This debut mystery/thriller—authored by a television news director, who has written nonfiction previously—requires a fair amount of willingness to suspend disbelief. That's one of the beauties of fiction, though, isn't it? It doesn't have to stick to reason—it can be as imaginative as the writer wants.

From the beginning, you might want to make a relationship chart to keep track of the connections between friends, family, coworkers, and strangers. Content warnings abound, including domestic abuse, gaslighting, murder, and theft (including identity).

One of the male characters makes reference to his fraternity experience at the University of Illinois, and he fits the stereotypical negative frat boy persona.

The shit really starts to hit the fan around 91%, with a significant plot twist in the next chapter. To me, the weird ending leaves too much up in the air, but the last line is perfect. Do not, under any circumstances, jump ahead—it will ruin everything. Really. In fact, don't even read a bunch of reviews before digging in, for fear of having the fun spoiled. If you are an avid murder mystery/thriller reader, give this book a shot.

The Business Trip really kept me on the hook—I didn't want to put it down. I will certainly consider reading Garcia's subsequent fiction.

The audiobook is narrated by Andrew Eiden, Dylan Fitzpatrick, Fred Berman, Gail Shalan, Hillary Huber, Jennifer Pickens, John Pirhalla, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Kirby Heyborne, and Tim Campbell. Now maybe you can see why I recommend keeping notes on how the characters connect! I don't often have occasion to read an audiobook with a full cast. I think it worked quite well in this book. [I read the first more-than-half with my eyes exclusively, and read the rest in tandem with my ears.]

I wasn't sure about this one, but I requested it anyway due to the high ratings on Goodreads. Sometimes these "popcorn thrillers" can be a bit derivative and predictable, and for some reason that's what I thought this would be. I was completely wrong, though!

Jessie Garcia’s debut is a slick psychological thriller that truly shocked me in the best possible way. It starts with a simple premise—two women on a plane—and escalates into a twisty journey of manipulation and lies.

Stephanie and Jasmine are two completely different women, yet their paths cross when they find themselves on the same flight. Stephanie’s just trying to get through her business trip, while Jasmine is escaping an abusive relationship. What they don’t know is that they’re both connected to a mysterious man, Trent McCarthy. Over the course of a few days, the two women begin texting their friends eerily similar messages about him—messages that grow stranger and more unsettling with each passing day. And then… they both disappear.

What follows is suspenseful, shocking, and truly jaw-dropping. The listener slowly starts to unravel what happened to these women, leading to a tangled web of questions. Who is Trent McCarthy (besides a Johnny Bravo-esque douchebag)? Is he a mastermind manipulator—or are the women playing a game of their own? The story weaves back and forth between psychological tension and a whirlwind of unanswered questions, keeping you hooked from one chapter to the next.

Garcia is so good at building suspense, adding layers of mystery and misdirection that will have you second-guessing everyone’s motives. Just when you think you’ve figured it out, another twist hits you in the gut. I eventually guessed what was going on, but not until minutes before it was actually revealed. Good work, Ms. Garcia! I haven't had this much fun with an audiobook in a really long time!

Whoa! I didn't see that twist coming! I love a story that keeps me guessing and this one did that. So many twists and turns. One woman is running from an abusive relationship, another is on a business trip. They meet on a plane. What happens next...yeah, read the book and prepare to have your mind blown. If you love a mystery/thriller/psychological whodunit, this one should be at the top of your list for this year!

This book!!! I could not stop reading! Finished this in one day. Comes out January 14th.
The Business Trip By: Jessie Garcia
Jasmine is leaving an abusive boyfriend.
Stephanie is going to a news director conference.
They both end up on the same flight.
Then a few days later their friends receive very similar text messages about meeting a guy ...the same guy.
And then they disappear. What happened to them? Who is the guy they supposedly met? And if you think you know what happened...no you don’t

There are a lot of characters in this book, but the full cast narration of the audiobook really helps to keep them all straight. Also, the way in which the characters are introduced, and the order in which their perspectives are told is also strategic storytelling. The changing of the characters kept the story's momentum flowing and made it difficult to put the book down.

