Book Review #15 - An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen

 

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen 

Title: An Anonymous Girl
Author: Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen
Genre: Adult | Mystery | Thriller
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Format: e-book

About the book

Looking to earn some easy cash, Jessica Farris agrees to be a test subject in a psychological study about ethics and morality. But as the study moves from the exam room to the real world, the line between what is real and what is one of Dr. Shields’s experiments blurs.

Dr. Shields seems to know what Jess is thinking… and what she’s hiding.

Jessica’s behavior will not only be monitored, but manipulated.

Caught in a web of attraction, deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly

My take

This is a very gripping psychological thriller, where revealing even a small part might be a spoiler. I will try to avoid that.

Jessica Farris works for BeautyBuzz, a company that provides home services for make-up and beauty treatments. Her parents stay in the town she grew up, with her younger sister Becky, who has special needs since she had a traumatic brain injury as a child. Her treatments are expensive, and Jessica finds an easy way of making money when she comes across a research being conducted by an eminent psychiatrist Dr. Shields, on ethics and morality. Hoping she would be able to get away with some money after answering a few questions posed in the study, Jessica enters it on a whim, as subject 52.

As the questions are posed one after the other during the two hours given for solving the questionnaire, Jessica begins realizing the demanding nature of the study, that are making her spill her deepest and darkest secrets. Not just that, but her body language and expressions are also being carefully scrutinized as she answers.

After the study is completed, Jessica is offered more money if she agrees to continue being a part of the study, where she would have more practical challenges and real-life scenarios, but a huge sum of money in return. In desperate need of money, Jessica agrees. Soon she becomes intrigued by the mysterious Dr. Shields, and begins her own investigation to find out more.

The story is told from POV of two different narrators, and the narration seamlessly takes the story forward. Even though we get to hear from both the protagonists, some secrets stay hidden till the very end. The description of the psychological tests and their interpretations is very interesting and tells the story of how the butterfly effect of one impulsive decision on part of Jessica shapes every future event happening with both of them.

The story manages to keep the reader hooked, and some parts are absolutely chilling. I wouldn’t say the end is a complete twist or shock, it does become slightly predictable, but still, it holds the reader’s interest. The small twists do add to the surprise element.

The characters are well developed, and the emotions we go through while reading parallel the way their inner layers are peeled off one by one.

Overall, a gripping thriller that haunts you long after you have finished reading it. I rate it 3.5 stars.