The blurb for this book intrigued me immediately, and after reading this writing duo's previous book, The Wife Between Us, I knew that as the reader I would be taken on a journey full of twists and turns, revelations, misdirection and plenty of questions.

The main character, Jess, sets the tone right away with this story by becoming a participant in a study on Ethics and Morality. But she enters the study under less than ethical or moral circumstances, so what does that say about her?

"Could you tell a lie without feeling guilt?"

If you needed money really badly, would a little lie tug at your conscience? What could this study consist of besides just answering a few questions anonymously, collect your money and forget about it? That's what Jess thinks anyway, until the doctor conducting the test directly entices her with further sessions that include more money, ultimately leading Jess to agree to meet with the doctor directly to continue their sessions one on one.

What transpires from there is a rollercoaster ride of: What is going on? Who can you truly trust? To what lengths will someone go to hold onto what is theirs? And woven throughout the whole story are the underlying secrets and fears that Jess has been holding in for a long time.

Greer and Sarah weave an intricately complex tale told in dual points of view. That of Jess herself, and the other from Dr. Shields who is conducting the study, and may I say, the way her chapters are revealed is pretty ingenious.

The only reason I am not giving this book a full five stars is because the first part dragged a little too much for me. It felt like I was trudging through part 1 and about half of part 2 before the story really picked up. Then once it did, I couldn't put it down. I had to find out how Jess was going to get out of the dangerous cat and mouse game that Dr. Shields was playing with her.

For lovers of Psychological Suspense, this book is perfect for you! It will keep you guessing until the very end.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance review copy of An Anonymous Girl in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

After loving The Wife Between Us by this author duo, I have had sky high expectations for their follow up novel, An Anonymous Girl. Unfortunately, those expectations were not met.

It took me quite a long time to get into this book. I found the first third or so of it incredibly boring. I didn’t really care about either of the main characters. For awhile everything Jess did got on my nerves. I just didn’t think her behavior made sense. I did eventually start to enjoy it a little more, but it kind of came in waves. I was hooked for sections here and there, but mostly the pacing was just far too slow for me. In the previous book by these authors I also had a problem with the pacing, but the multiple big twists made up for it. Unfortunately here, there are no big, shocking twists to save it. There are several things that I guess are supposed to be surprises or small twists, but nothing happened that I didn’t already guess.

I don’t want to say too much about the plot because of spoilers. I will say that I thought the whole thing was a little far fetched. Whenever Jess “figured something out” I always felt like it kind of came out of nowhere and was a little too convenient. One positive thing I will say, is that I thought the writing was pretty seamless between the two authors. Their writing styles complement each other very well and despite my disappointment with this book, I’ll still read more from them in the future.

Overall, An Anonymous Girl failed to live up to my high expectations. I never connected with the characters and didn’t really care what happened to them and found the overall mystery itself a little lackluster. I am upping my rating from a 2 to a 3 due to the seamless writing of the two authors and because there were a few moments here and there that I enjoyed myself. From the other reviews I’ve seen of this book so far I am clearly in the minority, so this still may be worth your time to give it a try.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 3 Stars

Working as a makeup artist, Jessica (Jess) Farris, overhears her client’s message about a morality study complete with location and time. When her client says that it will be too early for her to attend, Jessica decides to go instead. She could use the extra money and figures how hard can it be to answer a few questions. How hard indeed!

Jessica shows up the next day and is told that she is Subject 52. She is instructed that there are no right or wrong answers, the only requirement is that she is honest. Sounds simple, right? Answering questions on a computer. Easy - or is it? The questions are quite personal and often ask the respondent what she would do in certain situations. Jessica answers the questions and is soon asked if she would like to make more money. You see, Dr. Shields has been watching. She has been reading Jessica's responses. She has encouraged Jessica to dig deeper, to share more. Jessica has piqued Dr. Shield's interest. hmm.... Dr. Shields has also piqued Jessica's interest. hmm...

