It's more than a little treacherous to steer your ship with a broken moral compass. Navigating through the raging waters of life leaves many a shipwreck in the aftermath.

Jessica Farris knows this first hand. She's a twenty-eight year old makeup artist still trying to find her niche in New York City. She struggles to pay the rent on her studio apartment and her bookings from BuzzBeauty are hit or miss. Finding extra money to send home to her parents and special needs sister is coming up short each month.

While at one of her beauty sessions, Jess overhears one of the girls regreting an early Saturday morning appointment with a university professor, Dr. Lydia Shields, who is running a volunteer lab on ethics and morality. The first pay-out is $500. A no brainer and Jess shows up in her place. Our girl is in the door. Alone in a room, Jess hovers over the computer screen answering questions about being untruthful in life. The questions begin simply and then escalate in intensity. Certain scenarios are set up and Jess must answer either honestly or how she assumes the good doctor expects.

As the pay check rolls in, Jess sinks deeper and deeper into Dr. Shields' world. She is called upon to complete tasks outside of the lab. And here is where Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen excel. The motivating factors are laid out with the reader in mind. We ask ourselves just how far and how deep would we get involved here? What motivates us in our own lives to make the moral choices that we do? Is there ever a line drawn and set in concrete or is it a moveable barrier depending on odd circumstances? Is bartering an option?

The main character of Jess is a winner with the writing reflecting her dilemmas in decision-making opportunities. Peeling back the layers of Dr. Shields and others will keep you glued to the storyline. I have to leave it here, folks. You've got to crack this one open for yourselves. I'm leaving you at the the threshold of quite the intriguing read.

I received a copy of An Anonymous Girl through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen for the opportunity.

Because she needs the money, freelance makeup artist, Jess, lies her way into participating in a morality study headed by a therapist/professor. It turns out, Jess gets in over her head as she becomes a pawn in the professor's marital issues.

I enjoyed the pacing of the story and the plot developed quickly, however I could predict the ending a mile off. The characterization of the therapist couple was a bit flimsy and I never found myself connecting with any of the characters. Jess is one of those morally ambivalent characters that has become so popular of late - either they drink too much, sleep around or lie to people and use them in various ways to cover up their own inadequacies.

I'd recommend the book if you want a quick read but don't expect any happy endings here. Thanks to NetGalley for offering the read for an honest review.

My Review for An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
5/5 Stars!
This is my second book that I’ve read by these authors and I must say that they definitely did not disappoint me this time! An Anonymous Girl was a brilliant masterpiece of literary works and it had my mind reeling from start to finish. The mysterious essence behind Dr. Shield’s morality research study and her interest in Subject 52’s, Jessica Farris a 28 year old makeup artist who has her weight in lies and secrets, life kept me highly engaged and thoroughly satisfied with each sentence that I read and with every turn of the page. Dr. Shield was a highly manipulative, cunning, conniving, yet strikingly beautiful, intelligent and poised character who drew you into her and made you love her at the same time you were hating her. For her to be employed as a psychiatrist, yet be so wicked, it teased my senses and gave way to delightful tastes on my intellectual palate. Dr. Shield’s obsessive compulsive behavior and need to be in control of every situation and everyone she encountered was astounding. The way she deliberately treated her husband, Thomas, as one of her test subjects and how she weaved a deadly mind game between him, Jessica, and poor Subject #5 were devastating to read, but kept my pulse racing as I struggled desperately to separate lies from the truth. Jessica entered this research study with monetary gain as her main objective, but as she becomes deeper involved in Dr. Shield’s twisted game, will the payout that she anticipates be worth her morality and even her life?
The authors’ last book, The Wife Between Us, was interesting enough and kept me engaged, but it was nothing compared to this hurricane of a story with its twists and turns that kept me barely hanging on to my seat on its emotional rollercoaster. I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy psychological thrillers that mess with your mind. I sincerely hope that this book is turned into a movie. It’s simply amazing.

