Wow this book was something else. Seeing the length some people to get something they want and have never had. This book touches on mental health, domestic abuse, and extreme jealousy. The character of Jasmine was one that I went from feeling bad for and rooting for to saying “WTF” a few diff times. So many twists and turns. Every time I was like oh ok this is what happened the author Jessie Garcia flipped the script.

This was very well written and as a debut author it read to me as someone that has done this many times over. Highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys a good Thriller. #NetGalley #TheBusinessTrip #JessieGarcia

Delightful thriller-I will be wary of strangers every time I fly! I loved the premise of #thebusinesstrip and the execution by Jessie Garcia was great. I could not put this down nor could I anticipate what would happen. The ending was neatly tied with a bow and completely satisfying.

Thank you to #netgalley, #stmartinspress and the author for this ebook arc to read. Review opinions are my own.

Amazing psychological thriller! I ALWAYS love an author that keeps me guessing until the end. And this one did not disappoint! A business trip for Stephanie. Jasmine is escaping an abusive relationship. Chance puts them next to each other on a plane. Love live the way this one played out! Twists and turns on every page!

The Business Trip centers around two women who meet on a plane heading to San Diego. Stephanie a news director off to a conference and Jasmine who is running away from an abusive relationship. The two women are sitting next to one another on the plane and after both text family about the same man, Trent McCarthy. Next they have both mysteriously vanished.

This is a psychological thriller with lots of twist making it a hard book to put down.

This one is going to make all the lists next year! I love a book with multiple POV'S and you will keep second guessing yourself all the way to the end! I WILL be recommending to all my bookish friends!!

OMG, what a brilliant page-turner this was! I literally couldn’t put it down. The plot of the novel is revealed by its characters, written in the first person. It begins with Jasmine.

Jasmine is a 40-something year old barmaid who lives with an abusive boyfriend. Her background is that of a high school outcast and littered with mistakes she’s made along the way. Jasmine needs to get away – away from her boyfriend, away from her dead-end life.

Stephanie is a high-powered TV news executive who longs for adventure. Divorced with one grown son, she yearns for the days when she was free from the obligations that now constrain her. She’s leaving on a business trip that she really isn’t looking forward to.

These two women meet on a plane. Stephanie is traveling to San Diego via Denver and Jasmine is running away from her boyfriend to begin a new life. The two women could not be more different, yet they strike up a conversation to pass the time. As they talk, Jasmine begins to imagine living a life like Stephanie’s and, as the flight progresses, her imaginings evolve into plotting. When Stephanie is in the rest room, Jasmine removes the TV exec’s driver’s license from her purse which she left on her seat. Emboldened by what she’s done, Jasmine decides not to stop in Denver which was her original plan, but to journey on to San Diego and somehow take over Stephanie’s life.

The Business Trip is full of wickedly clever twists and turns and unexpected surprises. Just when I thought I’d figured out the Author Garcia’s intriguing puzzle, another plot twist would emerge tossing me back to square one again. This is one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time. Highly recommended. If I could give it 6 stars, I would!

There were a couple of glaring things I found difficult to believe, but to enjoy the story I shrugged and thought, sure, that *could* happen.

Stephanie gets on a plane for a business trip. She’s sick of always being the one assigned to go to these conferences just because she’s divorced and her son is an adult. Her coworkers with younger kids couldn’t possibly get away. She’d love to have a fling on her trip; her ex is already remarried.

Jasmine needs to escape her abusive partner. She tried twice before and it didn’t go well, but for an entire year she’s saved money from her waitressing tips and she’s going to fly from Madison, WI, to Denver, CO. She and Stephanie talk a bit on the flight to Denver, and then Stephanie continues to her destination of San Diego.

After that, the story is told by people who know Stephanie and Jasmine. Stephanie’s neighbor, Robert, is watching her cat. When he texts her pictures of Fred the cat, her responses are odd. Her coworkers quickly start to worry too since she won’t call her boss and not showing up without an explanation is way out of character for her. She doesn’t pick on up inside jokes that Stephanie would know. Suspicious that someone might have her phone, her coworker Lucy texts something about a brother Stephanie doesn’t have. Lucy doesn’t get a response.

Both women text friends that they are running away to Atlanta with this great guy Trent. The chapter from his point of view lets you realize he’s a privileged dickhead who doesn’t think much of women unless they are performing sex acts on or with him. Did he somehow kidnap both women?

The ending had twists I didn’t see coming.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel which RELEASES JAMUARY 7, 2024.

Wow, What a fun read. Two women on the same plane, one running from a bad relationship, the other on her way to a conference. Someone remarks they look like sisters. One decides to switch places with the other.
The story progresses apace. Captivating and enjoyable.
The ending is the capper all this. Enough said on that.
I usually don’t continue with books who have chapters dealing with and jumped back and forth, especially with continuity of time being different.
All in all, a good read.

Wow Jessie Garcia this is your debut novel and you hit it out of the park! This book had me interested from the first page to the last!!! Had good character development, and the suspense wow! I did not see the ending coming at all! Usually I am pretty good at guessing the ending of books…..but not this one, it totally came out of left field. If you are looking for a great suspense novel I definitely recommend this book!
Thank you Jessie Garcia, St. Martins press and net galley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

So bonkers and fun and off the wall - I definitely didn’t see all the twists coming, even though the thought process behind them didn’t totally make sense (like, really, can’t you just take PTO?). A great plane or beach read, when you want something twisty and fun that will keep you riveted but doesn’t require a lot of brainpower.

