An excellent psychological thriller, impossible to put down. Read in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s creepy!

Having heard a lot about The Wife Between Us I was interested to read this book. The summary sounded different and interesting. - certainly not the usual thriller and I must say this definitely falls into the category of psychological thriller. I must say I think this would make an excellent film with the right actors.
Okay the actual review - as usual difficult to say too much without giving everything away. I will say that about 30% into the book I was wondering where it was going (don't get me wrong this was not bad but it seemed to be heading in the same direction). then the twist happens and the book really takes off. It became a race to finish it to see what happens and you really do end up wondering how it will be resolved and hating certain characters.
This is one of my must read books and if it is not turned into a film I will be amazed.

I read this in just less than 48 hours , from the very first page I was hooked , this is the first title I have read by these author’s and it won’t be the last ! If your a fan of the girl before then you will love this . Make up artist Jess works long hours to try and make ends meet , after her dreams of working in the theatre are shattered after something happens that she’s never told anyone about ,So when she tricks her way onto a study on ethics and morality to make some money being run by a renowned Dr Sheilds it seems to good to be true , guaranteed anonymity, 500$ to answer some honest questions she jumps at the chance. As the rewards grow so do the tasks she asked to , what has Jess got herself mixed up in..... This is a story of jealousy, manipulation, temptation , greed , lust with frightening consequences . If you like twists and tension then this psychological thriller is for you , I promise you you you won’t e able to put it down!
Thanks to @Greer Hendricks and @Sarah Pekkanen and Pan Macmillan for giving me 48 hours of bliss xx
Follow me on instagram gettinglostinbooks

I really enjoyed The Wife Between Us, so was highly anticipating this scintillating read.
This follows Jess - in her late 20s, living in New York where she works as a freelance make-up artist for a company, after failing in her dreams to be a makeup artist for the theatre, trying to make ends meet - who overhears a client, an university student, talking about cancelling a psychology study she’s participating in that pays several hundred bucks. This is money that would take Jess almost a day’s worth of work earn so she jumps at the chance and appears at the study pretending to be the student. It starts off as an innocuous experiment on morality/ethics, but slowly starts to creep into Jess’s life and takes over.
The book is narrated from 2 POVs: one is Jess, who I personally found very relatable and her voice was easy to get into; and the other is the manipulative and mysterious Dr Shields, who is watching Jess throughout the story and her narration is in second-person, adding menace and tension to the story.
This was a quick and absorbing read that had me turning the pages anxious but compelled to read on. I did, however, find the ending a bit disappointing and lacklustre, which is why I’m giving it 4*, nevertheless overall a gripping and pacy read that gets under your skin..

This is the second novel by Hendricks and Pekkanen I have read and it didn’t fail to captivate me just as much as The Wife Between Us had.

Jessica the main character is in need of funds and embarks on a survey run by a college professor focusing on morality and ethics.

What starts as a straight forward computer survey soon turns into something a lot more sinister. The twisty suspense builds up throughout the novel and I was guessing who was telling the truth right until the last page.

Obsession, morality , mental health, trust , love and anger are explored wonderfully in this dark suspenseful novel.

An Anonymous Girl had me hooked from page one, and I was page turning well past bedtime. A unique storyline with excellent characters and fantastic writing means I throughly recommend checking out this amazing novel .

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for my chance to read this twisty thriller.

A page turner right from the start. I could not put this book down. The characters draw you in their lives and you have to find out what finally happens. Fabulous read!

An unputdownable, intriguing psychological novel where relationships are under scrutiny. Lydia the psychologist appears to believe love conquers all and
undertakes a study involving deep seated questioning of her client Jessica.

This was a compelling read - twisty and turny. I really wasn't sure who was the baddie. The premise is good: Jess agrees to complete a personality survey and is sucked into a much darker test of ethics. She soon finds herself unable to escape, or who is really running the test.

This book is a work of genius, a devilishly clever psychological thriller. I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. A brilliantly twisted plot that had me switching opinion on just who the villain was throughout the entire book. Convoluted characters with complicated backgrounds add beautifully to the mystery of the plot and kept me guessing right to the end. Well written and easy to read, flowing seamlessly between characters and scenes. This one should be at the top of your list, don't miss it! If I could give it ten stars I would.

Jessica Farris needs money that much is true, but how far will she go to get it? Jess signs up for a psychology study conducted by Dr Shields; she thinks all she needs to do is answer a few questions, receive her money, and leave. But Jess soon realises this is not a normal study, and as things grow more intense and invasive, soon Jess realises that she may not be in control of her own life anymore. Things become more complicated when Jess realises she is not the first subject of this study, and that sometimes, obsessions can be deadly.

