The Note by Alafair Burke
In defense of the beach read
A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.
-Franz Kafka
Times are tough. If you are the proud owner of eyes, ears, or a frontal lobe, you don’t need me to tell you that. In an environment like this, sometimes you don’t need insight on human frailty, or critique of the patriarchal power structure, or 800 pages examining grief throughout the lifespan. Sometimes what you need is an uncomplicated villain, a twisty plot, clear prose, and a cozy little place for your brain to exhale.
Sometimes what you need, is the venerable beach read.
Well, I’ve got a good one for you: The Note by Alafair Burke. Back off, Pulitzer. Another day, Nobel. Take a hike, Neustadt. We’re here for escapism, and escape we shall.1
Spoiler-Free Summary
May, Lauren, and Kelsey have been rebuilding their friendship, and decide to cement their relationship with a girl’s weekend in the Hamptons. A drunken chance encounter with a couple of strangers seems innocent and isolated, but quickly starts to spiral out of control. As May gets pulled deeper into an increasingly dire police investigation, she starts to suspect that Lauren and Kelsey may not be telling her everything about those strangers, or their own history. But then again, neither is May.
The Good
This is the first Alafair Burke novel I’ve read. It seems that she usually uses her legal background to write legal thrillers2, which makes sense. The Note seems to drop this focus, and is instead more of a thriller. There are some courtroom scenes, but they’re short and not particularly technical. I bring this up in “The Good” section to let you know what we’re dealing with here. If you came to this expecting The Stand, you’ll be disappointed. If you want a fast-paced adventure, you’re in good hands.
The Note reads like a breeze. The prose is tight and concise, with nothing extraneous to weigh it down. It’s about 300 pages depending on edition, which feels about standard length, but the actual reading feels shorter3. Before looking it up, I guessed it was about 180-200 pages long. Especially if you’ve been reading heavier fare as I have, this is very refreshing. It felt like when you’ve been walking through an airport toting your heavy bags, then step on the moving sidewalk, and each stride feels like three normal ones.
The characters are, if not lovable, at least relatable. You’ve met some version of them before. They might not be your first choice of friends, but you’ll immediately recognize something in each of them that lends an air of familiarity. It’s nice in a book like this, as you can just immediately sink in to the story, knowing pretty much who you’re dealing with.
The plot is not revolutionary, but it moves well and comes with enough zigs and zags to keep you interested. You can almost sense where the episodes would break in the miniseries formed from this book. You’ll hit the end of a chapter and know that in a couple of years, that’s where HBO will insert the end credits. I realize that might sound trite, but in practice it supplies a good rhythm. A series of crescendos that come to a resounding cymbal crash, followed by some low cello rumblings as it starts the cycle over.
While we’re in a great mood over here, did you know you can pick up this book and any other’s I’ve talked about right from this very site? You can! Check it out:
And if you’re liking this review, why not subscribe so you don’t have to remember to come back each week?
Furthermore, I bet you know someone else who’d like it too. Let ‘em know!
The Bad
It’s a beach read, you know what goes here. A few things you might expect, and then something you might not.
For the most part, the dialog is interchangeable. Each character sounds the same, save for one or two who have some unique mannerisms and tone. It’s a bit stilted too, with modern colloquialisms sprinkled on like seasoning to try and make it sound more realistic. Maybe it’s just my circles as an almost-40 year old, but I don’t think most grown women drop “Yaaass Queen, slay!” in normal conversation.
The plot is full of incredible coincidences and unrealistic timelines. If you’re not from New York, this won’t make sense, but on several instances the characters drive from Midtown, NYC to Montauk on a summer Friday TWICE in ONE day. At one point, a character takes an Uber on the same route in the middle of the night. It would have been more realistic if they hitched a ride with Falkor.
Now, here’s something a bit unique to this particular beach read. The Note tries to say something about cancel culture. My own feelings on the whole phenomenon of cancel culture aside4, this is not the forum for that discussion. I don’t think it’s too spoiler-y to say that each of the three main characters (May, Kelsey, Lauren) has had an incident in their past which attracted negative public attention online. They even name their group text “Canceled Crew” in reference.
Basically, The Note’s stance is that “cancelling” is more complicated than it seems, because people online are hasty to judge without knowing all of the facts. What a revelation! I get that Burke is trying to infuse the novel with some texture and modern relevance, and that’s fine, but this is not the place. Imagine if in the middle of juggling torches, the circus clown stopped, removed his floppy, patched up hat, and somberly said, “Now, I’d like to discuss the opioid crisis”. Get back in your tiny car, clown. 5
Last Thoughts
The Note will reflect back whatever you bring to it. Do you want a pulpy read to kill a few hours on a plane? It will satisfy in spades. Do you want a cerebral insight into humanity? You’ll be left wanting.
My advice? Save it for one of those situations where you just want to turn your brain off and let your eyes roll over the page. You’ll love it in that scenario. Don’t try to make it anything it isn’t. Sure, the plot doesn’t quite add up and I’ve forgotten the charcters names every time I’ve had to write them. In the right mindset, who cares? The Note is the Shonda Rhimes of literature. Sometimes, that’s exactly what we need.
1 Star/5 Star
This should be good. Let’s see…
5 stars from Lizzy Brannan on GoodReads:
As creatives, it’s hard to believe there are still original ideas out there. Good writers amaze me. Alafair Burke fits easily into this file. I found the concept fo rthis thriller to be completely original and magnetic!
You didn’t think there were any original ideas left and this is the book that changed your mind? Is it also…your first book?
1 star from Bob Crowley, also on Good Reads:
i m on page 20, the conversations these bffs: girl/women are bland, empty, full of the vocabulary of the 20 somethings whose vocabulary, george orwell foresaw coming and the reality is worse. Everything is emotionally silly and exagerated or phony. I couldn't wait to hear everything, was cool and awesome, I'm tossing this against the wall, not really, And I used to like this author, i think her stories started in oregon and washington and i remember when james lee found her in a sinking drug boat or plane. that was before i stopped reading the dad and now alafair has drank the koolaid, publish it even if it's pablum. What is odd is some many fine mystery writers are all turning in junk and getting it published, brian freeman, nevada barr, dana stabenwo, craig johnson, harlan coben, steven havill, lee child's brother writing his books and so many more, move over james patterson.
Please try to predict the last sentence of this review before you go on. Ready?
Maybe it was the covid shots or watching to much fauci that turned creative writers into mushrooms.
What a twist.
Who Should Read This?
Rating
This was a tough one because I really feel like it is dependent on what you want at any given time. So, I split the 5/5 in half, then added .5 because I needed it and enjoyed it. 3/5 Montauk lighthouses to you!
I think this is the first time that an author I previously reviewed (Ashley Elston) has given the testimonial on the cover of a book I have also reviewed. Did you hear that? It’s the sound of no one caring.
Eat your heart out, John Grisham.
If you’re curious, as I was, here’s a breakdown of average length by genre for English-language novels:
Namely, that it doesn’t exist.
Normally I’d start a Memorable Quotes section here, but I didn’t save any. So…imagine your own?
Your reviews always make me want to read the book! So well written