The Business Trip
Jessica Garcia
Pub: 1/14/25
4☆

A gripping and twisty thriller that instantly draws you in and will keep you entertained throughout. That one final twist on a twist might need you to suspend reality just a tad but all in all this was a solid debut and I’m looking forward to more from Garcia.

I would definitely recommend giving this one a listen. The full cast narration of Andrew Eiden, Dylan Fitzpatrick, Fred Berman, Fail Shalan, Hillary Huber, Jennifer Pickens, John Pirhalla, Kimberly M, Wetherell, Kirby Heyborne, and Tim Campbell was so well done.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the advanced copies.

The Business Trip was a fascinating read with some jaw dropping twists and turns.

Stephanie and Jasmine meet on a plane, Stephanie on her way to a business trip and Jasmine running away from her life and abusive boyfriend. A few days later, both women text their friends eerily similar texts about the same man. As things go askew, their friends and family have to figure out what has happened.

Told from multiple points of view, this thriller unfolds in a way that keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat. This was particularly well done in the audiobook with use of 10 different narrators.

4.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me access to this ALC!
The Business Trip will be published on Jan 14, Stephanie and Jasmine, strangers on the same flight, disappear days after sending unsettling texts about the same man, Trent McCarthy. As red flags rise and panic spreads, questions emerge: what happened to them, and who is Trent? The story unfolds with twists, revealing a web of manipulation and deceit. In this book, nothing is as it seems, and everyone might be playing a dangerous game!
🎧 Narration: WOW—10 narrators! 🤯 This was my first time listening to an audiobook with that many voices, and it was incredible! 🎭 Each narrator brought so much depth, making this twisty thriller even more immersive. Highly recommend for your next listen!

I really wanted to enjoy this based on the blurb, but it didn't work for me and here’s why:

The first half was enjoyable and had me engaged from the outset. I was invested in the main characters and always enjoy a good story told in multi POV.

About shy of halfway, a preachy shot was fired (figuratively). It caught me off guard as it’s not something you expect to hear in a fictional thriller.

In the last half of the story the final monologue is delivered, alternate preachy shots are fired, and the sermon begins. If this were intended as a satirical novel, the preaching might fit. I found the blatant caricature stereotyping well over the top, distracting from the story and it made it difficult to get to the end. The have/have-not battle was seriously overdone.

There was a lot of telling rather than showing in the last part of the book and it sounded like working through a list to make sure all points were covered. On top of that, the final twist was incredibly out there.

As far as the audio experience-I enjoyed 99% of that (at 1.75x). As a rule, I don’t pay attention to who is narrating but there’s one name I will now remember. One of the male character’s voices is so distinct it reminded me instantly of another book I listened to, and did not enjoy. Regardless, my previous comments stand, no matter who narrated.

Who can enjoy this? People who like insane twists just for the sake of the twist, even if it’s nonsensical.

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Jessie Garcia for the opportunity to hear an advance listening copy.
#TheBusinessTrip #NetGalley

Business Trip is a brilliantly crafted thriller that blends intrigue, suspense, and psychological depth in a way that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. It’s a perfect read for fans of complex, morally gray characters, shocking plot twists, and an ending that will make you reconsider everything you thought you knew. This book apart is its intricate web of lies and betrayals, reminiscent of Gone Girl's unreliable narrators and How to Get Away with Murder's web of legal and moral ambiguity. Just when you think you’ve figured out where the story is headed, the author pulls you in a completely unexpected direction, crafting twists that are as brilliant as they are jaw-dropping. Highly recommended!

Macmillan Audio ALC This was a solid thriller debut. I first went in thinking I knew where the story was going, but I was so glad the author surprised me multiple times. Her plotting was impeccable. She created so many characters; some of whom were likable and easy to root for, while others were awful and easy to root against.I really, really like audio production of this book because each character has their own narrator. This made it easy to keep everybody straight and to really get to know all of them. It added another layer of suspense in the novel. I will be looking forward to what she writes next.

What a good story with some surprising twists. I thought I knew where the story was going but I was not expecting the twist at the end. This was a great thriller/mystery!

I also really enjoyed the full cast of narrators, while listening to the audiobook.

I listened to the audiobook and loved the whole cast of narrators! The twists were surprising and nonstop! Very quick and easy read, highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Jessie Garcia's twisty thriller, The Business Trip. Holy plot twists.... it would be impossible to predict the ending of this jaw-dropping debut.