What didn't work for me was just how despicable ALL the characters were. It's difficult to find redeeming qualities in any of the characters or their actions. As such, it was difficult to know who to root for or what to feel.

3.5 Stars, rounded up.

Thanks to NetGalley for early access to this audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook ARC opportunity!

This story begins with two women who meet on a plane. They have never met, and seem to have nothing in common, however a few days later each of them will send out the same text message about the same man to the other people in their lives.

Pros: unique plot, the beginning was fast paced, new revelations that keep you guessing, great narration

Cons: I could not get myself to like the characters (which might have been on purpose)

I will definitely read a book from this author again!

Wow! I liked this way more than I expected to. I binged it in just two days. Unpredictable and full of twists. Clever and so much fun to read. The narration was perfect. Highly recommend. I believe this is Jessie Garcia's first foray into fiction and she nailed it! I hope she gives us more!

3.9 rounded up to 4.

Stephanie and Jasmine meet on the plane. Both are in different situations but both end up vanishing shortly after, with one connection - a man named Trent. All I have to say about this book is to buckle up! This book is a wild ride, with so many twists that you won't see coming. I felt some of them were quite unrealistic, however overall I really enjoyed the story. With this promising debut by Jessie Garcia, I look forward to seeing what she will write next.

The first twist I saw coming the second one dropped my jaw to the floor. Wow what a wild ride. Highly recommend listening to this one as it’s narrated by a full cast. Wonderfully done. Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

What a fun, engrossing debut in the fiction/thriller space from former journalist and sportscaster Jessie Garcia. My friends at Macmillan Audio sent this over as a little holiday gift, and it is indeed a treat with a full voice cast.

Stephanie and Jasmine board the same plane headed to San Diego for different reasons. Stephanie is a news director headed to a news conference. Jasmine is a service worker fleeing an abusive relationship. They chat a little on the flight, then part ways, lives having seemingly nothing in common. Within a few days, though, people in each of their lives start receiving texts from them about meeting a great guy named Trent McCarthy, a news director at a station in Atlanta. He seems great, and then maybe not so much. And then both women seem to disappear. All evidence leads to Trent, who swears he has done nothing wrong. So what’s really happening?

I couldn’t stop listening to this one until I was done. I went back to it as often as possible over a couple of days to get the answers. At times it went perhaps a little too far, requiring us to believe that a character from a disadvantaged background is an absolute criminal mastermind; an additional subplot based on doppelgängers, mentioned earlier in the book that comes back late, felt like just too much. But it was all wildly entertaining and I was willing to suspend disbelief to go with it.

I usually feel that I need to like the main characters in books in order to root for them, but here pretty much everyone other than a couple of supportings (hi, theatre-loving neighbor Robert and Atlanta’s knockoff Prince) is thoroughly unlikable, yet you could get on board with them for various parts of the book — or at a minimum revel in the hilarity of them being an over-the-top villain. This was well-written, well-read and a fine debut. As a fan of thrillers, I look forward to more from her! This audiobook is available on Jan. 14.

Thrillers are kind of hit or miss for me as an audiobook- the pacing can be so hard to get just right. But from the first chapter of The Business Trip, I was sucked in. The book focuses on the intersection of two women, who seem to have nothing in common except that they share one flight. I had no idea where this one was going, and I absolutely loved it.

While I was initially drawn into the story of THE BUSINESS TRIP by Jessica Garcia, as it unfolded, the plot became increasingly unbelievable which led to a loss of interest on my part. The big twist at the end didn't have the impact I was expecting, and the confusion around the identity switch made it hard to follow. Despite these drawbacks, Garcia's debut novel is a gripping and page-turning psychological thriller that explores the depths of manipulation. The characters of Stephanie and Jasmine are well-developed, and the suspenseful nature of the story kept me engaged throughout. Fans of thrillers with unexpected twists and turns may still find enjoyment in this audiobook.

