Quick thriller about three friends who have been keeping secrets from each other and find themselves involved in a missing person investigation. The story started out a little slow but got interesting the more you got to know the characters and the secrets started to be revealed. I read through it pretty quickly and it kept me entertained but it was predictable and I guessed the ending pretty early on. I would recommend if you like popcorn thrillers and mysteries. Thank you to NetGalley and Borzoi Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved the idea of this book. A secret note left as a prank. 3 friends on a wild girls’ trip. Each friend having their own scandal. It sounded promising but it wasn’t for me. I didn’t like the random back and forth of the timelines and which character’s story it was. There was no dates to set up a timeline in your head of when each scandal occurred. I was never sure where we were in the story except for the beach house scenes. The book hopped around so much with the characters that I didn’t get a good feel for any of them and didn’t particularly like or care about any of them. I liked the twist at the end even if it didn’t feel believable for what we knew of that character.

I loved the plot of this, a harmless prank gone wrong, add in drama, lies, friendship and murder, and you have this action packed thriller! The pacing of it was a bit off for me in a few places, and the ending was shocking but also felt like it was missing something. But, it was still a fun read and I definitely recommend it!

I have enjoyed some of Alafair's previous book, including the one she cowrote with MH Clark. I started off slow with this one then set it aside, I read an interview with the author and how she came up with the story. I picked it back up and kept going until I finished it. The three friends each had a past they were trying to escape for awhile. A stolen parking place and what starts off as a practical joke on a man who disappears, will bring everything and more out in the open.

Three women who were once the best of friends fall out of touch. May hasn't heard from Kelsey in years. Lauren, more recently, and somehow they all end up at a swanky vacation rental in the Hamptons. Each of them has had some scandal which has led to them being "cancelled". So they want to lie low, not drawing attention to their trio. Cue up ginormous hats and sunglasses.

An odd incident precedes the titular note, and the women are all behaving, well, not like people who want to not draw attention to themselves. Things get weirder (there's booze involved), the women aren't reliable narrators, they're hiding secrets (from themselves, from each other), some recent, some ancient. With time jumps that gave me whiplash, we get to the heart of their mysterious (predictable) past and the (not surprising) reveal in the present.

Some suspense but with pretty unlikeable characters this one was not a gripper for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the digital ARC.

Alafair Burke is a master of plot twists, and her latest novel, The Note, contained plenty! The novel follows three friends, May, Lauren, and Kelsey, as they reconnect on a girls' trip in the Hamptons. Each friend, however, has secrets, and these secrets come out after a night of drinking and a prank gone wrong. Per usual, Burke has written another page-turner. I loved this book!

I was on the edge of my seat this entire book. It had characters that you love to hate and nonstop action. There was so much going on. If you like a twisty thriller, this one is for you.
Many thanks to the author, Knopf and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Friends pull a prank that comes to haunt them later in life. This book took me awhile to get into and while it did offer some twists that I didn’t see coming, I just felt it was not for me. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Three women, who used to be a close threesome have drifted apart. One, from a a very wealthy family, is gorgeous and her father controls her life. Her estranged husband was murdered some years back. One, from more modest means, and has an Asian mother and Anglo absentee father, has always been a good girl. She went to law school, worked for a high powered law firm and is now a law school professor. The other is a black woman, older than the other two, and director of an orchestra. They have a lot of history together. And in recent years, each has had a lot of public scrutiny and condemnation. So they decided to have a girls' vacation in the Hamptons.

A prank gone wrong pulls them into a missing person case. This is a psychological thriller as well as a legal one. I thought it was complex and well thought out. The author skillfully throws the light of scrutiny on several different characters and the responsible party is not necessarily the one the reader is focused on.

This is my first book by Alafair Burke and I enjoyed it. I thought it was a bit slow to begin with, buy I'm very happy I stayed with it because I couldn't put it down once I got into it.

First book read of 2025.

Three childhood friends meet up for a long weekend in the Hamptons. When a harmless prank after a night of drinking turns into a tragedy, the reader is left to decide if it is one of these friends with a complicated history and backstory who was involved with the crime.

Positives:
The book was divided into parts, and with each part the story became more involved and detailed.
The main thriller kept me guessing until the very end when I finally figured out "who done it."
Read in one day
There are a lot of little twists along the way that kept the plot moving.


