The Business Trip

There are few things I love more than a great debut, and I’m so happy to end 2024 with one!

If you want the nutshell synopsis, two women board a plane and things go all kinds of sideways when they land. I’d love to leave it at that, because this is one of those books that the less you know the better, but I’ll flesh it out just a tiny bit more.

In Madison, Wisconsin, waitress Jasmine has been secretly plotting an escape from her abusive boyfriend, and has finally saved up enough money to buy a plane ticket to Denver. In the same city, Stephanie is the news director at a local TV station being sent on yet another work trip to a conference in San Diego, with a layover in Denver. As fate would have it, they end up sitting next to each other and talking during their flight, but what happens when they land?

Well, if you’ve heard the saying “fate is a fickle thing” … that sums up the rest of the book pretty perfectly!

I know this is all very vague and intentionally so, because this really is best gone into as blind as possible. I’ll only say that this book will make you rethink ever talking to the stranger next to you!

I loved the full-cast narration for the audiobook, which I listened to while reading on my Kindle. All ten narrators did an excellent job, and I particularly enjoyed the voicing for Jasmine, Stephanie and toxic, “bro” culture a-hole Trent, who I wanted to throat punch every time he spoke. 

If you enjoy mystery, intrigue, and suspense with twists and turns that reads like a true crime Dateline episode, this might be fun for you!  My only minor ding was a bit too much of an exposition dump at the end on how the perpetrator was caught which I thought could’ve been handled a little better and a kinda ‘meh’ epilogue, but honestly I thought Garcia did a fantastic job and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next!

Happy New Year everyone!

★★★★ ½ 

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and author Jessie Garcia for the digital ARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC to honestly review. It’s out on January 14, 2025.