This was a good debut novel that dealt with a serial killer who was keeping one woman in his shed. He made her call herself Rachel, but that wasn't her name. The story is told from three perspectives - Rachel, the woman in the shed; Cecilia, the daughter of the serial killer; and Emily, the girlfriend of the serial killer. This man was a pillar of his community and well-liked by everyone.

The book read well and really delved into the thoughts and feelings of each of the women telling the story. Unfortunately the blurb used to the describe the book gave most everything away at the start, so I didn't find much surprising.

Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on June 20, 2023.

This book was really creepy! It was also a little tough to read. Rachel is held captive for five years. It was difficult reading about how she was treated and what she had to go through. It was interesting to get the point of views from the killers daughter and girlfriend. If you enjoyed domestic thrillers, this book is for you!

Thank you NetGalley, Clemence Michallon and Knopf for the ARC!

This book was creepy in the sense that the whole town loved the guy who was serial killer. He walked around in plain sight and got away with killing multiple people.

"Rachel" is held captive for 5 years. Reading how she was treated and what she had to endure was gut wrenching to read. The fear that any day she might be killed if she did something to upset Aidan. Then you get Emily's perspective on how she yearns for this guy and was intimate with him. Cecile is the one you feel so bad for as her mother has died and she is left with a control freak serial killer dad. I enjoyed all the different points of view and gave you insight into the killer.

I am always intrigued by a good serial killer book. I may have been screaming for Rachel to just go out the door and steal the car and never look back. She was given plenty of opportunities and I think once she realized there were no cameras she should have gotten out of there.

Interesting read. Told from the viewpoints of the killers daughter, captive and girlfriend you get a different perspective of how he is viewed by each, and maybe a better view of how we miss them in real life. The characters are well written, and fairly likeable.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley, Clemence Michallon and Alfred A. Knopf for hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

This book was really good. It chronicles the pathway of a serial killer from the perspective of multiple female victims. I found myself equally frustrated, scared, and understanding of the main character's journey through the 5 years that she was held captive by him. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who's interested in the genre and look forwward to reading other work by this author.

3 1/2 stars

Fantastic!! I was engrossed in the plot from the beginning, and it held my attention throughout the entire book. I loved the characters. One of the best books I have read recently.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5/5: I enjoyed it overall, but I did have a hard time getting into it. There are three different character perspectives and multiple timelines, so there was a lot of jumping around. I appreciated the different take on an abduction story, but the abductor got so sloppy towards the end and I’m not sure it was super plausible.

It’s one I enjoyed reading once I got into it, but it’s not one I enjoyed enough to read a second time.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I gave it four stars only because I felt it dragged on in spots. Other than that it was a good read.

This was a really good book. It centers primarily on “Rachel” who has been held against her will for 5 years now by a serial killer named Aidan who everyone thinks is the greatest guy. You also get chapters told from the POVs of his 13 year old daughter Cecelia and his current love interest, Emily.

I enjoyed the dynamics between the characters and could empathize with Rachel’s decisions based on her situation. I thought it was interesting to have a glimpse into the relationship between Rachel and Aidan, and the addition of Cecelia into the mix was interesting. Though Rachel’s chapters are told in the rare second person narrative, I enjoyed the writing style and thought it was engaging. I really liked the end and felt that I could understand the connections between various characters when all was said and done.

Overall, this was a good psychological thriller. I was shocked to hear that the author is a native French speaker but wanted to write the book in English- I didn’t get any indication throughout that the author was not a native English speaker. Great debut book that I would recommend. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. It takes the classic abduction book and flips it on its head with different perspectives. There were quite a few lines about trauma and family relationships in this book that I had to highlight because they spoke to me so vividly.

I loved that this book didn’t have a huge twist at the end or anything - those seem to be a bit overplayed. The ending wrapped up nicely and the entire time I couldn’t put it down. I did get a bit confused or lost in parts, but overall it was a very entertaining read!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review!

WOW! I found out from the acknowledgements that not only was this Michallon's debut thriller, but it was also her goal to write a novel in English as a French native. Job well done on both!

This story is told from various perspectives, and I loved all of them. Michallon does an amazing job of making you feel like you are right there in this novel, a tale of brutality, love, strength, and endurance. Aiden is a serial killer, father, and kidnapper who must move his hostage into his new home upon an unexpected move. Each character has a story, and Michallon makes you feel as if you know each one personally. I literally did not want to stop reading this book. I cannot wait to read more of what Clemence Michallon writes next!

I had high hopes based on the synopsis but I didn’t enjoy this. It felt cheesy and the second person point of view threw me off. I didn’t find it suspenseful.

Fast paced psychological thriller about a serial murderer. Slow burn, characters are well developed and had me hooked from the start. Good read!

