I love a good popcorn thriller, but this was just ridiculous n so many levels. It was also very, very wordy. Hopefully the editor(s) will make note of that.

This book was definitely a page-turner. I liked the different perspectives (although didn’t think the two men Stephanie worked with each needed their own). I loved Robert’s perspective the most, and I wish we got Raven’s perspective. I won’t really be able to talk about the parts of the story I didn’t love because I’d have to include spoilers, so I will wait to put those on Goodreads closer to publication. I really disliked the author making Jasmine a victim of DV in order to get you to sympathize with her/like her right away. It almost felt mean to the reader to do that, knowing now what kind of character she is. I liked the friends solving the mystery parts, and I think thats why I was so frustrated with the fairly abrupt ending. I know some other reviewers were able to suspend their belief for that last bit, but I think it was just a little too much for me. Also, how on earth is the lie Stephanie told REALLY that big of a deal, such that it would lead to those consequences? Over a conference? Really? It feels…very not that serious.

This is one is one of those books that I did not expect to enjoy as much as I did! Stephanie and Jasmine are two strangers on the same plane. They each text friends then vanish. Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship and Stephanie is a professional on a business trip. And Trent McCarthy seems to have a connection to both women. Who is he? Who is scamming who and what the heck is going on? This was a fun ride with a lot of twists and turns. Good debut and I'm excited to see what this author does next!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Jessie Garcia and St. Martin's Press for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Facebook and other retail and social media sites upon publication day of Jan 14.

Holy heck this book gave my brain whiplash, in the best way! This was not what I was expecting. I loved the little twists that were constantly popping up throughout this story. I never knew what was going to happen next and when something did, it was nothing that I had foreseen.

This has a lot of back and forth between several characters which threw me off a time or two. I found it hard to keep track at times but after a few moments of running backwards in my mind, I quickly caught up with where we were and could move forward. While I really loved the basic storyline, there was a bit that I found to be unbelievable which gave my excitement a little hiccup and had me hesitating to reevaluate. However, I’m a very lenient reader and I was able to suspend belief and continue on this wild ride.

Loved this! Full of twists and turns that kept me guessing. I always enjoy the books by this author and just like the others you cannot go wrong with this one.

I believe this is the authors debut novel and you certainly can't tell. This book grabs ahold of you and leaves you turning pages well into the night and is very well written.

Still waters run deep in this novel by Jessie Garcia..The .normal can reverse itself in an instant. Circumstances change and lives are changed in so many ways, even when they die.
There is a conference in California for television's News Directors who run the news broadcasts, and coordinate everything for the broadcasts, It should be a nice opportunity to mingle, share and learn but something is off.
Something terrible has happened and the truth must be discovered. The story is well-conceived, moves quickly, and is impossible to put down. . People can be motivated by greed, fame, envy or any combination of them.. It is very creative and sometimes viciously enacted.. It has twists and turns and an unreliable narrator but we all are influenced by our view of ourselves. Things seem obvious at first but, the truth can be different and shocking...
One never knows who they are interacting with at these rapidly evolving encounters.. Some people are interesting and great, others, not so much.
Sometimes, a bad seed gets into the mix.
Who knows what makes other people tick?
The twist at the end was shocking. I did not expect it, and my eyes raced through the pages. I re-read several passages because I was so surprised.
I received an advance copy by the publisher and all opinions are strictly my own.

This is an author to watch. Just wow!

What a story! The plot twists and guessing game the author puts to you to try to figure out what's going on, until it's slammed in your face!

This was a very entertaining and surprising mystery, although more than a little unbelievable. It started off a little slow and I wasn't sure where it was going or if I was going to like it. But once part 2 started, the pace picked up and it got much more interesting. I liked how each part told the story from different characters points of view. I look forward to reading more from Jessie Garcia. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

I love a twisted mystery. Two women, who’ve never met before, are sitting next to each other on a flight, but that’s not the end of their encounter.

Jasmine is fleeing from an abusive and controlling boyfriend. She’s been saving tips from her waitressing job to escape under the cover of night with a carefully thought-out plan. Stephanie, a news director at a local TV station, is dreading yet another business trip to a conference, her boss always selects her to go because she’s not married and has no kids.

Prepare to be a bit confused (often comes with the territory when reading a thriller), with a racing heart throughout, trying to figure out who set up whom, all while keeping up with rapid fire clues coming via texts. On top of that, trust none of the characters because everyone is a suspect. Imagine going from working a 'regular' job to having murder-on-the mind. Part of what makes this a lively read is how the characters quickly turn their thinking away from their lives back home to figuring out how to clean up blood, disposing of a dead body, and other murdery-related skills.

The multiple POVs kept me engaged, the misogynistic men made me seethe and want to keep reading to see how the sisters-are-doing-it-for-themselves women would fend them off, and while the near-ending was a shocker, the very end, not so much, but still a fun, fast-paced read.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Jessica Garcia really knocked it out of the park with this one!!! Loved every second and kept me reading. Devoured this one in 2 sittings!

A riveting thriller about two women, strangers on the same plane, disappear after sending texts to their friends about the same man. Did the man do something to them? Or did they do something to him? This was a slow burn thriller but really picked up in the second half.

