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Saturday, June 21, 2025

False Note by David Lagercrantz

A toxic father-son relationship unleashes dark impulses and unthinkable betrayals in a riveting short story by the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl in the Spider’s Web.

William’s father is a beloved opera singer in Stockholm, charismatic and unpredictable. Raised in the shadow of his father’s addictions—women, drink, and cruelty—he knows the man’s dark side. William believes he’s found the light when he falls in love with a fellow university student, a young woman named Ebba. But his father’s hold on his life is not so easily broken. Even in death.

David Lagercrantz’s False Note is part of Alibis, a collection of stories about lies, truth, and deception. It’s just a matter of what you can get away with. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.


Audiobook, 1 hour, 9 minutes
Kindle Edition, 41 pages
Published June 2, 2025
 by Amazon Original Stories
2.5/5 stars

False Note is part of the Alibis Short Story collection recently released through Amazon Original Stories. Each story is written by a different author and they’re all standalone, so you can jump in wherever. This is book 3 and my first time reading David Lagercrantz.

One thing I like about these short story collections is discovering new writers - sometimes it leads me to explore more of their work. 

False Note follows William and his strained relationship with his father, it is set in Stockholm. It’s clear early on that things between them aren’t great and that tension is the main focus throughout the 41 pages. There's a theme of deception and while there’s definitely a lot packed into such a short read, it was an okay story.

I listened to the audiobook version, it was mildly entertaining, the plot felt rushed, pretty predictable and honestly not very original. I couldn’t help but feel like it might’ve worked better as a full novel with more room for depth of character and plot development. But given the size it was an ok read, actually a listen since I went the audio route.

My thanks to Brillance Publishing for a e-audio copy in exchange for a honest review.

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