Wow, what a thrilling ride with such a distinctive execution! This debut was incredibly strong, delivering an addictive and wickedly fun story with intricate plotting that kept me hooked. Full of twists and endless surprises, this kept me constantly guessing—utterly diabolical and irresistibly absorbing!

I’ll keep this brief and intentionally cryptic—this is best experienced with no prior hints for maximum enjoyment!

you know what? this was crazy. I was a little bored and then boom, total surprise. I don't know, it kinda had me rooting for the villain.

The Business Trip had potential, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite deliver for me. While the premise was intriguing, the story lacked the depth and development needed to make it truly engaging. Some plot points felt rushed, and the characters didn’t resonate as much as I’d hoped.

That said, the narrator did a fantastic job, which made it more enjoyable than it might have been otherwise. If you’re looking for an easy listen, it might be worth a try, but overall, the execution just didn’t hit the mark for me.

Jessie Garcia hit it out of the park with "The Business Trip"! I beyond enjoyed this audio book and the narrators for each character! I was on the edge of my seat throughout this novel full of twist and turns. My first 5 star read of the year!

The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia is a fast-paced phycological thriller that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The story is told in multiple POVs. Primarily we follow Stephanie, who is on a business trip, and Jasmine, who is fleeing from an abusive partner. As their paths intertwine, the narrative dives into themes of identity theft, manipulation, and survival. I did not see the twist at the end coming. If you are looking for a page turning thriller then this is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and the author for the arc in exchange for an honest review. These thoughts are my own.

Summary: The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia is a thrilling debut that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The story follows two women, Stephanie and Jasmine, who don’t know each other but find themselves on the same flight for very different reasons. Stephanie is on a routine business trip, while Jasmine is running away from an abusive relationship. However, both women end up texting their friends eerily similar messages about a man named Trent McCarthy. As the texts become more unsettling, the two women mysteriously vanish, and panic sets in as they’re declared missing. The question remains: who is Trent McCarthy, and what happened to these women? With twist after twist, The Business Trip keeps you guessing, leading you down a path of psychological manipulation and dark intrigue.

My Thoughts: This audiobook was a wild ride from beginning to end. The use of multiple perspectives, with different narrators for each character, added depth and clarity to the story. The narrators did a fantastic job distinguishing between the different voices, making it easy to follow the plot even when shifting between timelines and characters.

I particularly appreciated how the story was told from different perspectives, some of which overlapped at different times, allowing the listener to experience the same events through different lenses. It added richness to the narrative and provided context that kept me hooked. The pacing was spot-on, and it maintained my attention throughout, never losing momentum.

The twists in the story were both thrilling and unsettling, although I did feel that the ending took things a bit over the top. While it didn’t completely lose me, I was left with a sense of disbelief at how everything came together. Even so, I still found the book thoroughly engaging, with its psychological tension and manipulation keeping me intrigued throughout.

If you're a fan of psychological thrillers with unexpected twists and complex characters, The Business Trip is definitely worth the listen. It’s a great debut, and I’ll be looking forward to more from Jessie Garcia in the future.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book but about 20% left of it I started to loose interest. It was falling apart. It just started to seem sloppy and forced. But the audio was entertaining with all the different characters.

The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia. I received a Kindle copy from Netgalley for a honest review.

Two women with absolutely nothing in common are seated next to each other on the same plane. When they disembark, their lives with be forever linked.

Summary -

Stephanie is a professional who works for a television news station. She has a grown son and a cat with no current romantic prospects. She is on the plane to take part in a work conference. One of many she is often sent on and rarely wants to go to. But it seems she is constantly called on to go. She feels her life is at a crossroads and if she doesn't do something soon it will never change. But how far is she willing to go to change it?

Jasmine is a waitress whose life could not be turning out worse. Her live in boyfriend is controlling and abusive. She needs to find a way out. A way to a new life that he can't follow.

Two very different women with nothing in common. Until neither one returns home and they both begin to text their friends and coworkers about the very same man.

"...Hey! Sorry I didn't get back to you. Really busy day here at the conference. He's amazing. His name is Trent McCarthy and he's from Atlanta. We really hit it off and I just need to roll with this. Can you give me a week? I'm going to go back to Atlanta with him. I'll send you some pictures..."

For Stephanie it is completely out of character and for Jasmine, her friends find this as a great stroke of luck. A way out of the abusive relationship she was trapped in. Until the text messages begin to change.

"...I'm typing this while Trent is sleeping. I think I might come home earlier than expected. Remember how I said he was bossy? Well he actually yelled at me. It scared me. His anger came out of nowhere. He doesn't like it when I contact people from home. I'll call you when I can..."

When the text messages go silent, their friends begin to panic. it seems the two women have just vanished.

Trent McCarthy is a jerk. A misogynistic caveman who runs the news station in Atlanta. He meets Stephanie at the conference and thinks he's hit it off with her. But she disappears and he goes home alone. He doesn't think any further about her until the police show up at his door. There are two women missing and he's quickly becoming the prime suspect.

Review -

The Business Trip begins slowly, but it quickly builds momentum and takes off. The characters are intricately structured and the mystery layered so well that you will not see the curves until you are on them.

Jessie Garcia does a great job of changing perspectives and pacing as the story builds. There are so many twists and turns and through a great deal of the book it is the supporting characters who are narrating.

The mystery of the story is what happened to the two women. For Jasmine, you learn midway through the tale but for Stephanie, the truth of what happened to her lingers gently on the periphery. The real mystery of the Business Trip is who is killer and will they ever be caught.

