The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia

This program features multicast narration.

THE BUSINESS TRIP is the gripping, binge-worthy debut from author Jessie Garcia.

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.

And then the two women vanish. The texts go silent, the red flags go up, and the panic sets in. When Stephanie and Jasmine are each declared missing and in danger, it begs the questions: Who is Trent McCarthy? What did he do to these women—or what did they do to him?

Twist upon twist, layer upon layer, where nothing is as it seems, The Business Trip takes you on a descent into the depths of a mastermind manipulator. But who is playing who?

Audiobook, 9 hours, 7 minutes

Expected publication January 14, 2025

 by Macmillan Audio

Kindle Edition, 352 pages

Expected publication January 15, 2025

by St. Martin's Press

3/5 stars

This is a tough book for me to review.

I was totally enraptured with the first 45% of The Business Trip, I was given an advanced audiobook,  it made a 3 hour drive very pleasant. There were many points of view in that time with each chapter heading making me aware of who was telling their side of the story. It worked even if they were fair number of them but it's always great to see a story from different angles.

Right away I liked Jasmine, I felt for her and cheered her on as she escaped an abusive relationship. For Stephanie, she is in the opposite situation in that she is single but questioning things going on in her life. When these two women vanish the red herrings start popping up.  It was intriguing trying to figure out what was going on, the shorter chapters worked well.

Then I started to question things as the twists started happening, overtime I had to suspend my belief a fair number of times. The ending was out there and I’m not sure what to make of it. It was unexpected that’s for sure.

All in all I was genuinely curious as to what was going on but the execution in the last half just felt off

You can find The Business Trip on shelves early 2025.

My thanks to Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for advanced copies in exchange for a honest review.