Given the opportunity to meet Dr. Shields, Jessica is intrigued and highly motivated to make even more money. She soon learns that there will be no more computer Q&A sessions. She will be working closely with Dr. Shields. Dr. Shield's will have assignments for her. Jessica will be given instructions and asked to follow through on them. What is Dr. Shields looking for? What is the purpose of these assignments?

This is one book that lives up to the hype. I will admit that in the beginning, I was skeptical. I read the first chapter and thought "Okay, what's the big deal?" and then I kept reading and quickly realized what the big deal was! As the book progresses the suspense grows and grows and grows (you get the picture). Like Jessica, I initially wondered what the purpose of the assignments was. What was Dr. Shields looking for? Soon the twists and turns started coming. Just when I thought I had things figured out, new twists and tiny revelations were thrown into the mix. As the study progresses, Jess begins to realize that maybe, just maybe she made the wrong decision. She begins to question things and begins to wonder just what she got herself into.

After my initial skepticism, I was fully engaged in this book and found it hard to put down. After the first few chapters, things start to happen fast, and I was glued to my seat and turning the pages as fast as I could. I found the book to be riveting, suspenseful and fun. This was a very well thought out book. I loved how everything came together and even when I thought I knew everything, I found that there was still more to this story than I thought. Just like there was more to both Dr. Shields and Jess than I initially thought. This book has a great cat and mouse feel to it. This is the perfect book for fans of psychological thrillers and suspenseful mysteries.

Thank you to St. Martin's press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is my first book by these authors. I wasn't sure what to expect but wow! This book was amazing!

One of those page turners, for sure. Had to order a copy of their first book too.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy in exchange for a review.

Thank you netgalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Secrets, lies, adultery, manipulation, morality, would you pass the test? Jessica is working as a makeup artist in New York City struggling to support herself and send money home to her parents and disabled sister. On a whim she inserts herself into a high paying psychology study focusing on morality. She is subject 52 revealing her innermost feelings and secrets to a laptop computer. She quickly progresses and she is selected to go beyond the initial study and work with Dr Shields directly participate in real world scenarios; for Jessica the money is just too good to give up. Before she knows it she is sucked into a dangerous game of cat and mouse with no clue who to trust and who is telling the truth. What will it take for her to survive?

This is a edge of your seat psychological mind-bender told from both Jessica and Dr Sheild's perspectives. I enjoyed this thriller because the reader is as much in the dark as Jessica is, not knowing who is telling the truth, who is being used and who will ultimately win in the end. I was hoping for a little more out of the ending but overall I enjoyed the book and it kept me guessing.

This is a solid mystery, written from the viewpoint of two women, one an acclaimed professor, conducting a psychology study, the other, a late 20s makeup artist involved in the study. Both are complex women, with multiple psychological issues, and the study brings them together in a way that forces one to examine her values and the other to confront them in a new way. As the story progresses, their lives become entangled in a cat and mouse game, both trying to stay ahead of the other, The story is well written, interesting and I can easily see it becoming a movie, so much so that I almost visualize it as a screenplay made into a tie-in book, but that’s okay.
I wasn’t fond of a twist at the end, but I suppose it’s understandable. Overall a great read, hard to put down.

I'm a huge fan of the authors of this one after reading The Wife Between Us, so naturally I was super excited to read their next book.

This is a book that captures life in NYC perfectly I love when a fab city plays such a role in a book it becomes an extra character in the book.

I love MPOV narrated stories. This one is narrated by Jessica a bueaty buzz consultant & Dr. Shields a respected well established psychologist.

The two stories merge early on when Jessica takes part in Dr. Shields study on ethics & mortality. Jessica who could use the extra money as any New Yorker knows hustling to get extra money is always something to go after living in an expensive city. However how she gets into the study to begin with is not so moral.

I found Dr. Shields moral code of conduct questions pretty fascinating. It was a very interesting way to get Jessica's back story within her answers. I love how this book gets you up to think while Jessica is taking the quiz.

