This is the second book I've read from these authors and it is just as fabulous as the first one. It had me sucked in by the first chapter! This is a fast and enjoyable read. It has you sitting on the edge of your seat and you won't know what hit you till the last page!I

Fantastic read!!

Thank you to the publisher, #Netgalley and #stmartinspress for letting me have the arc of this fabulous book in exchange for an honest review.

#ananonymousgirl

Thank you St Martin's Press for the arc. It seemed like a slow burn in the beginning but I forced myself to stick with it and I am glad that I did. . About the last hour or 100 pages it really kicked in. Loved the ending.

The second book by this writing duo. I am more familiar with Sarah Pekkanen and have read and reviewed almost all of her books here on Kritters Ramblings.

The synopsis for this one is we have Jessica Farris who is barely making ends meet for a few reasons and when at a job she hears about a study where she can make a large amount of cash and at this moment in her life she will do about anything for more income. Dr. Shields is the person running this study and she has quite a few reasons to run this study and they aren't all fo real academic research.

When I was pitched this book, the synopsis had me go hmmm. I was up for a psychological thriller with a study and a doctor at the heart of it. This is a spoiler but I have to share because this was the reason why I just couldn't enjoy this book and it is a sub genre that I just don't enjoy reading so if you don't either you may want to skip this one. The reason for Dr. Shields to enact her study is to get to the bottom of her husband's possible affairs. I personally do not like cheating husband books. Everyone may have a subgenre that they do not enjoy reading for any reason and cheating husband is the one for me that I doesn't enjoy reading - haven't experienced it, but just not something I like reading about. So if I had known that before starting, I would have possibly skipped this one.

Beyond that, the book was definitely set up well and the perfect twisty turny thriller. The pacing was right on and I liked the elements of it. I just didn't enjoy Dr. Shields' motive. I will read their next joint venture as long as we can stay away from the cheaters!

In the end, I have to say that I loved their first collaboration so much better. Go check out The Wife Between Us, it is such a great read that will go places that you could never have predicted!

Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's first novel, The Wife Between Us, completely creeped me out. So I was prepared for demented and twisty when I picked up their new novel -- An Anonymous Girl.

Not. Prepared. Enough.

Holy crap. There is nothing scarier than a scenario that could actually happen. This tale of jealousy, lies, manipulation, and madness could happen.....and that makes it the worst sort of mind game. Ok Greer & Sarah....kudos ladies! You got me again. I am totally creeped out.

Awesome story! I picked up this book this morning fully intending to read a couple chapters then get some laundry, chores, etc done. Poof...suddenly it's this afternoon and I got nothing else done but read this book. Total binge.

The basics: A make up artist in NYC needs a little extra cash. She's getting a bit desperate. She didn't hit it big doing makeup for theater productions like she dreamed....she's making calls on clients to pretty them up for dates, events, etc. It's a job....but not a high paying one. She hears about a blind study on morality and ethics that pays $500. She could use the money....so she tells a bit of a fib to get into the study. Little does she know that lying to get into this study on ethics will be more than ironic.....it's going to be twisted and dark.

The story definitely kept my attention from start to finish. Lots of psychological suspense. I felt sympathy for the main character, Jessica. Jess hangs on to guilt and self esteem issues from past decisions and actions....and those hangups are used to manipulate the crap out of her. It was disturbing because we all carry similar emotional baggage. In the hands of a knowledgeable manipulative person...maybe we all could be victimized like she is in this story.

Don't read this story looking for high literature.....this is mind candy of a disturbing nature. It's meant to create a feeling, an unease, discomfort....not existential literary fulfillment. Grab a classic for existential....grab this book for a total mind F. It makes for an awesome afternoon of psychological torment! I loved it! I can't wait to see what twisted plot they come up with next! I will definitely read it!

