Book: The Quiet Tenant
Author: Clémence Michallon
Pages: 372
Read on: Kindle
Read in: ~4.5 hours
Plot Summary: He took you and you have been his for five years. But you have been careful. Waiting for him to mess up. It has to be now.
Aidan Thomas is a hardworking family man and a respected member of his community. He's the kind of man who always lends a hand and has a good word for everyone. He's also a kidnapper and serial killer who has murdered eight women. And there's a ninth, a woman he calls Rachel, imprisoned in a backyard shed where she fears for her life.
When Aidan's wife dies, he and his thirteen-year-old daughter, Cecilia, are forced to move. Aidan has no choice but to bring Rachel too, introducing her to Cecilia as a family friend who needs a place to stay. He knows that after five years of captivity, Rachel is too frightened of the consequences to attempt to escape. But Rachel is a fighter and a survivor. And when Emily, a local restaurant owner, develops a crush on the handsome widower, she finds herself drawn into Rachel and Cecilia's orbit, coming dangerously close to discovering Aidan's secret.
The Quiet Tenant explores the psychological impact of Aidan's crimes on the women in his life through the voices of Rachel, Cecilia, and Emily - and the bonds between those women that give them the strength to fight back.
Things I Liked:
1. Finally, a new sub-genre of thriller is here! As someone who reads a lot of crime thriller books, all the tropes get really old really fast! It has come to point where the killer is so easy to guess at the 10-15% mark in the book, which left me feeling so angry and dissatisfied! Hence, I was so happy to see this book pop up on Amazon because, for once, it is not following the usual crime thriller tropes and is actually a realistic exploration of trauma and power and the desire to survive against all odds!
2. This is a difficult book to read. Please note that there is description of sexual assault and r*pe. If you find these things triggering, then do stay away from this book. This book is about a girl, who has been held captive by a perverted killer for five years and, it goes without saying that, he has kept her with him for r*ping and exploiting her on a regular basis. So, those aspects of the book are difficult to read but I did persevere on because everything "Rachel" (not her real name but the name given to her by her kidnapper) thinks, feels and does to survive are so realistic and heartbreaking. She is not a "hero" but she uses all her smarts and works within the limits of her trauma to think of ways to end her captivity.
3. This is a story told from the perspective of multiple women around Aidan- "Rachel", his daughter- Cecelia and Emily- a young woman with a massive crush on him. Apart from them, we also have a chapter each from each of the eight women that Aidan murdered. We get to see how Aidan shares his "troubles" with these poor women before r*aping and murdering them! Such a twisted, devious man!
Coming back to the women, each of them show us a different side to Aidan- brutal, charming, caring, controlling, helpful. It helps the reader understand how effortlessly Aidan operates within the community he lives in and how he manages to come across as 'father of the year' to his daughter!
4. I loved how "Rachel" plans her escape. This is not a spoiler because we know from the very beginning that Rachel is planning her escape and I love how systematically and carefully she plans it. She knows she can't afford to make a mistake and she can't have any failed escape attempts. She has one shot to do it correctly! So, her plan is a bit of a slow-burn, which is to be expected and I appreciated that the author made all of it seem so realistic.
Things I Didn't Like:
1. Since this book is about a serial killer, it would've been good to provide some understanding into what drove Aidan to become one. We just get minimal snippets of information on his past- he was in college (we are made to think it was Med School, but we can't be sure because he could've lied to Cecelia and his wife), we know he joined the Marines in their medical unit (again, can't be sure as Cecelia was the source of this info) and we know that he left the Marines to do a blue collared job that barely provided enough for him and his daughter. Beyond that, apart from the urge to control someone, there is just no insight or information into why he did what he did, which, for me, was a let down.
Rating: 4/5
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