Terrifying thriller about a women who was abducted and held captive for years. Aiden is a pillar of the community, the town all know him and feel sympathy for him as he tries to raise his teenage daughter alone after the death of his wife. What the town doesn’t know is Aiden is an extremely dangerous serial killer who has held a woman captive for years. Rachel, who has been captive for years in a backyard shed, is now so brainwashed she is terrified to even entertain the possibility of escape. When Aiden has to move and can no longer hold Rachel in the shed, she sees her only chance of escaping and saving her own life. This thriller is scary and extremely fast paced.

The Quiet Tenant is a slow burn read that still managed to pull me in so completely that I kept thinking “just one more chapter” but didn’t stop until I reached the end.

This is the story of a serial killer told through the perspectives of women in his life - including his 13 year old daughter and the woman he’s been holding captive for five years.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy!

First book I’ve read by this author. I struggled at first with the point of view. I felt it was scattered and odd. But once I got into the book I realized we were almost inside the main characters head. So the author wrote more along the lines of how the main character thought. Which was actually really great and unique. I really enjoyed this new story line that stands out from all the other thrillers out there. Feels very true crime instead of standard thriller. You will have a happy ending and all the ends tied up nicely. There are moments of anxiety while being nervous for the main character. The book is a page turner for sure. You follow a timeline with short chapters that make you want to keep going.

WOW. When I picked this one up, I went in totally blind. However, I read it almost entire in one sitting. A lot of the action takes place in the last 10% of the book but I couldn't put it down. It kept me engrossed from start to finish. I will definitely be recommending this to everyone!

I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting that the book was written by 3 important women in the life of a serial killer and how they each perceived him. I would have liked to see more into Aidan’s motives behind the killings - how did it all start? what was his pattern? why did he keep Rachel alive? I was left with a lot of questions but was glued to this book until I was finished.

This was a fantastic psychological thriller. This is one of the rare books that I really did not want to read at night because it started to freak me out. The way Michallon builds the tension throughout the novel was great. This has pretty short chapters, which is big catnip for me. I also thought the use of second-person narration when we were in Rachel's perspective was really powerful. This is a must read if you are a thriller reader!

** I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Frighteningly fabulous, Kept me glued to the pages and up well past my bedtime. Thank you netgalley & publisher for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

The Quiet Tenant by Clemence Michallon
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Aidan Thomas is a hard working family man. Everyone in town loves him. But what they don’t know is that he has a woman he keeps in a shed on his property.
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This book was CRAZY.
The POVs are from the woman in the shed, a thirteen year old girl and a bartender/restaurant owner in town. I really liked the POVs chosen. They all have their own ideas and views about Aidan, and it was fascinating to see him from so many different perspectives.
This was a slow burn suspense. I was desperate for the woman in the shed to get away so I was on edge the entire second half of the book.
I felt like there was one tiny possible plot hole that made me think there was a crazy twist coming that wound up not happening.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I thought this one was done really well.

The opening paragraph of this book is narrated by a woman who has been held captive in a shed for five years, subsistently fed, sexually assaulted repeatedly. She describes the serial killer who holds her—a respected, well-liked husband and father—while filling in readers about the rules to which she is bound. The ones she has learned to obey to avoid being one of those who don’t survive the experience. The rest of the book will be narrated in rotation from the POV of this woman, a bar owner who has a crush on the killer, the killer’s daughter, and the various women he kills. Overall, the author does a fine job for her genre in terms of plotting and the choice of various POVs. The pacing facilitates the psychology of this brand of terror and torture—tedium and dread. Fem-jep is unfortunately baked into the thriller genre. For me, the repeated sexual assault and starvation passed a bar into barbarism and cruelty; this isn’t something I want to read.

This book is scheduled for release on June 20, 2023. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for allowing me to read this eARC.

Michallon stated in the acknowledgements that writing a book in English took a decade. I would wait with bated breath for the rest of my life to have the privilege of reading another! What an incredible story and written so well. I absolutely loved the different voices written in different persons. Michallon does an amazing job of making you feel like you are Rachel. Then you feel like you are following and watching Emily by her side. I was hooked the entire way through.

Thank you Clemence Michallon, Knopf, and NetGalley for this incredible eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was just okay for me! Three of my good friends LOVED it so please take my negativity with a grain of salt. I thought I was getting a fast-paced, extra creepy thriller and I ended up with an overwritten book with a million descriptions and very little else. I am not a literary expert and I'm sure many will love this prose, but I was so bored and kept waiting for the characters to stop talking in circles and actually get to the excitement. A woman is kidnapped by a serial killer and the only time I was remotely close to the edge of my seat was the last 10% of the book.

Also, I personally hate books written in second person and I doubt I would have picked this up if I had known the majority of the book was written this way. Then again, my friends have been raving about it so maybe I would have!

Overall not my favorite but I appear to be an outlier. I'm excited to hear what others think of this and totally understand if it was just not the book for me, personally.

This was such a dark and disturbing read, but a strong debut from Clémence Michallon. A woman has been held in the shed of a serial killer, a man that the community has no idea holds such a dark secret. When the man has to relocate to a new home with his daughter, he decides to bring along this woman and integrate her into their day to day life. As others began to take notice of his new tenant, things began to unravel.

