The Quiet Tenant tells us the story of a woman who was kidnapped and kept for years, first in a shed and then into the kidnapper's home until she finally makes a move to save her life. "Rachel" as he called her, only knew how to survive. She knew not to make him mad and knew not to ask questions. She actually had grown accustomed to sleeping on a sleeping bag on the shed floor. Even when she finally made it inside the house, she preferred the floor to the bed. Somehow, Rachel made it from the
secret shed girl to friend to his daughter, Cecelia, once he moved Rachel into the home. Aiden had adored his wife. They had a special bond, the three of them did. But what his wife didn't know, was Aiden had a secret life outside the confines of their family home. After Caroline passes away, Aiden and Cecelia are forced to move, bringing Rachel with them. As life around them keeps happening, Aiden has to trust Rachel more and more. He uses technology against Rachel, hoping it will keep her scared and too afraid to make any moves against him. Will Rachel ever see her family again? Or will she end up like the other women that had been in his life?
The Quiet Tenant by Clemence Michallon had me from the first chapter! I loved this book! Suspenseful and intriguing, this book kept me up at night, saying just one more chapter. My only let down was the ending. I really wanted more than what Michallon gave me. I also wanted to know more about the other eight women who all had their own little chapter throughout the book. There is more story there, I just know it. There could definitely be a part two, talking about the daughter, Emily, Rachel, the other eight women, and possibly the wife. I will definitely be looking for more works by Clemence Michallon and will be recommending The Quiet Tenant to others. Special thanks to NetGalley, Clemence Michallon and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor Publishing for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. One of my favorite books of the year! This one definitely got me out of my book slump! 4.5 stars for me #TheQuietTenant #NetGalley

This book was a propulsive psychological thriller that describes the life of a serial killer told from his daughter’s perspective, his girlfriend and his victim that he’s held hostage for the last five years. This will be a top thriller of the year for me for sure!

Synopsis:
Aidan Thomas is a quiet, hardworking , family man that everyone in his small town adores. Especially now that his wife has passed away, people in town are bending over backwards to help the man that has always lent a hand to so many in the community. But what the townsmen don’t know is that Aidan has a dark side. Beneath the facade of the kind man lies a cold blooded serial killer.

The reader learns about Aidan from his thirteen year old daughter’s perspective, who see’s her father as a hero, and her only remaining family, his girlfriend Emily, that owns a local restaurant and his latest captive, Rachel, that he’s had in his custody for five years. Throughout the course of the book these three woman’s live will intersect and never be the same.

My thoughts:
This book was on fire! It will definitely make my top ten in books and maybe top three in thrillers specifically! This book was so well written and just confirms you never know what evil lurks behind closed doors or a seemingly nice man. I went in blind and as with many thrillers I feel like that is the best way! The book has a satisfying ending and ties all the loose ends up!
Thank you to @prhaudio

I AM OBSESSED. Easily one of my favorite thrillers of the year. I loved everything. The suspense, the short and quick chapters and the intensity woven in every page. I loved it!

I only want to read about this level of hopelessness in fiction books. I only hope that no woman ever had to be in situation while we all know that there must be someone at this moment held captive because someone lost hope on them or assumed that she wanted to disappear by choice.

Can any of you truly imagine what it must feel like to be like the quiet tenant? Doing certain things and saying certain words to receive less punishment, sleeping on the floor because comfort is beyond her, having the opportunity to run away but being afraid of failing. While reading you might scream at the pages “run” but try to understand the hesitation. Survival is always more important.

I liked the storytelling in this book, especially if you are listening to podcast episode for Ariel Castro, the horrendous dude known for his abduction of 3 women and keeping them for 10 years. Might be little triggering for people who had been abused, but it’s too good to miss out

4 stars!

"The Quiet Tenant" by Clémence Michallon gripped me from start to finish. I enjoyed the heck out of this book, which I am a little shocked about because I hate the fact that many thrillers and mysteries thrive in and on the suffering of women. Luckily, Michallon has a way with words, using them to squeeze readers into a chokehold of despair, claustrophobia, terror, and fight or flight. This book will leave you wondering what you'd do in a situation like this, forcing you to ask yourself if you'd survive as long as the characters do. I found my heart pounding more than once while reading this novel. The multiple points of view actually worked in this book's favor. I liked seeing the story through the eyes of Aidan's daughter Cecilia, his "girlfriend" Emily, and the woman in the shed. I wanted to scream at the characters so, so many times! My god, Emily... she needed to get smacked upside the head into understanding how dangerously close she came to her life ending! UGH! There is something so sinister about a man like Aidan, a respected member of his community who is always quick to lend a helping hand, but secretly has kidnapped and killed and stolen women from their lives. You could have an Aidan living right next door to you and you'd never even know it. It's a captivating idea to tell the story of a male murderer through the eyes of the girls and women within his proximity. I will definitely be suggesting this book to anyone who needs a recommendation.

