The Note

By: Alafair Burke

ISBN: 9780593537084

Publisher: Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor

Publication Date: 01/14/2025

Format: Hardcover

My Rating: TBR (ARC)

JAN 2025 MUST-READ BOOKS

A vacation in the Hamptons goes terribly wrong for three friends with a complicated history.

“I absolutely loved The Note. Trust no one in this irresistible page-turner.” —Ashley Elston, #1 New York Times best-selling author of First Lie Wins

It was meant to be a harmless prank.

Growing up, May Hanover was a good girl, always. Well-behaved, top of her class, a compulsive rule-follower. Raised by a first-generation Chinese single mother with high expectations, May didn’t have room to slip up, let alone fail. Her friends didn’t call her the Little Sheriff for nothing.

But even good girls have secrets. And regrets. When it comes to her friendship with Lauren and Kelsey, she's had her fair share of both. Their bond—forged when May was just twelve years old—has withstood a tragic accident, individual scandals, heartbreak and loss. Now the three friends have reunited for the first time in years for a few days of sun and fun in the Hamptons. But a chance encounter with a pair of strangers leads to a drunken prank that goes horribly awry. 

When she finds herself at the center of an urgent police investigation, May begins to wonder whether Lauren and Kelsey are keeping secrets from her, testing the limits of her loyalty to lifelong friends.

What had they gone and done?

The Note is a page-turner of the highest order from one of our greatest contemporary suspense writers.

Buy the Book

Praise

"When a girls' weekend away goes wrong, everyone looks to the past for answers. A twisty, fast-paced thriller about friendships, betrayal, and loyalty."

—Nita Prose, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Maid and The Mystery Guest

“No one lands plot twists like Alafair Burke, and THE NOTE may be her best novel yet.”

—Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times best-selling author

“The Note hits the ground running, rocking and rolling from the very first page. Alafair Burke knows how to build a thriller that picks up more speed as it goes, all the while telling a story about lives turned upside down by one wrong move.”

—Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times best-selling author

“With The Note, Alafair Burke ups her already strong game of deviously smart plotting and strong, believable female characters to deliver her most thrilling and entertaining novel.”

—Karin Slaughter, New York Times best-selling author of After That Night

"WHAT?! That's what I kept saying over and over again while reading The Note. Betrayals. Lies. Love. Friendships. And twists—oh, the twists! Utterly immersive and addictive, populated by people we all know, who frustrate us, who don't know how to love us but who are there for us until the end."

—Rachel Howzell Hall, best-selling author of They All Fall Down

“Alafair Burke is at the top of her game with this timely, suspenseful novel about fierce female friendships. Full of red herrings and misdirection, The Note is a breathtaking, read-in-one-sitting thriller that kept me guessing the whole way through. I absolutely loved it.”

—Jennifer Hillier, best-selling author of Things We Do in the Dark

About the Book

ALAFAIR BURKE is the Edgar-nominated, New York Times best-selling author of fourteen novels of suspense, including The Ex, The Wife, The Better Sister, and Find Me, and coauthor of the best-selling Under Suspicion series. A former prosecutor, she is now a professor of criminal law. She recently served as president of the Mystery Writers of America and was the first woman of color to be elected to that position. She lives in New York. WEBSITE