OMG, what a brilliant page-turner this was! I literally couldn’t put it down. The plot of the novel is revealed by its characters, written in the first person. It begins with Jasmine.

Jasmine is a 40-something year old barmaid who lives with an abusive boyfriend. Her background is that of a high school outcast and littered with mistakes she’s made along the way. Jasmine needs to get away – away from her boyfriend, away from her dead-end life.

Stephanie is a high-powered TV news executive who longs for adventure. Divorced with one grown son, she yearns for the days when she was free from the obligations that now constrain her. She’s leaving on a business trip that she really isn’t looking forward to.

These two women meet on a plane. Stephanie is traveling to San Diego via Denver and Jasmine is running away from her boyfriend to begin a new life. The two women could not be more different, yet they strike up a conversation to pass the time. As they talk, Jasmine begins to imagine living a life like Stephanie’s and, as the flight progresses, her imaginings evolve into plotting. When Stephanie is in the rest room, Jasmine removes the TV exec’s driver’s license from her purse which she left on her seat. Emboldened by what she’s done, Jasmine decides not to stop in Denver which was her original plan, but to journey on to San Diego and somehow take over Stephanie’s life.

The Business Trip is full of wickedly clever twists and turns and unexpected surprises. Just when I thought I’d figured out the puzzle author Garcia presents, another plot twist would emerge tossing me back to square one again. This is one of the best thrillers I’ve read in a long time. Highly recommended. If I could give it 6 stars, I would!

The Business Trip is currently available on pre-order. Publication date: January 14, 2025.

I would like to thank the publisher (St Martin’s Press) for providing me with a free ARC of this novel.