The Business Trip is one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time. I’m shocked it’s a debut novel. The twists and turns just never stopped and it actually leaves me wishing this was a series and there was more of the story to read. I was blown away with the ending I was so confused by the final twist I thought the author had made a mistake but then the truth was revealed. Wow simply brilliant what a turn of events!!! If you like who done it’s with twists and turns that jerk you reeling this is the book for you! I highly recommend it!

3.5 stars!

An entertaining, fast read about two women who meet on an airplane and from there, the story twists in many different directions, providing you with many different POV.

I was not anticipating the ending but looking back, the author absolutely feeds the reader the bread crumbs, I think I missed it because it took about the first third of the book for me to be interested.

While the story itself was entertaining, I felt no connection for any of the characters so it didn’t really matter to me how it ended. I felt as though they all were rather immature and pretty unlikeable to me.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

I liked this book well enough, but somehow it took me forever to finish. Maybe because I didn't much care for any of the characters. I felt there were some minor plot holes and certain twists felt predictable. That being said, I did like the multiple POVs, which I thought were well done.

Book Review: "The Business Trip" by Jessie Garcia

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jessie Garcia’s debut, "The Business Trip," is a gripping psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. With a clever narrative structure and relatable characters, Garcia expertly weaves a tale filled with suspense and unexpected twists that make it impossible to put down.

The story follows two women, Stephanie and Jasmine, who find themselves on the same flight, each with their own secrets and struggles. Stephanie is on a seemingly mundane business trip, while Jasmine is trying to escape the clutches of an abusive relationship. Their lives intertwine in an unsettling way as they start sending eerily similar texts about the same man—Trent McCarthy—before they both mysteriously vanish. This dual perspective not only adds depth to the narrative but also keeps the tension high as we wonder how their fates are connected.

Garcia’s writing shines with vivid descriptions and sharp dialogue, immersing the reader in the characters’ experiences. I found myself empathizing with both women, feeling their fear and confusion as their stories unfold. The dual narratives are expertly crafted, making each chapter a race against time as the reader pieces together the mystery of what happened to them.

The pacing is relentless, with each revelation leading to another twist that kept me guessing until the very end. Garcia’s ability to layer suspense and create red herrings is commendable; just when you think you have it figured out, the story takes another unexpected turn. The exploration of manipulation and the complexities of trust in relationships adds an intriguing psychological dimension that elevates the plot.

The tension builds beautifully throughout, culminating in a conclusion that is both satisfying and thought-provoking. "The Business Trip" raises questions about agency, control, and the masks people wear, making it more than just a thriller—it’s a reflection on the nature of relationships and the darker aspects of human behavior.

For fans of psychological thrillers, this book is an absolute must-read. Jessie Garcia has crafted an outstanding debut that promises to leave readers eagerly anticipating her next work. With its addictive storyline and relatable characters, "The Business Trip" is a thrilling journey that you won’t want to miss!

Full of friendship, lies, murder, messed up childhoods, and more. It was a good book. Kept my attention. It has a bit of back and forth between past, present, and with the characters. It's hard to know what's really going on until the end. Definitely didn't know who was killing who until the end. Crazy twist throughout the story.

Thrills, Twist and Turns, that kept me unable to put this book down! Great, fast paced and exciting read! I will be purchasing this book for my bookshelf!

I started this book and could not put it down. From the first page I was hooked. Stephanie and Jasmine seem like people you would meet any day of the week, in any town in America....But boy...keep reading. These two never stop and the action and twists and turns keep you on the edge of your seat. I found this a fast and easy read and well done. The author must have been up nights putting together this plot; Highly recommend.

The Business Trip
By Jessie Garcia

This is an interesting suspense/thriller/whodunit kind of book. It starts with a young woman (Jasmine) from an underprivileged background who is trying to get away from her abusive boyfriend. After careful planning, she escapes to the airport and a flight to Denver. On this flight, she is seated next to a random businesswoman (Stephanie) on her way to a business conference in San Diego. Over the course of the flight, two things become obvious; the economic disparity between the two women and the resemblance between the two.

From there, the plot proceeds and becomes more and more complicated. There is identity theft, murder, clues to throw off the authorities – and backstories which lead to horrifying discoveries about the various characters.

Amazingly, the author manages to tie up the multiple loose ends, although some of it seems a bit contrived. The two main points are clear – "the bastards can't win" and no one can be trusted. An interesting read.

Stephanie and Jasmine don’t know each other but are both on the same flight. They both text their friends about meeting a man, with the same name, and then disappear.

It took a little bit for me to get into this one but as soon as I got to know both women, I was hooked. This one is a big mystery until you slowly begin to realize what’s going on. Once you do, don’t take it for granted because there are even more surprises coming!

“I saw a karate chip cleanly dividing two parts of my world. The before this happened and the after. It would never be the same. This is as clearly going to be one of the defining moments of my career, if not my life.”

The Business Trip comes out 11/14.

This was a book I could not put down. I found myself staying up late to read and sneaking pages at work during lunch. I just needed to know what would happen! I would’ve loved even more twists toward the end, but the different perspectives and thrills kept me engaged throughout.