I really enjoyed how the characters are flawed each in their own way, everyone has secrets. It's how far people are willing to go, what causes them to cross the line & go too far is what makes this such a good read.

Dr. Shields is quite an interesting character herself a seemingly perfect person with her success, money & status. She is quite the opposite of Jessica. How she gains Jessica's trust for this study is a great page turning plot.

Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen have done it again! I loved their previous novel The Woman Between Us and this one solidifies my decision for this author duo to be an auto-buy!

Young beauty consultant Jessica Farris is struggling to get by in NYC and uses her street smarts to weasel her way into a handsomely paid psychological study conducted by Dr. Shields. Anything to help support herself and her disabled sister that still lives with her parents. The study takes a mysterious turn and Dr. Shields is more than Jessica bargained for.

Although I found this story to be fairly predictable, I couldn't wait to see what would happen next in this cat and mouse game! Told between alternating voices, we find out the true nature of this psychological study and who can and can not be trusted.

This is a fun, fast-paced, difficult-to-put-down read in which I am grateful for NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this free review copy.

**Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this title ahead of its January 2019 publication.**

An Anonymous Girl follows the twisted and manipulated relationship between Jessica, a thirty-something makeup artist trying to make ends meet in New York City and Dr. Lydia Shields, a morality professor heading up a research study. When Jessica agrees to take part in a mysterious psychology study at the last minute in order to earn some extra cash she ends up entangled in the life of Dr. Shields, the captivating and beautiful professor running the study.

I really enjoyed this thriller. I was pretty sucked into the plot from the get-go. The story is told in alternating chapters between Jessica and Dr. Shields. Dr. Shields's chapters are told from second person which did take some getting used to but it added to the omnious feeling that Dr. Shields had eyes everywhere and that Jessica was never truly safe. I went into this book not knowing too much about the plot and I think that served me well; therefore, I won't talk at length about the details of the story.

Things I enjoyed about An Anonymous Girl:
- I typically love dual perspective stories. I feel like as long as the voices are distinct (which they are in this instance) you really get a better feel of all the protagonists.
- I thought the story unfolded the mystery at a good pace, with the exception of the last quarter of the novel. I felt very tense reading certain interactions, especially between the two protags and it kept me guessing.
- I really enjoyed Jessica as a character. I felt that she was realistic and relatable.

Things I wasn't crazy about:
- I thought the story fell apart a little towards the end. Not that the ending wasn't good, but I felt that the "twist" was given up a bit early and took all the steam out of the last quarter or so. I probably would've given this novel 5 stars if the ending had unraveled a bit differently.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves thrillers! I haven't read these authors' first collaboration, The Wife Between Us, but now it is on hold at my local library. Thanks again to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to view this book early.

This book was absoultely amazing...I have read the Good Wife by these same authors and loved it. When I found out they wrote this book, I knew I had to read it! It is suspenseful and will keep you "hooked" to the last page on what was happening. This book will bring you on a reading roller coaster that many books lack to do!! This book is just WOW a wonderfully great read and now the authors are quickly becoming my favorite ones to read. This book will not disappoint you!! #AnAnonymousGirl #bestbookof2019

Wow! Five big stars. For once, the hype and buzz are deserved.


Remember the rules: Be open and truthful, and avoid pivoting away from any embarrassment or pain these questions provoke.


This book grabbed me from the get go. A twenty eight year old woman sneaks herself into an ethics and morality study in order to earn some extra income. I was able to immediately put myself in her shoes. The initial questions had me wondering how I would answer.

The chapters alternate between the woman and the doctor heading up the study. It quickly becomes a fast paced ride. Definitely entertaining. There are some real twists so that the tension keeps getting ratcheted up. It’s a hard book to put down. I can even see this being made into a movie.

Don’t look for believability here. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some interesting concepts being explored. Power. Trust.

Jessica is such a well thought out character. Out of her depth, but a real fighter. No dummy, but she’s up against a master. I was entranced trying to figure out how she would extract herself from this game of cat and mouse.

I would love to know how Hendricks and Pekkanen write together because the finished product is seamless.