Any book that makes me binge the entire story at one sitting deserves full stars from me.... I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from St. Martins Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

Rating: 3 stars (rounded down from 3.5)

The writing duo of Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen wrote this year’s best seller, “The Wife Between Us”. I haven’t read that book yet, but I was excited to get my hands on their second book, “An Anonymous Girl” because of the buzz generated by “The Wife Between Us”. I was actually a bit disappointed in “An Anonymous Girl”. When I’d read the final page, I thought, “Wow, that ending was a bit of a letdown.” The book is a mystery in the Psychological Thriller genre. It started out well, but in my opinion ended with a bit of a whimper instead of the bang I was expecting.

This book is told from alternating points of view. First we hear from Jessica, ‘Jess’ Farris. She is a twenty-eight year-old make-up artist trying to make her mark in New York City. She’s had some set-backs along the way, and is usually scrambling to earn more money to make ends meet. She is secretly paying for some of her younger sister’s medical bills. She jumps at a chance to enter a psychological study focusing on morality at NYU that promises to pay her some good money for just a little bit of time invested.

Next we are introduced to Dr. Lydia Shields who is the psychiatrist behind the NYU study. From nearly the beginning of her narration, we understand that the coolly logical Dr. Shields is using this study to find the perfect human subject with whom to continue her own personal research project. That project to prove whether or not her husband is faithful. Jess is Subject 52, and is singled out by Dr. Shields for this extra-curricular research.

From there the cat and mouse game begins. At first Jess is completely taken in by Dr. Shields, but as she is asked to take on more complex tasks, she becomes more wary. Along the way are introduced to other characters, including Dr. Shields’ husband, Thomas, and the plot grows more complex. However, even with the complexity, the pace of story was a bit to slow for me.

I wasn’t sure which of the characters were unreliable narrators, and I enjoyed the suspense of that unknown. They very well could have ALL have been unreliable. The plot denouement occurs on Christmas Da. Sadly, it wasn’t the present of and ending that I was anticipating.

Was the book suspenseful? Yes.

Did it keep me on the edge of my seat? Not so much.

I think it was a good solid effort, hence the 3-star rating. It wasn’t a waste of my reading time, but it didn’t live up to the anticipatory hype I’d built up in my mind based on the acclaim of the authors’ debut book. It didn’t quite keep me as engaged, and didn’t surprise me to the degree that other psychological thrillers that I’ve read recently did.

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, St Martin’s Press; and the authors, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen; for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having enjoyed The Wife Between Us, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on An Anonymous Girl. It didn’t disappoint. It’s got twists and turns, and the dual narration keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time.

This was a fast-paced suspense novel about a beauty consultant, Jess, that sneaks her way into a study in order to make some quick cash. She soon becomes the sole study allowing her to make more cash on the side of her beauty consultant gig. I won’t say anymore about the plot because I believe you should go in not knowing much. I formed some opinions of what I thought was going on and the storyline kept taking a different turn. Is it believable? No, but I promise it’s enjoyable and hard to put down.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

As a big fan of thrillers, I enjoyed this book. I didn't rush to finish it, but rather liked reading each part and spiraling deeper down the rabbit hole of obsession and deceit and mind games. I didn't figure out the twist(s), but I also didn't find them shocking when they occured. I think this was because everything was laid out so well and the characters so well defined that when crazy things happened, they all made sense. An easy book to get into that definitely got under my skin at times.

Its remarkable how the simplest of decisions can create a butterfly effect...

Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen wrote another readable thriller. It wasn't earth shattering but it was a quick read and kept me interested. While some parts seemed far fetched most of the book was very good.

Earlier this year I read The Wife Between Us, it was amazing. I love the way Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen write well together. And I LOVED the twists! I kept seeing the cover art for their newest book, An Anonymous Girl, everywhere. I was excited to receive an advanced digital copy of the ebook via Netgalley.


I'm addicted to psych thrillers and murder mysteries. While this book was addictive in that I could not put it down, it lacked the suspense I typically get from psych thrillers. However, I truly loved the story line.


Warning: There are mentions of suicide, grooming, sexual assault, and affairs.