I am just not a fan of books written in the second person. While I liked the premise, this writing style kept me from being fully engaged.

The Quiet Tenant was tense and suspenseful. Told from multiple points of view and still easy to follow. A good thriller that many will enjoy.

What an intro!

This book was told in 2nd person- which was an interesting change for me, but I liked it!

I loved all the different POV’s that were brought together to tell the story. Reading each victims interspersed story within the main story was done so well and really assisted in the character build up.

This was French author, Clémence Michallon’s first book written in English and it was superb!

It was pitch black; she was barely able to see her hand held directly in front of her face. The air was cold, heavy, chilling. The rope around her ankles burned, rubbing her skin raw. The handcuff around her right wrist trapped her in this unknown place. It had been weeks, months? She has lost concept of time. Her only motivation… stay alive.

The Quiet Tenant follows Rachel, who has been trapped in the hands of Aiden, a serial killer. When he is forced to move he must bring her along with him and she does everything she can to stay alive.

A significant amount of the chapters in this book are told in 2nd person narrative, which is definitely not my favorite and is a harder style to read, but the story kept me intrigued, so I got used to the style. There are also some other perspectives throughout the story, which just added to the impact. I thought it was well told, I was turning pages quickly, and I found myself wanting to know how everything was going to end.

I definitely recommend if you’re a serial killer thriller fan!

This was a fantastic thriller with a lot of depth! When I read the synopsis I was expecting a run-of-the-mill serial killer novel, but Michallon has created something much more nuanced and complex. She essentially utilizes three women to illustrate not only the different guises of our killer, but also the intricacies of being female. On a superficial level, I really enjoyed Emily's chapters because it made me feel akin to Joe from the series You - I know I shouldn't like this guy but I kind of find him attractive and am rooting for the romance! But then at the same time "Rachel's" chapters were so taut and often had me on the edge of my seat. The overall concept of Rachel moving in with her captor struck me as very unique and original, which added to my enjoyment of the book overall. There were a couple of plot holes I wish had been filled in/missed opportunities for development, particularly concerning Cecilia, but overall this was such a solid thriller and one I will definitely be recommending.

Aidan Thomas is a family man beloved by his small town, but he has a dark secret that no one knows…he’s a serial killer and one of his surviving victims is locked up in his shed. Will Rachel find the strength to escape after five years of captivity or will her fate resemble those of all of Aidan’s past victims?

THE QUIET TENANT by Clemence Michallon was a fast-paced thriller following the POVs of “Rachel” the kidnapped, Cecelia the 13-year-old daughter, and Emily the love interest.

I’m shocked that this is a debut!! The story was intriguing and nerve-wracking, and it was easy to really get a feel for the characters (and even fall in love with some)!

I would have liked some more explanation and backstory behind certain things (thus the 4 stars), but an enjoyable thriller regardless!

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Knopf, and Vintage and Anchor for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: June 20

This was definitely not a "pulse-pounding thriller" like the summary suggests. It was slow and predictable. I also disliked the writing style, particularly the POV of the woman being held prisoner by Aiden. I didn't like any of the characters. I really wish we could have gotten the POV of Aiden at some point or know why he was killing women. There was nothing surprising, suspenseful, shocking, or thrilling and I felt like it was very similar to other books I've read. Overall, I was disappointed, but since it kept me reading until the end, I give it 3 stars.

This story is about three women whose lives currently revolve around one man - Aidan Thomas. Aidan is a family man, a hard worker, and a universally-liked member of his small New York hometown. Except when he’s not. Aidan has secrets darker than anyone could imagine and a side of himself no one could guess. The tale is told from the perspective of his thirteen year old daughter, the young restaurant owner who takes a romantic interest in him following the death of his wife, and the woman he’s kept locked in a shed for the past five years.

When Aidan’s wife dies, his in-laws kick him out of their house, which means a move to a new house in town. The woman in the shed knows she has to strike a tenuous deal to ensure her survival - she must become a member of his household, a quiet friend-of-a-friend who spends most of her time in her room and keeps to herself. She’s walking a thin line, and she knows that her only chance of escape will be Cecelia, her captor’s engage daughter.
This book was such a fast-paced read; I absolutely flew through it. The tension and pacing is just right to propel you from one chapter to the next - and to keep you reading til 1am because you can’t leave the story there.

It’s titillating enough to watch “Rachel’s” story unfold, both past and present, as she fights for survival, but what makes this book so fascinating is watching the wildly different perceptions of Aidan in his public, private, and secret lives. His daughter sees him as a protective and grieving father, whom it is her duty to help shore up. Emily, a local restaurant owner, sees him as an attractive and impossibly kind - even shy - widower that she desperately wants to know. “Rachel” knows him for the monster he is when no one else is looking. I couldn’t look away from the townsfolk’s naked admiration for him in one chapter to the fear and hatred he so deserved in the next.

The story is more about survival than a mystery, so it is pushed forward more by tension than plot twists and big reveals. It deals with dark themes without being too gruesome to be palatable, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think the only thing that was missing to make this a 5-star read was a little more depth on the emotional/psychological side. Nevertheless, this book felt like it did everything it set out to be. I would happily recommend this book to true crime fans, anyone looking for a slump-buster, or anyone in need of the perfect read to accompany them on their next flight.