If you like dark psychological thrillers, this one’s for you!

My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publish Date: January 8, 2019

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher St. Martin’s Press for the ebook ARC of An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen in exchange for an honest review.

Seeking women ages 18-32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed.

When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she will have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave. But as the questions grow more and more intense and invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she’s thinking… and what she’s hiding. As Jess’s paranoia grows, it becomes clear that she can no longer trust what in her life is real, and what i one of Dr. Shield’s manipulative experiments. Caught in a web of deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.

I give this book a rating of 4 stars and highly recommend it. I was hooked from the very beginning. I could not wait to read this book since I read Hendricks & Pekkanen’s last book together, The Wife Between Us. This book was captivating and pulled you right in. I was on the edge of my seat until the very end. The end was shocking and unexpected.

#AnAnonymousGirl #NetGalley

I found this book really interesting and was pulled into the story right away. I didn’t always agree with the protagonist’s decisions, but I was really rooting for her.
The actions of the psychiatrists were disturbing.
I look forward to reading more of this author’s work.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

Absolutely enthralling mystery. I started this book and couldn't put it down. I found myself thinking about it when I couldn't read, trying to peice together motives and figure everything out. The main character, Jess, is likeable and relatable, but I found myself being sympathetic toward even the antagonist by the end of the book. Very slick writing-I forgot the book had two authors several times throughout the book!-everything just flowed together so well! I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Another Greer Hendricks book that has you hooked from the start. You know a train wreck is coming for Jess and you can’t stop reading about it. You even know the players in the story so the twists come in a different way. I enjoyed the chaps res where Dr. Shields is narrating like she is talking to Jess. I found that I wanted to know a little more about Dr. Shields sister and Subject #5 at the end. I received an ARC copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

i haven't read the other super popular book by this author duo, but i own it. this one took a bit for me to get into, about 40% but then i was invested. it isn't exactly scary or super thrilling, but it is creepy AF and left me feeling all unsettled. something fell flat for me though, but i can't put my finger on it. could just be wrong book wrong time for me.

I LOVED this book. Unfortunately its one of those books its hard to review without including spoilers. I knew I wanted to read it after reading the synopsis and seeing other Goodreads reviews on it. It didn't disappoint.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy to review.

Twisted and full of suspense. While the mystery portion of the plot was easy to catch onto fairly early, it in no way takes away from the suspense of the story. It is a plot that feels like it could all too plausibly happen in real life. These authors have a knack for creating compelling characters. Another great read.

Netgalley making dreams come true and granting wishes :)

This is the second book I have read by the authors.

The story starts out with a young makeup artist trying to make it in the city. She overhears about a psychology study that had a decent payout and the girl she is working on won’t be attending so she takes her place. Who knew that this seemingly meaningless switch would open up a whole other set of problems.
Dr. Shields is the brains behind this morality study that Jess finds herself revealing her secrets in. She draws her in and Jess seems to feel comfortable with her. At least for now.
Who do you trust the therapist luring you in or the husband with something to hide? Everyone has a secret and an agenda in the book and I loved every second of it.

Overall, this was a rapid read that draws you in with twists and turns and an ending I didn’t see coming.

I love the mystery/thriller/suspense genre, but it has been quite some time since one made me sit back and say “WOW!” Am I experiencing a book slump? Or have the books I’ve been reading in this genre lately all been missing something?

When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she’ll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave. But as the study becomes more invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she’s thinking and what she’s hiding.

I thought the plot of An Anonymous Girl was sound. What wasn’t sound was the execution of the story. It started off well enough but then the story dragged, as did my interest. I was waiting for some action, a feeling of suspense and intrigue. This book didn’t leave me eager to turn the pages to see how the story would end. All the lines are tugged closed, but I found I didn’t care how it all en6+ded. I guess that’s a good thing because all I was left with was a blah feeling.

In a nutshell, this book was interesting but not all that gripping. I’m glad I read it, but it won’t appear on any re-read list.