OMG. OMG. OMG. I need more books from these amazing authors! I literally could not put this done without finishing it. I mean... wow, the story line, the suspense, the characters. Everything about this book just came to life when I was reading it. Their first novel, The Wife Between Us, was fantastic as well, so I just knew that this one was going to be amazing. And I was right! Seriously, everyone needs to read this, you won't be able to put it down. You'll be hooked until the very last page.

When Jessica tricks herself onto a psychological study for the fee , she is sucked into the murky world of renowned psychiatrist Dr Shields . The study is supposed to be about morals and ethics but it transpires to be much more , with a philandering husband , and a murky suicide , jess is plunged headlong into Dr shields's sick plans , being paid all the time . jess has her own secrets she doesn't want her family to find out about and add in a burgeoning romance with a restaurant owner this story had everything . I did find Jess to be a little naïve and some of her choices were questionable at best , which only contributed to the tense story telling . Great read . Thank you

This was a great psychological thriller. Characters were quite complex. Filled with love and trust to hate and obsessions. The author did a great job of making sure the reader did not know who to trust!
I was hooked from the beginning. I actually treated myself to a day of binge reading and devoured An Anonymous Girl. The book came together nicely with surprises and confirmations.
Highly recommend. Solid 4 stars.

I picked this up thinking it would be just like everything else out there. Whoa, was I wrong. What I liked the most was the new and unusual concept. A "supposed" college student filling out a morality questionnaire for a professor. Humm, where is this going to go? I found myself rushing home to dive back into my book. I enjoyed this book very much.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel!!

This book has some unique twist to the specific female thriller genre. The idea of testing morality is something to think about and something to tie it all together. I enjoyed the multiple perspectives aspect, but it bothered me that I knew all of twists. Then the twists just had to be revealed to the other characters. I enjoyed the epilogue ending, but I needed more about Dr. Shields. I wanted her to get exactly what she deserved. It sucked me in, but not as much as some recent thrillers.

Loved loved loved this book! Great characters with great stories. I've never read from these authors before but now I'll have to check them out.

This book is a good psychological thriller. It had quite a few twists and turns I did not expect. It is a complex book with some new tricks that were unexpected. It is really creepy how obsessive people can become and how a twisted mind can work. I will think of this book if I am ever presented with the opportunity to participate in a research study. This book will be talked about before and after it is released in January 2019. This book should be another hit for the authors. I have not read the Wife Between Us but it has moved up my to be read list as well. Hopefully Hendricks and Pekkanen will continue to write these excellent books. I received this book as an ARC copy. #netgalley

You’re invited. Seeking women 18-32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Jessica Farris signs up to a study, thinking that all she will have to do is answer a couple of questions and then collect her money and go. Each day, the questions grow more intense, until Jess can no longer decide who and what she can trust. Caught up in a web of lies and deceit, is it too late for Jess to get out now?

A book I couldn’t put down! What started as a seemingly simple task for Jess gets larger and larger. The questions that are asked makes you question your morals - would you do the same? As the tasks get bigger you find yourself questioning Jess’s actions and the actions of Dr. Shields. While it’s not clear what her motive is. I love that you get the perspective from both Dr. Shields and Jess, giving you little bits of insight to what might actually be happening and why. By the last 100 pages you can’t put it down because you just need to know what is going to happen. The ending does not disappoint!

I was hooked pretty quickly at the beginning of this book. It is an interesting premise - an anonymous ethics and morality study for women age 18-32. Jessica Farris turns a little annoying in the middle of the book - why is she so trusting? Why is she acting the way she does? I almost put the book down but kept going. The ending was a little lackluster - I wanted more! Overall, an intriguing read.

Even though the start of this book was slow going for me, I soon found this story had woven it’s way into my psyche. Brilliant plot. Dynamic characters. A total mindbender.