Absolutely stunning debut novel for Clemence Michallon. Wow. Such an intriguing story told from 1st person narrative. This one is a page turner that will keep you up late and wanting for more.

Clemence does an excellent job developing the characters throughout the book, and keeps you guessing on every corner.

Well well done.

When his wife dies, serial killer Aiden and their teen daughter have to move to a new home. Along with the usual concerns of moving house, Aiden also has to move Rachel, a captive he has held in a shed behind his home for the last five years. Now the different spheres of his life are intersecting in new ways: his captive, his daughter, and his new love interest. Multiple perspectives and a fast pace, I’ll recommend to fans of domestic thrillers.
Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf for digital review copy.

I couldn’t put this book down! Great job and hooking the audience at the beginning and keeping you hooked the entire way through! I give this book a 5/5 stars!

The Quiet Tenant was a good read but I think there should have been more about the daughter or something from her point of view.

When I read the description for The Quiet Tenant, it brought back vibes from Notes on an Execution: serial killer where we hear the perspectives from the women around him. However, this book is very different from that one in terms of pacing, characters, and plot. So if you were concerned that you were going to get a knockoff version of Notes on an Execution, don’t let that dissuade you.

By far the strength of this novel is the Rachel perspective. Rachel has been held captive in Aidan’s (the serial killer’s) shed for five years. After his wife Caroline passes away from cancer, Aidan and his daughter Cecilia have to relocate. And Aidan takes Rachel with them! So Aidan has chosen to incorporate Rachel into his household with his daughter. We do see a few chapters from Cecilia’s perspective, but they are very few in number. I really appreciate Rachel’s keen observations. Having been imprisoned for so long, she knows Aidan really well and can sense when he has killed a woman or what mood he’s in. When she gets more access to his house, she takes in all the information she can.

Another perspective we see is Emily’s. This perspective, in my opinion, needs to be fleshed out more. Emily is the restaurant owner/bartender where Aidan visits semi-regularly. Emily seems lost. She’s inherited the restaurant but doesn’t seem that into it. Emily develops an unhealthy fixation on Aidan, who she has known since she was a teenager. We don’t really learn much more about Emily. I realize that Emily is needed for the plot, but I think the reader needs more about Emily’s character/backstory.

This novel shows the last part of Rachel’s shed imprisonment and then her transition to living in Aidan’s home, and I thought the novel was so well executed, giving the reader a real sense of what it would be like to be in Rachel’s position. The real-time moments were so tense, and you felt all the angst and terror of the situation. You can see Aidan’s power over these three women: with Cecilia he has the power of a father, with Rachel he has coerced/forced power, and he definitely has power over Emily as wel (though the reason is indeterminate).

There were some questions and/or comments I had as a reader that we don’t get answered, and other readers may also have:
* If Rachel was in Aidan’s backyard shed for 5 years and he visited her twice a day, wouldn’t his wife and daughter been suspicious of him leaving the house and going to the shed? I know his wife was sick with cancer, but still…it feels like this behavior would have been noticed, and the wife or daughter would have tried to figure out what was going on in the shed. Or, if the shed was farther away from the house, tried to follow him at least once.
* Why did he not kill Rachel? Rachel does puzzle out that she was his intended victim when his wife got sick. But why keep her around for so long when no one else makes it more than a few hours?
* What was Aidan’s appeal for Emily? Was he the only game in town? It comes off as a strange father fixation more than a crush. I understand Emily is a plot device, but she was difficult to understand as a character.

I really enjoyed this novel, and I don’t feel that it will fall from my memory anytime soon. It was extremely visceral. Thank you to NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

What an insane, slow-building, petrifying, multi-layered, intense of a thriller. So hard to put down, yet petrifying to continue on reading.

Aidan is a family man; recently single father, well respected man in the community whom everyone loves and adores. Aidan has an easy playing field for his secretive extra-curricular…activities.

The woman who is everywhere and nowhere, needs to play the quiet tenant to stay alive. Be involved with Aidan’s life, but never to be known of.

Emily works and owns the local restaurant in town. She wants so desperately to be a part of someone’s life, to be the center of someone’s world. She found someone to love; but, is it safe for her?

Run, don’t walk when this book comes out. You’ll be torn every which way and will not regret it.

Thank you NetGalley for this opportunity to read and review this!

I received an ARC copy of The Quiet Tenant by Clemence Michallon.

I absolutely loved this book! A seem-to-be-loving family man holds a dark secret. Throughout the book, we find out more information about Aiden and the horrific things he has done. However, no one in the community would ever suspect this kind man to be so dangerous. Rachel has rules that she lives by and her will to survive is admirable. The storytelling in this book had me completely immersed in the character of Rachel and really felt what it must have been like to be her. what lengths will she go to in order to survive and what lengths will he go to in order to keep his dark secret hidden from everyone around him, even his daughter who lives with them!
100% would recommend!