Thank you to NetGalley, Clémence Michallon, and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

This book was so interesting coming from multiple POVs- from a serial killer’s victims and other women close to him. It builds slowly and I felt tension the whole time I was reading it wondering what was going to happen and when people would find out about the monstrous things this guy was doing. I was pleased with the ending. I will definitely read this author again!

I really enjoyed this book! It was intense but such a great premise and I loved the alternating viewpoints. This book kept me engaged and I couldn’t wait to see how it all ended. Definitely recommend.

TITLE: THE QUIET TENANT
AUTHOR: Clémence Michallon
PUB DATE: 06.20.2023 Now Available

Aidan Thomas is a serial killer hiding in plain sight - unassuming man, a father, and a man grieving the loss of his wife. But he is hiding a dark secret and is keeping one victim alive in captivity.

Debut author Clémence Michallon tells a story through the voice of Rachel a woman kept in captivity who is smart enough to convince Aiden into keeping her alive gaining his trust, Cecilia his 13 yo daughter, Emily a bartender with a raging crush on Aiden, and the POV of each of the murdered victims.

I found the chapters gripping, dark, and quite claustrophobic. I find that the author really understands the psychological aspect between the captive and the captor - that I found myself yelling - leave now please! The book also read like a movie and that ending was quite the scene, that is heart pounding, and very thrilling.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading this author’s future works.

Pulse pounding! This was a fascinating look at a serial killer through the eyes of the women in his life.

A book that will have glued to the pages once you start reading. A woman named Rachel who is not her real name is held captive in a shed. You feel her anxiety while you are being told the story. She is looking back on how she was taken years ago. Now her captive is explaining to her that he needs to move because his wife has died, she talks him into taking her with him and she agrees to all of his terms. You find out that Adian Thomas is a family man, a hard-working man, and well-liked in the community. He also has a daughter. He is also looking for another victim and you hear about the others before her and some after her, why has he kept her alive? Then the story really begins with two sides and you get a deeper look into her captive. This is a really good book with good characters.

The Quiet Tenant is unlike anything I have ever read before. It made me so uncomfortable but in a good way, thanks to the amazing writing. I wanted to scream at the characters at some points out of frustration but I love how it ended.

Aidan seems to be the charming small town Dad, and widower. He helps around the town and the town respects him. Aidan has a secret, he has killed and is planning to do so again. There is one female he has not killed, "Rachel" lives in the shed in the back of Aidan's house. When Aidan's wife dies he is forced to move and takes Rachel with him where the arrangement is she is a tenant renting a room in their house, she will join Aidan and Cecilia at meals and the rest of the time be handcuffed in her room. During this time Aidan is targeting Emily as his next victim.

I loved the perspectives, written through the eyes of Cecilia, Rachel, and Emily. Very interesting psychological thriller.

I found this book infuriating at times. I found myself shouting at Emily in my head several times. ‘You’re next! He’s going to murder you!”. How was she not getting the psychopath vibe? Aiden was creepy & Emily was throwing herself at him. So overthinking it & needy. ‘The woman” was my favourite character. She went along with some crazy things to survive. When Aiden asked her to provide child care during Christmas break I couldn’t even believe it.
I really enjoyed the different viewpoints from the various characters and how they went back and forth between the main storyline and the other victims. This was a pretty good book which kept me interested even though it was a bit far fetched.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin RandomHouse Canada for a copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Very slow burn. One pOV is told in the second person which is distracting and odd until you get used to it. Liked that the main character was well fleshed out and you saw the inside of his mind throughout. Overall a solid book that lived up to the hype.

I liked this book. The plot and story was intriguing. The characters were well wrote. I liked the way it was wrote. Hard to put down. Slow burn and the anticipation killed me. It was disturbing in the way a book like this should be. Revolves around 4 main characters and loved the multi pov.

The "thriller" is an interesting genre.

At my most cynical, I see it as a weird human fascination with other people's tragedy. And, as we see in our modern marketing, I think some of that that rings true. The thriller is often treated simply as "entertainment" ... a quick shot of literary adrenaline.