These two authors really know how to weave a story. I read The Wife Between us and was blown away and this book, An Anonymous Girl is just as tightly written, suspenseful and thrilling. The characters are so developed, yet there is still something that the reader has to try and develop and understand on their own. It was a very good read. I can't wait for more from Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkamen.

Well that was underwhelming. I started this book as a second chance for Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's writing because at the begining of the year I read The Wife Between Us, with the highest expectations and it was my most anticipated book of 2018, and I was very disappointed as I was with this book. An Anonymous Girl started out promising for me and in the first 25% of the novel I was really enjoying it. However at the 35% mark I felt it dragged on way too long and by 50% I was completely over it. This book had potential but fell very flat in my opinion. As with The Wife Between Us the ending was underwhelming and I think I have chalked it down to their writing style not being for me. I gave the authors a good try but with both novels not working for me I think I'm going to skip their next book.

2.5 stars out of 5

This story is told from two different viewpoints, that of a psychologist, Dr. Shields, and that of Jessica who signs up to serve as a subject in a study run by Dr. Shields. Neither woman was particularly likable. Jessica seemed remarkably naïve and too easily manipulated. She consistently made really poor decisions and I always felt like something wasn’t quite right with her. I had the feeling that I was meant to be cheering for her and hoping that she could escape the predicament she had gotten herself into but I just couldn’t be in her corner.

Dr. Shields’ sections were written in a very different style. She was clinical, cold, and detached. She treated life as a psychological study or experiment and could never immerse herself into actually living instead of observing and recording data like a scientist. I found her more elegant of speech but she was a total bore. Have you ever known someone who recounts their day step by step in minute detail? These people exist in real life, unfortunately, and they are excruciatingly dull. No one cares about the particulars of your life and I certainly didn’t care to read Dr. Shields’ minutiae. I dreaded her chapters and truthfully started half-skimming them. I understand this was done to illustrate her issues and state of mind but I wish it could have been accomplished in a more engaging way.

I don’t need to like or even relate to the main characters in a book in order to enjoy it so I don’t think the personalities of the two women was a deal breaker. The plot was just fine and I believe if it was written solely from the perspective of Jessica I would have been much more involved. The story would explode forward with something interesting happening and then I’d come to a Dr. Shields chapter and it would grind to a halt. If there was less of the Dr. and more of anything else I would have enjoyed the book a lot more.

The conclusion was a bit anticlimactic. There was a bit of a twist at the end that although it disappointed me it did not surprise me. I really wanted to like this book but my enjoyment level while reading was very low and I couldn’t wait to finish and be done with it. I don’t think it is a bad story by any means and I’m not entirely sure why it didn’t work for me. Reading other reviews it seems I’m the black sheep on this one and please don’t let me dissuade you from giving this a try. It wasn’t my favourite thriller but it might be yours!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.

Not as twisty as The Wife Between Us, but truly enjoyable to read. Well written. Four stars - I’d definitely recommend.

A fairly bland psychological thriller. I appreciate and have patience for a good slow burn if executed well, but it felt like that was most of what this book consisted of, with the payoff at the end not as explosive as I had hoped nor meriting all of the buildup. Although there are some interesting elements at play here concerning morality and obsession, I wish that overall the story had felt more worth my time.

It sounds like an easy way to make some much-needed money to make-up artist Jessica Farris. Just answer a few questions for Dr. Shields’ psychology study, what could be difficult about that? But some of the questions are tough to answer and cause Jessica quite a bit of discomfort. But she tries to be honest and do what she’s being paid for. Then she meets Dr. Shields and is asked to expand her participation in the study and quite a bit more would be asked of her. The excellent pay pulls Jessica in further and further until she doesn’t know who to trust or just what to think about Dr. Shields’ strange study. What will Dr. Shields do with the information she’s gathering and why does she need it in the first place?