Jasmine is in an abusive relationship and will do whatever it takes to escape, hiding her tip money from the bar and heading to the airport in the middle of the night. Stephanie is on her way to yet another dreaded business trip. The two cross paths on the flight and the trajectory of their lives changes forever. When Stephanie meets a questionable guy named Trent at her conference and spontaneously agrees to spend a week with him, her friends and co-workers become increasingly concerned by her cryptic messages. And where has Jasmine gone to hide from Glenn?

The audio of this impressive roller coaster ride definitely adds to its compulsive readability and makes it impossible not to devour it in one sitting!

Jasmine lives in a trailer with her abusive boyfriend and plans on leaving him ASAP. Stephanie is a newsroom director and goes on a business trip. Both women meet on a flight. Both women text their friends that they have met an amazing guy, and then their texts stop. What happened to Jasmine and Stephanie?

The book is divided into several different chapters and parts. Each part is told from the point-of-view of a different person. I really liked the way you didn't know what was going on for the first half of the book and how all the people connected to each other. Then, in the second half of the book you finally find out what is going on and it gets even more intriguing. I enjoyed all the different narrators throughout the story. I highly recommend this one to anyone that enjoys thrillers! I give it 4/5 stars.

As I read The Business Trip, there were times I was not sure I liked it enough to finish it, yet I kept being entertained just enough by the twists it took and the "villains." Jasmine is leaving her abusive partner and disappearing as best she can., having spent a year saving as much of her tips and money she could take without raising suspicion as possible. Stephanie, a news director in Madison Wisconsin is heading to a conference. She is feeling unfulfilled in her personal life. She had an amicable divorce awhile ago and her son, an older teen, young man, is spending more time with his father and stepmother than with her. Her next door neighbor, an older gay man, is her best friend. The conference will be with a bunch of other news directors in San Diego. She dreads the experience of being a woman in this huge boys club. By chance, Stephanie and Jasmine end up on the same plane, sitting near one another and chatting as people do. Eventually each gets to her planned destination. And Stephanie keeps getting hit on by an Atlanta news director narcissist, Trent. Things evolve in Jasmine's, Stephanie's and Trent's lives in an intersecting way that becomes quite dramatic. Ultimately, I'm glad I finished this audiobook and I enjoyed the narrator.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

3.5

a lot of this book felt pretty repetitive and nearly boring until the end. However, the twist did surprise me ngl

I LOVED this one! What a fun ride! I thought I knew where we were going with this one early on but I was so wrong. I binged this one in two days because it was so entertaining. I also really liked that it was a full cast of narrators (10 of them!). That usually makes me nervous thinking it will be a hard story to keep up with on audio but I didn’t have that issue at all. Highly recommend this popcorn thriller!

I loved that there were multiple narrators, there were several characters POV that we were privy to for 'The Business Trip', sometimes multiple POVs can be confusing, but with the variety of narrators, it helped keep them straight and separate their thoughts and experiences.

As a debut book, this was so well done! The story was twisty and unexpected, the first half of the book was a lot of groundwork but didn't come off as boring or tedious. I felt invested in the informational development even when I wasn't sure where things were headed at that point. The last half of the book felt slightly rushed in comparison to the first half. There were a couple of twists that happened, that I did not see coming! Just when I thought that was the twist, another one came, and then another! However, the last portion landed confusingly to me. It feels like I'm missing something.

All in all, a very interesting and enjoyable concept of a mystery thriller!

3.5 ⭐️'s!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC!

I enjoy reading different types of thrillers and this creative story is nothing like I’ve read before. It would be a challenge to add anything to the “blurb” without spoilers so I will just add that almost nothing in this book is as it seems. Both protagonists can be considered victims and the horrible misogynistic Trent really is a jerk but hang on for the whiplash! This is a book that drops little hints that many readers may pick up on but I found lots of “ah-ha” moments and then remembered the hints. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and plot creativity and the character development was better than I usually see in thrillers. The book is quick paced and engaging and hard to put down. I will definitely look forward to future books from Ms. Garcia. This is an outstanding debut!
I listened to the audio version of this book and it was so well done with several narrators who did excellent jobs with the voices. I was really drawn in and listening to the book was better than watching a movie!

The Business Trip
by Jessie Garcia
Narrated by Andrew Eiden; Dylan Fitzpatrick; Fred Berman; Gail Shalan; Hillary Huber; Jennifer Pickens; John Pirhalla; Kimberly M. Wetherell; Kirby Heyborne; Tim Campbell

I really enjoyed this book! This was a story that really kept me guessing until the end. It was a fun ride, trying to figure out exactly what happened and whodunit. Is it necessarily the most realistic story? Absolutely not-that's why it's fiction. You have to just enjoy the story and not look at the total believability of it all. Stephanie, Jasmine, Trent...what in the world happened and how did it all come about? This story really kept me listening and guessing until the very end. I loved how everything came together. I don't want to give away any spoilers (the read is worth the wait), but if you're looking for something a little out of the ordinary as far as the normal flow of most novels, this one is for you. There are multiple POVs and I found it pretty easy to follow along since there were multiple narrators. Overall, a great listen!