A terrific read.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC.

The performers were great. (Andrew Eiden; Dylan Fitzpatrick; Fred Berman; Gail Shalan; Hillary Huber; Jennifer Pickens; John Pirhalla; Kimberly M. Wetherell; Kirby Heyborne; Tim Campbell) Whomever performed Trent’s character- holy shit. They really got the point across of his being the lowest hanging rotting fruit on the tree.

This was a twisty ride. I thought I had it figured out (I was about 80% correct), but then a new potato was thrown in and I was thrown.

I enjoy a mysterious novel that keeps me guessing the entire time I'm reading. After learning more about the premise of the story, being able to change my thinking and predictions as I am I reading was enjoyable.

This was such a pleasant surprise! After all the thrillers I’ve read, I never go into reading one expecting a twist, but this story genuinely kept me guessing until the very end!!! Such a compelling story with lots of twists and turns. And the full cast audiobook was excellent!!

Actual Rating 2.5

What was probably strongest about this work was the pacing. It was consistently fast, which was helped by the shorter chapters and frequent twists and turns. But the work was told from multiple POVs, and there were many instances when the narrative was repeated but just from someone else's POV - this definitely could have used some editing because this rarely added new/pertinent information to what we'd already read.

The characters were okay in this one. There was a good mix of likeable and unlikeable characters, but it felt like they were all lacking some much-needed depth. I think a bit more development and stronger characterization would have helped this work greatly.

With all that being said, there was never a point when I wasn't invested in the story and I finished the book quickly. Of course, plenty of suspension of disbelief is required, but not so much that it felt too absurd. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own

Okay, hear me out…. I did enjoy this book, but the numerous, and I mean NUMEROUS narrators were incredibly distracting. Which at times felt unnecessary for the story’s progression. The plot and twist could have been much more impactful if told from just a few perspectives, which would have allowed for better character development and more effective scene building. Instead, it felt like I was constantly trying to keep track of too many characters, making it hard to fully appreciate the story’s direction. I also wished for a deeper connection with the two main characters, Stephanie and Jasmine. While we did get a brief look into Jasmine’s life that helped build empathy for her, a key moment from her past was glossed over, but this could have provided significant insight into her character. That said, it was still an engaging mystery full of deception and wildly unhinged characters.

*Thank you to Jessie Garcia, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for the audio copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

Split into several parts, author Jessie Garcia keeps readers guessing as the story slowly untangles. An overworked businesswoman and an abused girlfriend have nothing in common but soon find themselves entangled in a web of lies, deceit, and even death. Keep reading as Garcia shocks readers all the way to the end in a twist you won't see coming. Just as you think you've got "The Business Trip" figured out, your foundation is ripped out from under you and the story changes directions.

What a ride! There were so many elements of this story that I loved. It was gripping, entertaining and kept my attention. I flew through this book and loved (almost) every minute of it!

The only part that I didn't love (and be warned - potential spoiler here!) was the timing of some of the twists and the repetitive storytelling. It was about halfway through when you find out what went down and then go through the first part of the book again from a different perspective. It felt too early to me that we were brought into the truth. And then it was just a bit slow with the repetition.

That said, you still are holding out for at least one more twist and it did not disappoint!

Fantastic fiction debut!

2.5 stars
I went into this book without reading the blurb, which had its pros and cons. I spent the first half of the book very confused. That said, I appreciated the unique plotting that kept us guessing from start to finish. Some of the POVs worked better than others and the landing didn’t stick for me, but it was still a fun listen! I look forward to the author’s next work.

I just finished The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia and here are my musings.

What do two women who have never met have in common? They both took the same flight, they both vanished and it all seems to be connected to a man called Trent McCarthy….

This was clever, really clever. The narration was amazing and I love how well it was done. There was a lot of POV set into different parts and I think it all held together really well.
I did find that all the twists and turns got to be a bit much. I don’t think it needed so much. Sometimes, less is more and I think it could have been scaled back a bit and it would have blown me away.

I wasn’t a fan of the ending. It felt really meh and lacked lustre. Pancake like… not a waffle… it fell too flat. I was waiting for this beautiful crescendo of chills and it missed the mark. It was a real shame because the rest of the book was really well done. It felt ludicrous, truly not what I was hoping for. It definitely made my pulse thrum and that’s enough from a thriller for me.

I definitely want to read more from this author because if this is her debut novel and she came out the starter gate swinging… She is definitely one to watch.

3.75 stars

Thank you @macmillionaudio and @netgalley for my gifted copy

This was such a good, twisty, and juicy book. I definitely want to see what else this author has to offer because I was very impressed. I did not want to put the book down because I needed to know what happened next. Ending felt a bit rushed and so that’s why I rated it four stars and not five stars.

3.25
I actually liked the layout and over all plot of the story. The twist twisted well, and I didn’t see that coming, but I did think maybe the amount of twists could have been narrowed down a bit, and I didn’t enjoy the ending at all.
The way the story was set up, with varying povs to establish the storyline was an excellent hook. Each POV felt less and less stable, less reliable. One would be well built, and then the second would build up and start to support the first, then turn and rip it to pieces. I found the unreliable narrative to really do this story well. Things started to kind of go off the rails about 3/4 of the way through for me. For me though. My experience doesn’t mean anyone else would experience the same things. Give it a go.
The narration was really good, the dialogue and emotions showed through super well.

What an amazing thriller with twists and excitement and intrigue. LOVE this one, and I am so excited to share it with my followers and fellow book lovers!!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC Audiobook in exchange for my honest review.