I was immediately pulled into this book and was completely intrigued. I couldn’t read fast enough wondering just what was going on and what this study was all about. I have to admit that when I found out the “why”, I was a bit disappointed. But I was hooked by that point and had to know more. This is a book that has a surprise around each bend in the road. Like Jessica, you won’t know who can be trusted or what’s next in store for this very likeable character. Try not to read too many reviews about this one because you want to go in blind and not know too much. Let these excellent authors tell the story the way only they can. An addictive read about obsession, betrayal and morality.

Recommended.

How much do you know about the people you give your information away to? When you log into Facebook, you're giving who knows who access to your name, your likes and dislikes, your friends, your family, your photos. But what if you could be anonymous- just a number amidst a group of other numbers? Jess, sliding into a vacant spot in a psychological study, thinks some of the questions she's being asked are a little TOO personal- but she's just a number, so what's the harm in answering honestly? She's being paid, after all, and she needs the money. But the questions keep coming, and they become less theoretical. How far is Jess willing to go for a paycheck?

Hendricks and Pekkanen's follow-up to 2018's The Wife Between Us is another suspenseful trip through the minds of multiple narrators. You're never quite sure who is telling the truth, or if it's only the truth as they see it. The ending is definitely different from the usual psychological thriller, and not necessarily one even an avid reader of the genre would foresee. An Anonymous Girl is definitely worth picking up, reading... and then reflecting on how much you share.

If you ask me if this was better than The Wife Between Us... YES it was! This duo came out pretty strong once again with this twisty psychological thriller. I loved that it kept me guessing and changing my mind of what happened pretty much the whole time! What will you do for money? Money to support your family. The story is told from the point of view of Jessica aka subject 52 and Dr. Shields (blessed her heart). Jessica will learn the hard way that not everyone is what they seems to be. If you liked The wife between us you sure don’t want to miss this one!

I really liked The Wife Between Us by this author duo so was both looking forward to their next endeavor as well as being a little nervous that it would not be as good as their first.  I was captured almost from the beginning, reading nearly half of it in an afternoon. It is a much different story than The Wife Between Us but for those of you who have read their first book and remember the major surprise twist halfway through it, An Anonymous Girl will not disappoint you.  It is structured differently in that it has multiple twists and you will want to keep reading to find out what is going to happen next.

Jessica Farris is a young woman working as a makeup artist in New York City.  She struggles to make ends meet and help her parents financially with the care of her special needs younger sister, Becky.  In an effort to earn extra money, Jess signs up to participate in a research study about morality and ethics. As subject 52, the story of her involvement with Dr. Shields, the researcher, serves as the plot for this thriller.  To tell much more about the plot would be a disservice to those who might want to read this. It is much better to go into this story as blind as possible. Just know you will enjoy it from beginning all the way to the end.

Thank you to the authors, St Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel.

Whoop!They did it again!!! Even better than the first book this writing dual wrote together!

An intense twisty story that will make your head spin and your heart race! A book that made me check behind me just in case somebody creepy was watching! An absolute must read my psychological thriller loving friends, the hype is real!

Jess is a struggling makeup artist trying to find her way in NYC... in need of money she fakes her way into a psychological research project... The research soon begins to spin out of control, leaving Jess bewildered and concerned... soon lines become blurred and research becomes reality.... A naïve girl, a creepy doctor, and a question of ethics... how much money would it take for you to compromise your morality? And how vulnerable does that make you?

Jess was such a sympathetic character, I really adored her, and oh how I felt for her! She really wanted to help her family out and I think that might have blinded her to some huge red flags when it came to good old Dr. Shields... dr. Shields, yikes! SO creepy! I don’t even want to use a pronoun, because I think it is best to go into this book not even knowing if the doctor is a he or a she.... just know they are one manipulative disturbed SOB! There were so many times during this book I was on pins and needle’s, just waiting to see what the doctor would do next!

This book was an intense ride until the very last word! A different and unique approach to the psychological thriller a twist to the twist! Absolutely recommend, this is one of the best!

*** A big thanks to St. Martin’s Press for my copy of this book ***

A solid psychological thriller that I’ll confidently hand to those requesting the genre. This left me guessing to the end.