Book Review: The Business Trip

Jessie Garcia's debut novel is filled with exciting twists that led me to finish The Business Trip in less than 24 hours.

Book Description

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?

Book Review

Stephanie is headed to a convention for her job and Jasmine is feeling an abusive relationship. What happens after their fateful meeting is told through multiple points of view that are easy to follow and add depth to this thriller. The range of personalities articulate themes of audacity, jealousy, longing, dissatisfaction, and hope.

I listened to the multicast audiobook which featured an all star cast: Andrew Eiden, Dylan Fitzpatrick, Fred Berman, Gail Shalan, Hilary Huber, Jennifer Pickers, John Pirhalla, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Kirby Heyborne, and Tim Campbell.

Foreshadowing tempered some of the twists but added a healthy dose of anticipation. The narration made the detail-heavy sections interesting and entertaining.

Given the detailed explanation of events and the modern day setting, there are two moments that felt glossed over for the sake of the story. First, someone paying cash for a flight and/or buying a one-way ticket on the day of travel would be subject to extra security screening, but the character appeared to move through the airport with ease. Second, a character very clearly states intentions to protect themself, but it's missed by another character. After being so attuned and perceptive---and making changes on the fly in reaction to other people's behaviors---missing this comment felt out of character.

The Business Trip is quite the ride. It's gritty and diaboloical. It'll grab you from the start and not let go until the final stunning twist.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for a preview audiobook.

4.0./5.0 Stars