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 in her life is real, 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.

Growing up, my favorite board game was Mouse Trap. I loved watching as the trap’s gadgets and gizmos clicked into place, knowing that at any moment a turn of the crank could send the whole contraption crashing down. I got that same anticipatory shiver while reading An Anonymous Girl.

From the moment struggling makeup artist Jessica Farris sweet-talks her way into a psychological study for cash, it’s obvious she’s walking into a trap. Run by a mysterious and enigmatic shrink, the electronic questionnaire very quickly morphs into a series of real-life tests that pertain to everything from Jess’s clothes—hand-selected by Dr. Shields, of course—to who she meets and where she goes. It’s an atypical psychological study, and I soon found myself wondering how—or if—Jessica could ever escape.

This is one of those cancel-your-plans-and-turn-off-your-phone reads. Don’t be surprised if, like me, you devour it in a day. Because the book itself is a trap—one that’s brilliantly conceived and intricately constructed. Simply reading the first page turns the crank that sets the whole thing in motion. Before you know it, you’re caught in its grip, unable to escape until the last page has been turned.