Negatives:
There were a lot of social issues thrown into the mix (race, #metoo, anxiety, Covid, etc.) of the mystery plot as well which made the read not as focused as I would have preferred.

Not a bad read, but not a great one either. I was able to figure this one out about 40% the way through, but the ending tied up nicely.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and fairly rate this book.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was good, but it wasn’t great. It had an interesting premise, and I finished it in one sitting. The problem was I had it figured out about halfway through. I also didn’t love that the lockdown was such a big part of the story.

The Note centers on 3 friends who reconnect after they had all been "canceled" for various reasons. Things go awry after what appears to be a thoughtless prank. This had a slow start for me but then I was turning pages as we go back in time to when they first met at camp and learn more about each woman and their secrets. I love that Spelling Bee, my favorite NYT game, was frequently mentioned and appreciated the Hamptons and NYC locations. I also like the points the author makes re: cancel culture and the court of public opinion. Overall this ended up being just fine for me, albeit even a bit forgettable. Recommend to anyone looking for a quick entertaining mystery. Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the advanced e copy. 3.25 stars.

The Note is the first book I've read from Alafair Burke.

Three friends have a chance encounter with a stranger while they're on a girls' weekend in the Hamptons. Now the stranger is missing and the police want to talk to them.

It was just a harmless prank, wasn't it?"

A group of friends who were all "canceled" because of things that happened. All with secrets they share and some they don't. What could go wrong? I thought I saw what was coming - Burke seems like she's trying to surreptiously give you some clues. I was right but that's not the real twist. It's surprising and horrifying at the same time.
This is a slow burn, but the resolution arrives suddenly. Feels like there should have been another 30-40 pages of setup.

A good domestic thriller from Burke.

What happens when a seemingly trivial prank sets a chain of events into action with major repercussions for all involved? May, Kelsey, an1qad Lauren are lifelong friends who float in and out of each other's lives. In order to reconnect, they have planned a girls weekend away in the Hamptons. After a martini fueled afternoon, they all take turns writing notes on cocktail napkins, fantasizing about leaving them for the car that cute they off and stole their parking spot on the way into town. Secretly, one girl actually does decide to leave her note behind on the windshield. Before the girls know it, they find themselves in the center of a police investigation. Secrets from everyone's past will be exposed. With lots of suspenseful twists and elaborate character development and backstory, this is definitely a book to add to your 2025 TBR pile! Thank you to @netgalley and @aaknopf for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

The Note is an intriguing thriller that explores friendship, secrets, and the fallout from a prank gone wrong. May, Lauren, and Kelsey reunite in the Hamptons, but their bond is tested when a harmless joke spirals into a police investigation. While the premise is compelling, the characters felt immature and lacked depth, making it hard to connect with them. The focus on past scandals and societal issues sometimes overshadowed the main plot. However, the story picks up in the latter half and is a quick read. Though not my favorite, it’s worth a try for thriller fans seeking drama.

You have to make it pretty far through this book before things pick up and the story gets interesting. That said though, the three friends in this book are not very likable and it’s amazing all the drama and attention they have drawn to themselves throughout their lives. Thanks to one nosy friend and another playing a practical joke on someone who then disappears, the three friends end up embroiled in a murder investigation…and it’s not the first one for one of them.

Overall, the story is ok, but definitely requires some patience to get through.

Thanks to the publisher via NetGalley for a review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book starts out slow, but hold on- it gets better! I kept getting Mary Higgins Clark vibes, which I love. Overall, I'm glad I read this book- for mystery, thriller vibes!

A group of close friends are on vacation, when one has an idea to write a note to a stranger that stole their parking spot. What starts as an innocent prank, quickly escalates and blows up in their faces. When the police become involved, secrets are uncovered and friends turn against eachother.

I found the four main characters to be immature and toxic! It was very hard to relate with them. There were alot of social issues mentioned in this book as well, that seemed slightly repetitive/out of place given that this is a thriller novel. However! Alafair Burke was one of the first thriller authors that I fell in love with a few years ago when I got back into reading. I still feel the way I felt back then- she can do no wrong!! I felt so honored to read this ARC! Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity.

This wasn’t my favorite. It fell flat near the middle although the beginning felt promising. I couldn’t relate to nor did I really like any of the characters. The “twist” was a little predictable as well