The Quiet Tenant

against the ground, the spray of the hose. When he comes back, the bucket is clean, full of soapy water.

He watches as you clean yourself. In the hierarchy of your body, you are the tenant and he is the landlord. He hands you your tools: a bar of soap, a plastic comb, a toothbrush, a small tube of toothpaste. Once a month, the anti-­lice shampoo. Your body: always brewing trouble, and him, keeping it at bay. Every three weeks, he pulls the nail clippers out of his back pocket. He waits while you snip yourself back to presentableness, then takes them back. Always, he takes them back. You have done this for years.

You put your clothes back on. It seems pointless to you, given what follows, but this is what he s decided. It doesn t work, you think, if you do it yourself. He has to be the one to pull down the zippers, undo the buttons, peel off the layers.

The geography of his flesh: things you didn t want to learn, but learned anyway. A mole on his shoulder. The trail of hair down his abdomen. His hands: the grip of his fingers. The hot pressure of his palm on your neck.

Through it all, he never looks at you. This isn t about you. This is about all the women and all the girls. This is about him and all the things boiling inside his head.

When it s over, he never lingers. He s a man in the world, with responsibilities calling out to him. A family, a household to run. Homework to check. Movies to watch. A wife to keep happy and a daughter to cradle. There are items on his to-­do list beyond you and your little existence, all demanding to be crossed out.

Except tonight.

Tonight, everything changes.

Tonight is the night you see this man ­this very careful man, known to take only calculated steps ­violate his own rules.

He pushes himself up, palms flat on the woode

and harrowing in the extreme from the very first page, this is an unforgettable debut. If this is a first novel, what's the next going to be like? I dread to think literally. Congratulations to Clémence Michallon, queen of the psychological thriller. We'll be waiting. Shots Magazine (UK Praise)

I can recommend The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon. The story of a male serial killer called Aidan Thomas is told from multiple perspectives, in a way that centers the female voices of his victims. It's a pacy thriller and a sharp study of survival. The Independent (UK Praise)

The Quiet Tenant is a fascinating inversion of the serial killer thriller, a story that challenges some of the genre s most prevalent and pervasive tropes through the eyes of the powerful women involved. In the process with razor-sharp plotting and hypnotic prose Michallon has created an unforgettable novel. Alex Segura, author of Secret Identity

The Quiet Tenant is a humane thriller, one that doesn't shy from asking the most difficult questions of its characters and its readers, and dares, ultimately, hopeful answers. Intelligent and suspenseful, I couldn't stop turning the pages." Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World

The Quiet Tenant is an absolutely brilliant, incredibly delicious, edge-of-your-seat thriller.  Imagine Jodi Picoult meets Jeffery Deaver and then watch as Clémence Michallon exceeds every one of your expectations.  She s that good.  The book is that good.  And the ending is a killer! Brad Thor, author of Dead Fall

"Clémence Michallon s The Quiet Tenant is a spell-binding Trojan horse of a  novel, bracing and beguiling. A dangerous man and his unforgivable crimes are its seeming center but, in Michallon s nimble hands, the novel soon reveals itself to be a story of female strength, cunning, depth, and power." Megan Abbott, author of You Will Know Me

Clémence Michallon has managed to reimagine the serial killer novel, delivering all (and frankly, more) of the expected suspense and psychological tension, but offering a story about women the ones who didn t know the evil that lurked within, the ones who tried to placate or fight but still perished, the ones who might actually survive. Haunting but never prurient, The Quiet Tenant is truly unforgettable. Read it. Alafair Burke, author of The Wife

Expertly structured and luminously rendered, The Quiet Tenant is told from the perspectives of several different women bound, both wittingly and unwittingly, to a single, terrifyingly familiar predator. A mystery that is at once riveting and heartrending, The Quiet Tenant is a sharply insightful look at what it means to live and love as a woman in this harrowing world. It is truly extraordinary. Kimberly McCreight, author of Reconstructing Amelia

A dazzling debut thriller . . . This is a smart, female-focused inversion of the serial killer thriller perfect for readers who otherwise wouldn t give the genre a second look. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

While a widowed man falls for a bartender, the woman he s held hostage for years plots her escape in this fast-paced thriller . . . A twisted premise that raises unexpected moral questions. Kirkus Reviews

A brutal, sad, heartbreaking story focused on resilience and survival. Recommended for fans of true crime stories, Gillian Flynn, or Jessica Knoll. Library Journal

Nightmarish, nerve-jangling, and horrifying, this one is not for the fainthearted, but it s an explosive, utterly gripping read. Booklist