The authors of The Wife Between Us are back with a new thriller that will be released on January 8, 2019.

From the Publisher’s Summary:
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.

Question #1: Could you tell a lie without feeling guilt?

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.

Question #2: Have you ever deeply hurt someone you care about?

As Jess’s paranoia grows, it becomes clear that she can no longer trust what in her life is real, and what is one of Dr. Shields’ manipulative experiments. Caught in a web of deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.

Question #3: Should a punishment always fit the crime?

From the authors of the blockbuster bestseller The Wife Between Us comes an electrifying new novel about doubt, passion, and just how much you can trust someone.

Thanks to Boxing Day and a cold, I was able to finish An Anonymous Girl this afternoon.  I enjoyed reading it, and I wanted to see how it would play out.  But I feel the characters are unrealistic and the plot largely implausible.  While Jess needs money for very real reasons, I found it hard to believe that she would have so quickly and implicitly trusted and became infatuated with Dr. Shields.  It seemed odd to me that Jess was so willing to follow vague instructions without question, though as is a point of the book (and the study in it) it is possible for a need for money to impact moral decisions, and I suspect that is the reason the authors chose to have Jess be so seemingly gullible.

And as delightfully cold and calculating as Dr. Shields is, I’m not sure I buy how meticulous her character is in planning. Do you remember Melrose Place?  I kept picturing Dr. Shields as Dr. Kimberly Shaw.  I don’t know if that is a distorted memory of the show, or a reasonable resemblance, but Marcia Cross as Kimberly Shaw was Dr. Lydia Shields in this book for me.

(photo courtesy Google)

That being said, the book gets interesting as Jess’ trust in Dr. Shields erodes- as, in fact, her trust in nearly everyone erodes, and I did want to see how Jess would get out of things, assuming she would make it through to the end.

I think The Wife Between Us was better, and, in fact, there are other thrillers I would recommend reading before this one, but think most people will still be entertained by An Anonymous Girl.