👩‍👩‍👧 Multiple POVs
🔪 Serial killers
📕 Short chapters
😱 Shocking thrillers

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review. It took me awhile to finish this one. It was so dark, sinister, and disturbing that I'd have to take a break from it, but I always wanted to come back to it. I had to know what happened.

The story is told from three perspectives that revolve around the life of a serial killer - his victim, his daughter, and his girlfriend. The book is so well written, I couldn't believe this was a debut. The suspense, the nail-biting, the pounding heart, there's no way if you start this one you won't finish it. I loved the end. Overall, this book was unique, different, and I really enjoyed it.

5 solid stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I had no idea what to expect going into this novel, and wow was I blown away. I’m so used to horrors and thrillers taking place on a remote island or there’s a severe weather alert that forces everyone into close proximity. “The Quiet Tenant” by Clémence Michallon gave us the opposite. A woman in distress, kidnapped, held hostage inside a shed and her kidnapper’s own home. The fear was prominent, I found myself unable to stop reading when I picked it up. I’m so used to third person novels that reading one from first person was refreshing, it made me feel like I was in all of the victim’s shoes. The multiple POVs of all the serial killer’s victims was heart wrenching, and it made me feel anxious the entire time. I was rooting for the main character the whole time, I wanted to cry with her, plead with her, scream for her. The best thriller book I’ve read in a while. I hope it gets adapted to film! Thank you Net Galley for a chance to read this work in exchange for an honest review, and for Michallon for creating such a suspenseful book.

This book was intense. Very hard to read at times given the subject matter. However, I felt like I was in an episode of criminal minds. I thought the author did a great job making you feel like you were part of this story. Rooting for the girl. Overall I liked this one.

This was a suspenseful page turner that was dark & full of twists! At first I wasn’t sure I would get used to the second person POV of the main character but I ended up getting used to or & enjoying it as I felt more like I was in the story with that style of writing. Definitely pick up a copy of this one if you enjoy dark, twisty psychological thrillers. I really enjoyed this one & found it hard to put down!

Thank you so much to NetGalley & Knopf publishing for the advance digital copy for my honest thoughts and review!

Serial Killer Thriller aka The Woman of the House

This book could be a study of Stockholm Syndrome on steroids. As you’re reading this page-turner, keep in mind that the authors second language is English. The settings for this novel are a shed, a home and a bar. The story opens up with our main character living in a shed for five years. She was captured by her hostage taker and the reader learns immediately how she is treated and spends her days and nights handcuffed to her bed. She received one meal per day during his one visit and the scenes are rather graphic - up to a point. He is arrogant when he “visits” her and in total control of her sexually.

The man’s name is Aidan Thomas and the kidnapped uses the name of Rachel. There is a sense of urgency in almost every scene. To the outside world, Aidan is a calm, helpful neighbor with an even personality that cannot do enough for his neighbors. He is a widower with one thirteen year old daughter, Cecile. The real Aidan is a secret to the outside world, apparently both to his late wife, daughter and townspeople. Aidan is beloved in his upstate town and apparently always lends a hand to neighbors. However, he is a serial killer and kidnapper.

Many of the scenes are graphic in terms of humiliation and dominance. The author uses sounds (tapping of his boots as he ascends the stairs) as a prelude to Aidan’s sexual proclivities. Cecile cannot do anything without asking her father for permission. She is told when to go to her room, go to sleep, she seems as brain-washed as Rachel to the reader. Rachel has been in captivity over five years. Planning her escape brings in a few more major characters, but it is Rachel who has planned the possible escape. The structure of the book was brilliant, short chapters with meaningful titles.

Some of the novel is not airtight. As I was reading, I knew there were moral questions but the plot is gripping. Technically, Michallon is enterprising, narrating from first, second and third person. The end of the book could have been more detailed and evolved into a serious undoing of Aidan. But I couldn’t put it down. “Rachel’s” attempts at survival were explosive and often horrifying.

My gratitude to NetGalley and Knopf for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Who is Rachel and how does she survive her captivity?

A woman who is told that her name is now Rachel has been held captive by a man who brings food to her in a shed like hiding place. After he gives her not even the barest of necessities, he also takes advantage of her for his needs. This goes on for years; I don't know how she does it. One day he tells her they are moving. She knows this could be the end of her unless she convinces him that she is worth more to him alive.

The move makes her a tenant in his home where his daughter also lives, so she must also walk a thin line between being a captive and supposed tenant down on her luck. Submission is required at all costs and the least little bit of resistance from her gets painful treatment.

Very well done. Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.