This one had me hooked for the first 60% until I discovered what had happened. Then I really grew to dislike one of the main characters. I thought a lot of parts seemed weird and unbelievable. I definitely needed more from the ending. Considering this is the author's first book, I would definitely try another one.

I'm sorry, but I just did not enjoy this book. There were too many characters who each had chapter perspectives. Then, we got half of the story, then returned back to the beginning to get the same half of the story from a different perspective. I swear, there were sentences copied and pasted from chapters I had already read. The ending was sloppy and unresolved. It just felt very amateur,

No lies here...I finished this book in 12 hours. I love that you get each person's perspective in their own chapters along the same timeline. I almost had it totally figured out but the twists kept coming. The ending was a little abrupt, but it was okay.

I love a good, suspenseful thriller, but when I can't like any of the characters, it's a red flag for me. Still, I persevered. By part 4, everything turned upside down and topsy-turvy, revealing hidden motives and masks were off.

The story started off engaging, but as it continued, it felt like a runaway train with one shock after another, eventually becoming too outlandish. Most of the characters were unlikable, except for Robert and Lucy, who were just background characters.

The pacing was decent, with suspense building to a crescendo and a big twist at the end. However, I felt the last chapters went "off the rails" for me.

The narrative unfolds through the perspectives of various characters. 

Thank you, NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is an entertaining read. The narrative unfolds through the perspectives of various characters, in the absence of the main characters, it adds an intriguing layer of mystery and tension in the whereabouts of Jasmine and Stephanie. I was so drawn into the narrative that I did not concern myself with whether the methods used were believable; the author made them sound plausible, so I just went with the flow without questioning anything. My focus was solely on what was happening in the story.

Jasmine has deep issues, which I found sad, and I feel compassion for her. She had a difficult upbringing and tried to attend beauty school to improve her life. Her abusive relationship with Glenn was leading her nowhere, and I admire her for taking charge and leaving him. I wanted her to have something good in her life; however, as we learn from Jasmine, envy can be deadly. Jasmine's troubled past and her desperation to have more and better evoke a side of her that can be very costly.

There are themes of jealousy, identity theft, and suspense, along with a host of memorable characters who are genuinely concerned for Jasmine and Stephanie's well-being. Several times, I found myself frustrated with Stephanie’s assistant news director, Bruce, because he was so naïve, while I cheered for Lucy, who was perceptive enough to realize something was wrong. I enjoyed the relationship between Stephanie and her neighbor, Robert; it felt genuine and had a best-friend vibe. I cannot forget to mention Trent J. McCarthy. His character is so true to life, even though he was a nuisance to be around he did not deserve his fate.

I appreciated how the different points of view came together to maintain suspense, and the second half of the book revealed what had happened. I did not expect the surprising ending, which, while a bit far-fetched, was a creative addition from the author that I appreciated.

The novel's suspenseful pacing and unexpected twists make it a thrilling read. I highly recommend to readers that enjoy suspense, and an intriguing puzzle where the characters lay down their own piece and then later all the pieces start to connect.

Ya’ll I couldn’t stop reading this one.
A fantastic thriller debut from Jessie Garcia.
An unpredictable and bingeable thriller that you will not want to put down. Two very different woman meet on a plane. Stephanie is going on a business trip and Jasmine is escaping from an abusive relationship. And what happens next is a wild ride!
Multiple POVs that will make you not know who to trust and what to believe.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

This started out great. Short chapters kept the pace moving really quickly and even though there are lots of POV, it was easy to follow. The tension was there. However, once I hit 50%, it became almost a different book. The Jasmine chapters basically repeated what happened in the first half, only from her POV as to how she did what she did. (no spoilers) So I skimmed a lot of that. Trent was such a horrible person that I couldn't stand reading about him and ended up skimming that too. The ending was a bit of an eye roller. I'll split this down the middle: 4 stars for the first half, 2 for the second = 3 stars.

Stephanie and Jasmine have everything and nothing in common. They don’t know each other, but both are on the same plane. Stephanie is traveling for work, while Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship. After a few days, both women send eerily similar text messages to their friends—texts about the same man, Trent McCarthy. What starts as a vague discomfort quickly spirals into something stranger, more unsettling, and increasingly erratic.

And then, just like that, both women vanish.

The texts stop. The red flags appear. Panic sets in. As authorities declare Stephanie and Jasmine missing and in danger, one question looms: Who is Trent McCarthy? What exactly happened between these women and this man—or, perhaps more troubling, what did they do to him?

In the first half of the book, I found myself intrigued but not fully engaged. There was a slow build, but something felt missing. I couldn’t quite connect with the characters at first, and though I was curious about what would happen next, I wasn’t yet hooked.

Then came the second half. I couldn’t put it down. The twists kept coming, and just when I thought I had the story figured out, I realized I was completely wrong. The plot was so much more clever than I expected, and I was left genuinely surprised by where it went. In the second half, I finally felt a deeper connection to the characters, even though they were decidedly unlikable.

The suspense ramped up to a level where I was on the edge of my seat, and the revelations—especially the final twist—had my jaw dropping. It was a fantastic, twisty read that kept me guessing right until the very end. The mystery of Trent McCarthy, and the dark undercurrents running through the story, made for a thrilling ride that I didn’t see coming.