In the world of a thriller aficionado, though, there is something left lacking in grasping at the genre for the sake of a quick thrill. For me, the superior thriller has a depth to it that goes beyond the pure heart-escalating drama. A superior thriller builds slowly, in the compacting of tension, the artistic illustration of human complexity. In the nuance of the dialogue, in the layered arc of conflict. At its most compassionate, the thriller is an interesting and moving analysis of our messy human condition.

Clémence Michallon is no stranger to this masterful combination of elements in her debut thriller. Not only are the captivating pages of "The Quiet Tenant" teeming with riveting plot, but they are also woven together with perfectly complex and interesting characters. Characters I'm still thinking about today.

"The Quiet Tenant" was absolutely mesmerizing with every turn of the page, and I whole-heartedly recommend this captivating quick read to anyone who enjoys the thriller genre.

Huge thank you to Knopf Publishing for my beautiful gifted finished copy!

▪️REVIEW▪️

The Quiet Tenant ~ Clemence Michallon

🙏🏼 Thank you @aaknopf and @clemencemichallon for an eARC and physical copy of this stellar thriller.

The women that orbit a serial killer tells their story…

Aidan Thomas is a well-respected man about town but the shed behind his house holds an unfathomable secret. Rachel is being held prisoner there awaiting her fate - the eight women before her, also kidnapped and eventually murdered.

A move brings Rachel into the house where she comes in contact with Aidan’s daughter, Cecilia and new love interest, Emily - and a potential way to fight back and escape.

This book! Let me tell you - my expectations were non-existent with this one as I received both an eARC and physical copy from Knopf. But as reviews started coming in, I caved and boy, do I love being proven wrong! This was undoubtedly one of the best books that I have read this year - and not for the reasons those who know me might think.

I am a horror movie, serial killer documentary, true crime watcher/researcher but what captivated me more here was the power given to the women instead of to the killer. The entire book is told through the perspectives of Rachel, Cecilia, and Emily - we never hear from or about Thomas unless it’s through their eyes. The focus is not on the depravity of his crimes but instead on the determination and survival of his latest victim.

Totally blown away from the storytelling - this was a tour de force that I couldn’t put down yet didn’t want to end. As this is her debut, Michallon is officially one to watch for me and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next. In the meantime, if you haven’t read this - you must!

The Quiet Tenant
By: Clémence Michallon
Publish Date: June 20, 2023

Thank you to NetGalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and the author Clémence Michallon, for the advanced copy of The Quiet Tenant.
I enjoyed this psychological, suspenseful read! From the first chapter you are engrossed in the story! Each chapter is told from the viewpoints of women: Rachel(May)-the victim who is kept alive, Ceclia-the kidnappers daughter, Emily-the kidnappers love interest, and the victims who were murdered. The viewpoints are written so well. The suspense is kept high and we are left wondering from chapter to chapter what will happen next?!
I found it so interesting that while the kidnapper is a male, the story is told from the womens perspective the entire time. To see how each life is interwoven into the other, without them even knowing each other is very powerful.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read and will absolutely recommend it to others!

Oh my goodness, I loved this book so, so much! Written from the perspective of the person being held captive, his daughter, and someone he is starting to date, this story is about a serial killer...but it's not about him from a personal perspective. Instead, we learn how he kidnaps "Rachel," keeps her in a shed on his property where his wife and daughter also live, and after his wife dies, how he is forced to move and take "Rachel" with him. We also learn about Aidan Thomas, the man a small town just adores. He's always there to help, he's kind, he's sweet...and no one knows he kills women. We hear from his daughter, Cecelia, who is very close to her father, but also isn't quite sure if he can be trusted. And then we meet Emily, the bartender who Aidan has started showing interest in.

This story was beautifully written, and I loved that it came from the perspective of the females in Aidan's life and not from him. We get to see and feel the emotions that these women fell and the way each of them interprets his actions and attitude. Creepy, realistic, and propulsive, this book took off from the very first sentence and kept me in its grip until the very last page. As someone who loves True Crime, this was the perfect novel! I absolutely cannot wait to read more from Clemence Michallon!

Wow. This was fun. Multiple POVs tell the story of “Rachel” and Aidan. Rachel has been held captive for years. After Aidan’s wife dies and he has to move with his daughter, he decides to move Rachel with them. This was a fast paced, thrilling read. The only thing I felt was missed was a last chapter in Cecilia’s view. I needed to know how she felt!