- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Macmillan; Main Market edition (7 Feb. 2019)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1529010713
- ISBN-13: 978-1529010718
Synopsis
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’ll 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 is real in her life, and what is one of Dr Shields’s manipulative experiments. Caught in a web of deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.
Review
An Anonymous Girl is the new book from Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, the author combination behind last year’s bestseller The Wife Between Us.. There is always anticipation when a new book is released by an author whose first book was a huge hit; will it be as good? can they follow it with an original new plot? Will it be as popular? In my opinion, the answer to these questions is yes, yes and yes!
The plot centres around, and is narrated by Jess, a beautician who signs up for what she thinks is an anonymous morality study. A Jess embarks on this study she turns from a confident woman into someone who starts to question her actions in daily life with friends, boyfriends and clients. The further she embarks on this study with Dr Sheilds the more vulnerable she becomes, and finds herself in uncomfortable situations, a pawn in a very dangerous game. There are chapters narrated by Dr Shields as well. They are written in an analytical way, documenting Jess’s actions in her experiments, and asking rhetorical questions to Jess’s responses to these situations. These chapters feel distant and cold, an indication of Dr Shields’ personality; she is only concerned with herself and her experiment and is very manipulative.
Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen write an intelligent and original thriller. Details of a previous study and Dr Sheilds are slowly revealed throughout the book, keeping a feeling of suspense and unease throughout, culminating in a shocking conclusion. A Jess was answering the questions for the study, I found myself thinking how I would answer them, or behave if it was me; this drew me in even more. Both authors show a detailed understanding of the human psyche, how different people make choices and behave, and how their behaviour can change in response to different situations and praise. This side of the book really appealed to me, and made the characters a lot more interesting and relatable.
I don’t think there is any doubt that An Anonymous Girl is going to be another bestseller for Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen; they certainly seem to have a partnership that produces some brilliant writing and characters. The many twists and turns of this book, the smoke and mirrors of the characters, spin a web of deceit and mistrust so you never know who is telling the truth and who is lying. An Anonymous Girl is an intelligent and riveting psychological thriller, full of suspense and an underlying simmering tension; I loved it!
I would like to thank Pan Macmillan for my copy of An Anonymous Girl, in return for an honest review.
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