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and the author for this fun ARC!

In her interesting take on a mystery/thriller, Jessie Garcia's The Business Trip is a fast-paced ride into domestic difficulties and secrets kept. Two women are brought together on a flight out of Madison, Wisconsin, both with very different motivations for traveling. Our main character, Jasmine, is trying to flee an abusive relationship to start anew in Colorado and Stephanie is headed to Colorado as a layover to her final destination to San Diego for a newscaster conference. Their two very contrasting lives are highlighted - a more privileged life for Stephanie - single, head of a newsroom, financially comfortable, versus a struggling Jasmine - living in a mobile home, working at a bar, stuck in a relationship with an abusive boyfriend.

The first half of the book switches between narrators - Jasmine, Stephanie, and various people in their lives. The story quickly becomes fast-paced as we learn about the fate of both women - who go missing shortly after their flights. The narration is provided by so many great voice-actors including Andrew Eiden, Dylan Fitzpatrick, Fred Berman, Gail Shalan, Hillary Huber, Jennifer Pickens, John Pirhalla, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Kirby Heyborne, and Tim Campbell. All of these voices really added to the experience of listening to this book. I felt much more invested in the characters when listening versus just reading this book.

The second half of the book is almost solely one character - Jasmine. Unfortunately for me, I didn't particularly like her as a character. Much of her inner dialogue included a victim mentality, as she frequently felt jealous towards others better off than her, making assumptions about their lives, and feeling sorry for herself without taking much action to improve her life. Without giving too much away, I did feel better about Jasmine as a character by the end of the book, but this was NOT because I eventually liked her.

Overall, I found The Business Trip entertaining, but definitely felt a bit held-back by some of the details of the book that felt far-fetched. (SPOILER - namely a fairly weak/small woman picking up 50 lb dumbbells without much difficulty and proceeding to lug around 200+lbs....). I also had difficulty really connecting to or liking any of the characters, which made me feel less invested in what happened to them.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, the author, Jessie Garcia, and all the wonderful narrators including Andrew Eiden, Dylan Fitzpatrick, Fred Berman, Gail Shalan, Hillary Huber, Jennifer Pickens, John Pirhalla, Kimberly M. Wetherell Kirby Heyborne, and Tim Campbell for an ALC of The Business Trip in exchange for an honest review!

I’m not sure I still fully understand the end to this one!! Not that it matters much, I still think it was brilliant! This story follows a woman who’s been let down by everyone in her life and is fleeing an abusive relationship (no TW, it’s not specific). She meets a woman on a plane who seems to effortlessly have it all- and she wants it. What lengths will she go to, to take what isn’t hers?! 4/5 ⭐️!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ALC!

I so enjoyed this audio. It had a wonderful cast that depicted the characters perfectly. This is a very tense and thrilling book. I loved how each character had a chapter. Alternating between them until the very end.

I despised Trent and Glenn. Trent was a horrible person. He treated everyone like they were so inferior to him. Glenn was a very abusive man. Both were despicable.

The women were likable. Jasmine I felt so bad for. Up to a point. She went off the rails in places and did what she thought she had to do to get away from Glenn. Stephanie was a news anchor and I really liked her. I thought she was strong and independent. She seemed to get along with others and the people she worked with. Her friends loved her too. These two women were so very different
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The whole book was good until the ending. The epilogue. I didn't like that part. To me it was just not necessary. I wish it would have been about Diana instead. I would have loved seeing some closure with her.

Overall the book was great. Well written and heartfelt. With a few twists and a lot of edge of your seat.

For a debut it was very good. Kudos to this author. I look forward to reading more by her.

Thank you #MacMillanAudio and #NetGalley for this ARC.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

This was exactly what I needed after a streak of thrillers that leaned more toward slow burns than I’d hoped. The Business Trip delivers a fast-paced, twisty ride that keeps you guessing. Was it over-the-top and even absurd at times? Absolutely—but it more than makes up for that with its gripping plot and constant surprises.

Told from multiple perspectives, the story revisits the same scenes as new details emerge. While this approach added depth and intrigue, it occasionally felt repetitive. That said, the payoffs were worth it. And trust me—you won’t see the ending coming.

If you’re looking for a wild, entertaining thriller that doesn’t take itself too seriously, this is a solid pick!

On the narration front, I appreciated ALL the different narrators that gave the POVs a more authentic feel. Very well done.