3.5 ⭐️

Whoa, this one was a wild ride. I couldn’t stand most of the characters which I’m sure was the author’s intention. I wanted to keep listening to hear how it ended, but the graphic murder scene and crass characters could have been toned down a bit.

In The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia, Stephanie and Jasmine, two women with seemingly separate lives, cross paths in unexpected and chilling ways. When both vanish after sending identical, increasingly disturbing messages about the same man, the mystery deepens: Who is Trent McCarthy, and what dark secrets tie their fates together?

This book was an intense, edge-of-your-seat thriller that kept me hooked from the very first page. The fast-paced storytelling drew me into Jasmine’s desperate attempt to escape her abusive boyfriend, Glenn, and left me breathless as the mystery unraveled. As new characters emerged in part two, the plot thickened, and I found myself eager to uncover what happened to the two missing women. Part three peeled back the layers on Trent, revealing him to be even more vile than I could have imagined. But when part four hit, the story took an unexpected turn that, for me, fell flat.

Without giving too much away, the direction of one character’s arc left me unsatisfied, and the wild ending demanded a significant suspension of disbelief. Still, this debut thriller delivered plenty of twists and compelling moments. Despite some missteps, I enjoyed the ride and look forward to seeing what Jessie Garcia writes next.

I usually love full cast narrations for audiobooks, but I found this one a bit challenging to follow. While each chapter started with the speaker’s name, I still found myself referencing the eARC to keep track of who was talking. With so many narrators involved, it was a bit tricky to stay oriented.

That said, the performances were fantastic, and the narrators truly brought the characters to life. The standout for me was Trent’s narrator, who captured every ounce of his despicable nature with chilling precision. Trent was already a vile character on the page, but the narration elevated him to a whole new level of loathsomeness. Bravo to the cast for their immersive and dynamic work!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review:

3.5 stars rounded up

This book was a wild and fun ride! It started off so simple, two women one traveling for work, one leaving a bad relationship and then single man's perspective joined in (he is a jerk!) and I was hooked trying to figure out how they tied together and what happened. I LOVED it since this was such a different thriller than I have read before! There is a full cast of narrators and it was so helpful to have the different voices. This is a must read book, but even more it's one that should be listened to as the audiobook makes the experience even better!
Thank you Macmillan Audio for this book! I think this is the authors debut novel and I will be looking for more books from her in the future!!

This was a solid plot for a debut thriller! I give this 3.5 rounded down because Goodreads doesn’t do partial ratings. While I enjoyed the premise, and the ending, there were some things that didn’t quite work for me.

I felt there were too many POVs, especially at the beginning which led me feeling detached from the story and questioning why it was all necessary. I also felt like some of the twists or plot points were a bit too cheesy. Overall I stayed invested enough to see it through, even though I almost dnf’d halfway in as I wasn’t quite sold.

Wowwwww this was FANTASTIC! I did not want this story to end and I was hooked from the very beginning! I was able to receive an arc of the audiobook of this book and I loved every single second of this story! I’m pretty sure this is the authors debut novel and I need more books from this author IMMEDIATELY! There were sooo many POVs, but honestly, I think the audiobook made it so much fun to hear each narrators voices & POVs! I normally don’t like more than 3 POVs because it can become confusing, but this author did it the best way possible!

If you have the opportunity to listen to the audiobook, I would highly recommend it! Not that the story is not good on its own, but I loved the audiobook sooo much! This story will be stuck in my head for a longgggg time! This is definitely going to be one of my top 10 favorite books ever now! I cannot wait to see what else this author comes up with because I will be first in line!

If you want a super twisty story, drama, suspense, and an ending you will NEVER see coming, then this is the story for you! READ THIS IMMEDIATELY! You will not be disappointed!

This was a good one! I never would have guessed this was Jessie’s debut book. It was well done and the narration was top notch. Full cast narration to boot which was awesome! I did struggle at one in the story early on where there’s so many switches in secondary character’s point of view, that I felt was unnecessary and confusing. But once it switched back to two main characters it was easy to follow. The characters were quite unlikeable, but that made the story interesting. Lots of twists and turns! Did not expect it would have the ending that it did.
I have shared a Bookstagram review of this book which I have linked down below. Thank you for the arc!

I loved this book!

The narration was done well, the plot was intriguing, and everything tied up nicely in the end. At first it was as reminiscent of Julie Clark’s The Last Flight, but it quickly veered in a different direction that left me satisfied and wondering what is coming next from Jessie Garcia—because whatever it is I will be listening/reading!

Wow! I was already recommending this book before I was halfway finished! This book was twisty and intense! Two women meet on a plane. One is heading to a business trip while the other is escaping a bad relationship. Once at their destination both women mysteriously go missing. Something sinister has happened as family, friends and coworkers follow the clues.

In the book The Business Trip, author Jessie Garcia asks the question what would happen if you were running from an abusive relationship and met someone who looked like you. Would you try to take their identity and become them? This was a great thriller that kept you wanting more. I would recommend this book. The audio-book narration was very good with the variety of narrators. I received a copy of this audio-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This was full of twist and turns that kept me on edge! It was written so well and I felt like I knew all of the characters personally! This read was a non stop until the end!

(1) Do not leave your purse unattended if you go to the bathroom on an airplane. (2) Always use the chain or extra door lock on the hotel room door. (3) This almost made me not want to travel ever again. Almost.

I'm not even sure how to summarize this book because I don't want to give too much away, but I'll try:

Two women depart from Madison, WI with vastly different plans -- one a work trip, and one to get away from an abusive relationship. After a few days, texts about the same man, and their belongings showing up in Atlanta, this book really heats up. I am categorically the worst at anticipating twists in books but I was really gobsmacked by the twists in this book.