I haven't read the authors previous book but heard good things about it so thought i'd give this one a go, and i'm glad I did. This book really gets under your skin, and is actually quite psychologically thrilling; it's the first one i've read in a while that has actually gripped me in such a way. I'm not going to say too much so that I don't ruin any of the plot; it is most definitely best to go into this blind. There's plenty of twists and turns in this books, and you are continuously guessing where the plot is going, only to be turned in another direction. At times I did find Jess to be too clueless in places, and it did frustrate me, but I managed to get past this as a whole. The pacing was well done, and kept moving throughout the book. I would be interested in reading The Wife Between Us.

Thanks NetGalley and St Martin's Press for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Hmm, not quite sure what to say about this really.

Jessica is a make up artist with a secret about her past. Struggling to help make up for her mistakes she overhears a conversation between two girls about a Psychological study that is paying $600 for a couple of hours work. Knowing that the girls aren't interested in the study Jessica decides to slip herself in instead of them....and this path changes her life. During the study she meets, and becomes involved with, Dr Shields - but just what is the study really hoping to find and how does Jessica fit into things?

It is a book with twists and turns and you are often wondering how it is going to play out in the end. The narrative flicks back and forth so we get both Jessica and Dr Shield's point of views but this neither distracts from nor really adds anything to what is happening as the events are relayed and discussed twice.

It's not a bad book but it isn't a favourite either however, it is worth a read if you like things a little dark and twisty.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for the preview copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited about reading this book that I got started on it the second I downloaded it and it did not disappoint.

Ostensibly, this is a book about a psychological study into human behaviour, but it quickly transpires there's far more going on beneath the surface, as people's motives and honesty are called into question. You know there's a bad guy in here somewhere, but who is it and what do they want?

A refreshingly different thriller, this book reinvigorated the genre for me and got me excited about thrillers again.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

This is a gripping psychological thriller which is refreshingly different.
Jess takes part in a study about morality as she is in need of some extra cash. It seems easy at first until Dr Shields asks to meet her.
Jess is asked if she’s willing to take on some more research, for more money, and with family medical bills waiting to be paid, she agrees.
It is clear that Dr Shields has her own agenda but how far will Jess get drawn in?
Jess is asked to do some things which confuse her but she goes along with it as she trusts Dr Shields.
Soon though things get out of control and Jess finds herself in a difficult situation.
I’ve been careful what I’ve said in my review as I don’t want to spoil it for you but I can say this is a brilliant story and one that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Jessica is a bored, impoverished make up artist who makes a choice one day to assume someone else's identiy. When she shows up for a psychological study about moral with the mysterious Dr Shields she is drawn into a complex web of deception and manipulation that makes her doubt everyone and everything around her.

I found this book a bit erratic and found it hard to connect with Jessica's character. I felt some of the characters fell back on standard tropes and I wasn't surprised by certain elements of the novel. The writing was solid but this one wasn't for me unfortunately.

Seeking women ages 18–32 to take part in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed. Sounds harmless enough doesn’t it? Answer a few questions, take the money and run, tempted? Perhaps you should read An Anonymous Girl before you decide. Authors Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen have written a tense psychological thriller, that explores the worst traits in human nature and then turns them into a complex and tense tale that involves manipulation, jealousy and deceit.

Jess, signs up for a psychology study conducted by the intriguing Dr. Shields. The first interview sets the scene, the questions seem straightforward, and the compensation appears to be a gift from heaven, but as the study progresses the questions become invasive and personal. How far will Jess go in her pursuit of money? As for the evasive Dr Shields, does she have a hidden agenda? that’s all I will say about the plot it’s one of those books that reads better if you don’t know the ins and outs of the plot.

The Anonymous Girl is told from the duel perspective of Jess and Dr Shield, two very different woman their relationship is one based on subterfuge and manipulation. Dr Shields is a nasty piece of work, but she’s such an intriguing character, beneath her cool exterior is a very troubled woman a woman who has her own hidden agenda. The authors have created characters that are unreliable, but it’s the constant questioning of the characters narrations that make this novel such an intense read. Add to the mix a third person and the psychological manipulation used by the characters in the moves to a whole new and very unsettling level.

I feel some readers will find this read far fetched, even implausible, but that’s the beauty of fiction boundaries can be pushed. An Anonymous Girl is a dark, chilling psychological thriller that’s filled with surprises, some you may see coming, but others you won’t. There’s a sense of malevolence that intensifies as the three main character's stories intertwine into a web of deceit and mistrust. I thought this book had all the elements that turn a “good” psychological thriller into an “exceptional” one. Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen’s writing goes from strength to strength, they make a fantastic pairing and I’m eager to see where the author’s twisted story telling takes them next. Highly recommended.

Review maybe altered slightly and edited prior to publication on my blog

As far as psychological thrillers go, can it get any better than this??!

I thoroughly enjoyed An Anonymous Girl with the super twisted plot. I did not find even one dull page in the book, each chapter, each sentence was there for a reason, keeping me on the edge of my seat.