I received this audiobook via NetGalley. I will start off by saying I liked having different narrators for different characters because it made it easier to keep track which is sometimes hard with audiobooks as I listen to them while driving, cooking and working so the different narrators kept it easy to follow along. It starts off with a woman in an abuse situation who is fleeing and has a chance meeting on a plane. They were going to different destinations and both for different reasons. Yet them both text family and friends that they are in a relationship with the same guy. The guy is a honestly horrible. He is racist, chauvinistic and just things he is God's gift to everyone. You are supposed to dislike him from the get go. Part one is all about the ladies getting ready for their flight and then they both seem to "disappear". Something is clearly amiss and then SMACK part two out of no where..... continues the tale of how it unfolded. No matter what you thought was happening you were wrong. It shifted gears more times than I can count and I really enjoyed this book and the narration. I would recommend. I read a lot of thrillers so I am pretty good at figuring out the endings but not with this one.

I did not like the narrator for Stephanie. I am pretty sure it was a computer generated voice like Siri. But the story was great!

This was exhausting. The book has some Very Important Messages (rich people = bad; misogyny = bad) and conveys them in a heavy-handed and clunky manner. For most of the book, I thought it would work better as a screenplay, since there are dramatic visuals and the psychological insight is slim to problematic, but once we get to the turning point, suddenly it's all inner thoughts and nothing else, so I guess it's better as a book?

Jessie writes women believably enough, but her writing also made me question whether she'd ever spoken to a man, "bastard" or otherwise. The men blend, except for the Abuser, the Misogynist, and the Homosexual, which were such caricatures that nothing they said or did could land. I get that exposition is necessary, but there needs to be a lot more attention paid to whether or not a character would comment on his or her own actions in the way they are presented. Perhaps third person omniscent would work better?

Why am I re-editing this book? It's a fine rough draft, but for me, the format didn't work, the characters weren't believable, and the twists were.... I mean, come on.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for the ARC.

I loved this book! Literally listened to it less than a day because I could not stop. The story is so well-written and the multiple POV’s keep it all so interesting.

Two women meet on a plane, and then both disappear. I listened to the audiobook and it had a full cast of characters which helped keep the fast-paced and direction of the story. All the narrators did an excellent job voicing their parts. There were plenty of twists but also too many holes or unfinished pieces with sub-characters who helped you stay engaged with the story and then they were dropped completely. The two women who meet on the plane have no history beforehand and what draws them together is they were on the same flight to, Denver. The narration then suddenly switches to that of friends and co-workers disturbed by increasingly odd and worrisome texts from them. The novel is based more on action than character depth and does take a suspension of disbelief at some points, but the author does her best to keep the reader engaged until she’s forced to reveal the devious plans of one of the main characters there was good pacing with this and still a few more unseen twists.


Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC. This is my honest review.

The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia immediately pulled me in. I felt like I was in the story with Jasmine, on the edge of my seat. This feeling lasted until Part 3. After that, I started to care less and less, especially once one of the bigger twists is revealed. I honestly felt betrayed, but it shows that I cared deeply, which is why I still rate it 4 stars. I loved the ending, even if suspending reality is somewhat required.

Andrew Eiden, Dylan Fitzpatrick, Fred Berman, Gail Shalan, Hillary Huber, Jennifer Pickens, John Pirhalla, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Kirby Heyborne, and Tim Campbell are all good narrators. I loved how distinct they were, though I found one of them less appealing.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ALC.

This is a pretty decent debut. Jessie Garcia has alot of potential. This book definitely kept me guessing for most of the book. The ending left me quite disappointed though. Not how I wanted it to end but I get why that was the way it was written. It was unexpected how it went down for sure.

Whoa talk about a crazy ride!!!! I devoured this book because of how it was written and the story. I loved the different points of view. Usually when you get a story told from different POV’s the story gets repetitive since you are seeing the same thing different ways. Not with this story at all! And most the chapters were super quick so it kept me blowing through it!

The narrators were incredible! I worried having so many it would be confusing and it wasn’t at all. They all did a great job.