I will say that there were a few storylines (especially the abusive relationship) that never closed out, but I like the book enough to finish it in a few days. I loved the narrators who made the story even richer.

Overall I would recommend. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Stephanie and Jasmine have nothing and everything in common. The two women don’t know each other but are on the same plane. Stephanie is on a business trip and Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship. After a few days, they text their friends the same exact messages about the same man—the messages becoming stranger and more erratic.

Jasmine and Stephanie, two strangers from different backgrounds. But they become intertwined together. Then they come up missing! And is Trent to blame?? You will need to read this to find out!

Talk about a book that keeps you on your toes! I wonder how this author thought up this complicated but uniquely interesting story! And such a satisfying ending!

I will say this…you will never think of a trip the same again. Everyone will be a suspect.

This is narrated by Andrew Eiden; Dylan Fitzpatrick; Fred Berman; Gail Shalan; Hillary Huber; Jennifer Pickens; John Pirhalla; Kimberly M. Wetherell; Kirby Heyborne; Tim Campbell. Once again, Macmillan audio has outdone themselves with this fabulous tag team!

Need a twisted tale for a long trip…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest opinion.

the setup…
Jasmine is a woman in a dead end job living with an abusive boyfriend in Madison, Wisconsin and is now fleeing the relationship. She’s decided to escape to Denver and start a new life. Stephanie Monroe is a divorced, successful newsroom director on her way to a business conference in San Diego with a layover in Denver. They are seat mates on the plane and strike up a brief conversation. A few days later, both women are texting their friends and colleagues about the same man, Trent McCarthy…and then they both vanish!

the heart of the story…
There are two distinct halves to this story, beginning with Jasmine’s point of view and we are mesmerized by her stealthy getaway from boyfriend Glenn. We experience her sense of relief and you can’t help but root for her. Next we get Stephanie’s point of view as she prepares to leave for the conference, learning a lot about this woman who has a great career and supportive friends. I was seduced into a narrative leading up to the suspicious events surrounding these two women’s disappearances. Then it pivots to events and points of view after that flight and the tone and substance turns everything I thought I knew on its head!

the narration…
This is a multicast narration, meaning there are performers for every point of view in the story. I love this format, especially when character distinction is so important Ana’s it is here. All delivered exceptional performances, inhabiting their characters perfectly.

the bottom line…
There are multi layered stories and then there’s this! I smugly thought I knew where this was going, who were the heroes and who were the villains…until I didn’t. There were several jaw-dropping moments but the ultimate occurs near the end. Just don’t get wedded to any early theories. Tough to believe this clever tale is the author’s first and I’m now an instant fan. 4.5 stars

This is a storyline that's been done before but this author switched things up and kept it interesting. She's one I'll definitely keep an eye out for and the narration was excellent!

Stephanie and Jasmine come from completely different worlds, but end up as seat mates on a flight from Madison to Denver. Stephanie, a successful news director, is headed to a conference in San Diego while Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship and hoping to start fresh in Denver. Days later, both women are missing and both were recently involved with a mysterious man named Trent McCarthy.

First off, I listened to this in audiobook format. I'm always a sucker for audio productions involving multiple narrators-- and this production had TEN amazing narrators bringing each character to life. Alternating between multiple viewpoints and traversing dual storylines, Garcia created a story that was both captivating and addicting! I breezed through it, anxious to see how it would all end. This story was both ambitious and complicated, and as a debut novel, I am impressed at how the author was able to successfully navigate all the moving parts in such a clever way. There were many times throughout the listen that I was sure that I had it all figured out, but let me tell you-- I did not see the twist at the end coming AT ALL!

3.5⭐ rounded up

I can see this on the big screen! As a book, it was bingeable, but this could totally be a Netflix movie or show. Very quick read and I enjoyed it. The last part where the "twists" occurred didn't really unfold well, in my opinion. It felt very unbelievable. The audiobook was very good with different narrators for each character. A full narrator cast is always great!!

*Thank you partners @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted e-galley and audiobook in exchange for an honest review.*

Wow! I did not see that coming! This book had lots of twists and turns and kept me in suspense. The character development was excellent and I could picture every one like I knew them. I loved having all the different narrators for each different character, almost felt like I was in a movie! This book was amazing until the very last twist that kind of made me roll my eyes and I think it would have been better without. But I still enjoyed this a lot and can't wait to read more from this author.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, Jessie Garcia, and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for a total page-turner you need to add THE BUSINESS TRIP by JESSIE GARCIA to your must read list.

I binged this wonderfully unhinged thriller which twisted and turned and kept me completely hooked. It’s a full cast audio which absolutely elevated my reading experience. I loved all the different voices bringing the many POVs to life

I’m always game for a book that is giving strangers on a plane vibes. Add in some darkness, desperation and a devilishly fun characters. This book is tricky to talk about because I don’t want to give a hint of it away. My advice is to dive into this debut and enjoy the ride.

Huge thanks to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the audio ARC.

The Business trip focuses on two women who come from two different worlds, and they meet on a flight. Stephanie is a news station manager and Jasmine is former bartender who has run away from an abusive boyfriend.This book follows a number of different point of views from the characters. One day the authorities are alerted that both women are missing and presumed to be dead, and the primary suspect is Trent McCarthy. This book is intriguing, and when you think you have idea of where the story is going it goes into a different direction. I must admit that I really enjoyed how the story ended and how everything came together. I chuckled at the epilogue.
I recommend this book for lovers of mystery books. I give this book a 3 1/2 stars.

Thank you Macmillian audio and Netgalley for allowing me to review this book.