The Business Trip

Whelp .. that was a fun read. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this one but it quickly became a whirlwind of a ride. I enjoy multiple POVs and short chapters and this has both. The story was interesting and had me flying through the pages. The ending?! Definitely wasn't expecting that!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the review copy.

The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia is a gripping and twisty thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish. The story follows two women, Stephanie and Jasmine, who seem like they couldn't be more different but end up connected in shocking ways. Stephanie is on a business trip, while Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship. At first, they don't know each other, but their lives take a dark turn when they both send their friends eerily similar, increasingly strange text messages about a man named Trent McCarthy.

And then, they both disappear.

From there, the mystery takes off. As their loved ones try to figure out what happened, the story gets even more suspenseful. Who is Trent McCarthy, really? What happened to Stephanie and Jasmine? Are they victims, or is there more to their story? The twists and turns made it impossible to guess what was coming next.

One of the things I loved most about this book was how it was laid out. Different chapters are told from different points of view, which gives you a deeper understanding of the characters and keeps you wondering who to trust. I had a feeling something wasn't right, but I was completely blindsided by the big twist. It was so well done!

However, the reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is that parts of the story felt a bit outlandish and far-fetched. While the twists were exciting, some of them stretched believability a little too much for me. That said, it didn't ruin the book—it just made it a bit less realistic than I'd hoped.

If you love thrillers with shocking twists and stories that keep you on the edge of your seat, I still highly recommend The Business Trip. It's fast-paced, unpredictable, and the kind of book you'll want to talk about as soon as you finish it!

Twisty Thriller. Maybe Not The Best Read The Day I Read It. Without spoiling *too* much, I read this book on the same day that United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered in cold blood - and given many peoples' opinions of that murder, opinions echoed by one of our characters within this text... it was a bit much to read on that exact day.

But since *you* won't be reading it *that* day (and, hopefully, not on any similar day), know that this book is actually one of the twistier, more inventive books I've read this year or even in quite some time, really. By the end of it, you're going to feel very sad for certain characters and you're likely to want to pull a gun on other characters yourself. Still other characters come off as incredibly sleezy basically every time they are "on screen", and other characters you're going to wind up actively cheering certain actions, at minimum.

If you enjoy twisty thrillers where nothing is ever as it seems... there is quite a bit to like here. If you're a fan of more straightforward books... this may not be your cup of... well, whatever you prefer to drink. (As an American of the Southern US, the only tea I drink is sweet and iced, and I'm fairly sure the idiom "not your cup of tea" refers to that disgusting British stuff that we rightfully dumped into Boston Harbor all those years ago - which is all that stuff is good for. But I digress. :D)

Complex. Thrilling. Titillating (to a degree) even. If those are things you like in your books, congratulations. You've found a book that is *right there*. If a more Hallmarkie approach is more your speed... there are a lot of those stories out there, but this aint that.

Overall truly one of the more enjoyable and interesting books of the near 200 I've read this year, it will likely be on my Top 24 Books I Read In 2024 list. :)

Very much recommended.