For me, the extra icing on the cake were the moral and ethical dilemmas posed in the novel. They made me think of what I would have done in the situation where there probably isn't a right or wrong answer.

Lastly, I am thrilled to know this is going to be a movie and I hope it lives up to the standard of the book!

Many thanks to Pan MacMillan for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cracking read!
At what point does the relationship between therapist and patient start blurring? Is it possible for your therapist to subtly influence you... To do things, that you never before thought you might do.?
At what point does morality stop meaning anything?
All of these tricky questions are answered and played with in this tense and atmospheric novel, which let's us in to the cool and detached mind of a sociopath, and the person she has entangled in her many games.
I loved this. It was fun to read, had moments of real gripping tension, and resolved into a neat and complete ending. Lovely.
My criticism would be the character of the husband. I'm not sure even now I understand what he was all about, his motives, and even what he did or didn't do. But to find out, I'll just reread it.
Recommended!

I really loved The Wife Between Us when I read it earlier this year so I was quite excited to get my hands on this book, especially as the blurb sounded so enticing. I wasn't disappointed either as, once I started it, I simply whizzed through it, devouring every delicious twist and turn as the story progressed and more of the shocking truth came out.
Jessica, Jess to her friends, is a freelance make-up artist who gets jobs through a beauty agency and it is during a visit to one of her clients that she overhears a phone message about a paid for psychological research study being conducted on ethics and morality. Her client decides she doesn't want to take part which gives Jess a chance to inveigle herself in instead; she needs the money after all. So, she takes over her client's appointment and soon starts to realise that maybe she's bitten off more than she can chew when she is singled out for further studies with a far better remuneration. But what will it really cost her as she finds herself caught between the psychiatrist conducting the research and their philandering other half? When she starts to realise what she's really got into, will she be able to get out and get safe before things go way too far?
I do have reservations about certain aspects of this book and I suspect it will split opinion and indeed ratings depending on whether the reader is able to accept certain things along the way. Personally, I thought that the plot was so well crafted, even with the things that I had to swallow, and, although I wasn't quite wholly convinced by the ending, the overall ride was so thrillingly outlandish that I was more than willing to take one for the team and read on, gripped. Talk about dysfunctional characters colliding with a bang!
Characterisation is tricky to explain without revealing some of the, shall we just call them, interesting things that the three main characters get up to along the way but they are a bit on the complex side to say the least. To be honest, I really didn't like any of them, even with the redeeming things they did along the way. Jess was the most likeable, mainly due to her ongoing guilt about an incident in her past but even that didn't manage to tip me over to #TeamJess when things were going awry. The less said about the behaviour of the other two the better I think as the more I learned about their shenanigans the more I wanted to just eradicate them from my mind! But, as I've said before, I don't have to like characters in a book, I just have to connect with them and that can be in either a positive or negative way, I just need some emotional connection and, even though here it was pretty much all negative, it was there nonetheless.
The book is told alternately by both Jess and the psychiatrist. Jess's parts are much easier to read than the psychiatrist's as they are written to Jess rather than narrated and did take me a while to get to grips with but there is a reason for this method of storytelling and that does become evident by the end of the book and, with hindsight, it really does work but, on the flip side, I can appreciate why it could possible irk others.
As already mentioned the plot overall is not completely plausible but it does explore some really great psychological themes along the way, well the initial study was all about morals and ethics and there's also the addition of control thrown into the mix along the way too. Oh and it's rather dark too and does contain quite a few of the hard hitting things but nothing more than you would expect from a book of this genre.
All in all, despite some credibility issues, this was a good solid read that I thoroughly enjoyed. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Just finished this read and found it slightly monotonous. Flipping between just two characters voices was ok but became tedious by half way through. The second half quickened up and became more engaging, I thought the storyline had some nice twists but was also a little bit predictable and I didn’t really like or particularly care about any of the characters. I actually found the main character slightly annoying and also the worst dog owner in the world. Just felt a bit unbelievable and intense in an indulgent way that had to be persevered with.

When Jess Farris sneaks into a study on ethics to ensure her next rent payment, she didn’t anticipate how caught up in a web of lies and deceit she would get.

The second novel from the duo behind The Wife Between Us delivers pace and punch from the word go. I finished this in a matter of hours because I was desperate to see where the story led.

There are so many ‘bad guys’ and so much subterfuge throughout this story that it’s honestly difficult to decide who to trust, and poor make-up artist Jess, weighed down by a devastating secret of her own, is embroiled in cheating and lies.

I don’t want to reveal anything about the story - this is definitely a blind read, in order to fully appreciate the gasp moments, and the story flips elegantly between the two narrators, building up a narrative of just how far you may go for love.

A slight publishing error jarred throughout, every word requiring a double-f was reduced to a single letter f, making for a disjointed flow of prose and I am hopeful this will be rectified before final publishing. The only negative in a tale I lived and breathed every second of. Definitely one to keep an eye out for!

I was given a copy of this book by Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.