This is one that grabs your attention and keeps it the entire time! It was my first book by this author(s), but I’ll be watching for more. The writing style is captivating and definitely held my attention.

EXCERPT: “Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed.”

“We all have reasons for our actions. Even if we hide the reason from those who think they know us best. Even if the reasons are so deeply buried we can’t recognize them ourselves.”

Jessica joins a clinical study on morality that pays $500 for a weekend’s work—a large sum of money for answering a few questions. When the study is over, she’s offered more money to continue privately. Motivated by helping her parents out financially, she jumps at the opportunity without thinking about what it might entail.

The study grows more and more intense and invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is instructed what to wear and how to act. She realizes Dr. Shields has a personal agenda and ends up caught in a web of deceit and jealousy. Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC, in exchange for my honest review!
#AnAnonymousGirl #NetGalley

This sucked me right in! I love this author’s writing style. I was thrilled to be given a copy of this because I really enjoyed the author’s other book, The Wife Between Us. I like this one as much, if not better.

This story has a nice amount of well paced twists which kept the pace moving along; no boring parts here... The main characters (Jess and Lydia) both have interesting voices throughout their alternating chapters. Both women were strong and fierce which was a nice change in this genre. I enjoyed reading about the psychology peppered throughout the story.

The ending played out very satisfying, for me anyway. The epilogue was wicked and so enjoyable. I can’t wait for the next one by this author!

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for a copy of this in exchange for a review.

An Anonymous Girl is a chilling psychological thriller full of twists and turns. Professional makeup artist, Jessica Farris hears of a psychology study that pays $500 while with a client. Guilt over her sister's medical issues and her parents financial struggles drives Jess's need for money and $500 seems like a God send. Deciding to lie and present herself in the client's place, Jessica ironically becomes a member of a "morality" study for Dr. Shields. A few questions later, Dr. Shields offers Jessica a lucrative job working in the field for her study. The lines of the study begin to blur as Jess realizes the doctor may be playing both ends against the middle. She begins to uncover more and more information that does not add up as she begins to fear for her life. The suspense builds slowly in the first half of the book before the second half plunges you into the deep end with heart pounding, edge of the seat chills. The characters are unpredictable and the plot reminds you to never count your chickens before they hatch for a surprisingly good read. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.

There’s nothing I wouldn’t read by these 2 power authors. They are quickly becoming known for their psychological suspense novels because they’re impossible to put down and full of twists and turns. Honestly I’m so thrilled to have read this and I can’t imagine anyone would want to go into this book knowing any information. These books are best when gone in blind. No reviews no spoilers... so a basic synopsis the book goes back and forth between to POV’s... the psychologist and the girl who needs money to make ends meet so she can support her family. That’s all you need to know! Just read it!

"Was it all worth it, Jessica?" ........ So I just finished the book and wanted to jump right into this review. My mind has been racing for the last few days. I am so in love with this story and the turns that it took. Jessica is a make up artist living trying her best to live out her dreams and make it in the big city. She comes across Dr. Shields and enters into a study that will change her life. Secrets are unfolded, truths are reveled and it left me sitting on the edge of my seat. I kept trying to guess what will happen next and just when I thought I had it down, it would switch up again. What a story!

I was disappointed by The Wife Between Usthe first book by these two authors, and thought it was highly overrated, but it WAS a page turner, so I decided to try this one. Fortunately I thought An Anonymous Girl was much better! Rather than relying on huge twists, the story revealed itself more gradually, and that worked much better for me. I won't say much about the plot because I think it's better to go into this one not knowing much. I flew through this book and thought the way the authors built up tension was very effective. Recommended for anyone who loves psychological thrillers.

I absolutely loved the psychological suspense of this novel! I had times of inwardly screaming and could barely put this down. This is not related to the authors' previous book, The Wife Between Us, which I also loved, but it is just as readable and cements their status as a power duo. I believe this is best enjoyed by not knowing more of the plot or characters than is in the book description. I highly recommend this!