"You Are Not Alone"

 

“You Are Not Alone”

Written by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

“You Are Not Alone” is the third book that the bestselling authors Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks have created in collaboration. Their other collaborative works are “The Wife Between Us” and “An Anonymous Girl”, two psychological thrillers that I loved. Although I was slightly disappointed with “An Anonymous Girl”, I was absolutely delighted to hear of this newest work.

 

“You Are Not Alone” follows our main character, Shay, who has befriended a group of mysterious women after feeling anxious and scared resulting from her witnessing a suicide. The secretive group is spearheaded by Cassandra and Jane, two enigmatic sisters. Cassandra and Jane, along with the others from the group, believe that Shay is more involved in the life of the dead woman, Amanda, more than Shay lets on. The other women in the group assist the sisters in digging up details, spying on, and manipulating Shay. In the great way of Alfred Hitchcock, divulging too much detail about this thriller would be a cause of ruin.

 

In the true fashion of these stellar writers, the story feels incredibly developed, with every sentence, character, and scene created with incisive flair. Every moment evokes an emotion: fear, anxiety, worry, love, warmth, kindness, and anger. The complete story that the writers have written is penetrating and fascinating, almost magnetic. In only part one, the book has already been set up in an incredible way, in a cinematic matter. Part two twists every moment from one on its head and changes the course in a brilliant fashion. The motives of each character become sharper and even further scintillating than before. I found that the last final twists in the climax just blew my mind in a wonderful way.

 

In conclusion, this is a new favorite thriller of mine. I am absolutely astounded at how brilliant this is, created with such intriguing nuance. Hendricks and Pekkanen pull you into a gravitational pull and refuse to let go. Absolutely brilliant. I highly recommend it to any psychological thriller, no matter your preferences. Read it; it’ll win you over, and you’ll never forget it.

 

I rate this novel at five of out five stars.

 

I thank St. Martin’s Press for an advance proof. Thank you for the opportunity.

"An Anonymous Girl"

“An Anonymous Girl”

Written by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

“An Anonymous Girl” is a gripping, psychological thriller, centering around Jessica Farris. Jess agrees to participate in a morality psychology study but soon realizes she does not trust the tester, Dr. Shields. Jess becomes paranoid and nervous, as she begins to act in ways that are most certainly not angelic. However, her ideals and beliefs about morality procure her actions that are not so ‘moral’.

I do not believe that this novel is easy to explain, without spoiling a major part of the story. Once we figure out the motivation behind Dr. Shields’s study, we understand a whole new perspective of her. We also learn of a second antagonist. This understanding envelopes the reader into a complicated cycle of confusion, paranoia, and deceit.

Initially, I enjoyed reading this thriller, because it stepped away from other tropes of this genre. However, as I continued on, those tropes I do not enjoy surfaced. I do not often enjoy domestic thrillers, meaning thrillers surrounding a marriage or family.

I enjoyed reading this perspective of Jess, because she has a very honest and genuine sounding ‘voice’ in the story. Her dialogue, her thoughts, and her actions can be questionable, but I have no doubt that they are impossible.

I further implore you to read this. I did not expect the ending. I enjoyed that it was not the typical domestic thriller ending I usually read. I can see that perhaps the climax and resolution might be lacking for some, but this thriller was great, because it was not violent and action-packed.

I received a complimentary reader’s edition for reviewing purposes.