CHARACTER
The Better Sister: A Novelby Alafair Burke

Jake Summer

Jake Summer

Quick Facts

  • Role: Partner at Rives & Braddock; secret lover of Chloe Taylor while working alongside her husband, Adam Macintosh
  • First appearance: Early in the novel, around the Press for the People gala (Chapter 3)
  • Key relationships: Chloe (lover/confidant), Adam (law partner), Olivia Randall (defense attorney he recommends), Ethan Macintosh (beneficiary of Jake’s sacrifice), Bill Braddock (senior partner and eventual adversary)

Who They Are

At first glance, Jake Summer is the archetypal “other man” in a legal thriller—polished, discreet, and useful to the plot. But the novel reshapes him into something more complex: a principled operator who compartmentalizes desire and duty, and a quiet romantic who makes the most public sacrifice. He becomes the rare character whose moral center isn’t clean, but is undeniably strong—measured not by fidelity, but by the lengths he goes to protect Chloe and her family.

Personality & Traits

Jake’s presence is controlled, strategic, and deeply protective. He balances risk with restraint, keeping his professional code intact even as his personal life breaks it. The tension between his caution and his devotion is where his character lives.

  • Pragmatic, cautious: Insists on burner phones because Adam is “organically suspicious” and will “interpret every detail in the worst light” (Chapter 11). His risk management shapes the affair and later shields Chloe.
  • Supportive, loyal: Buys a firm table at Chloe’s gala simply to show up for her big night (Chapter 3). After Adam’s death, he becomes her stabilizer—emotionally and legally—by connecting her to Olivia Randall.
  • Professionally principled: Refuses to divulge privileged information about the Gentry Group. “I don’t break the rules, not even for you” (Chapter 25). His code holds even when love tests it.
  • Intelligent, perceptive: Reads Adam clearly, anticipates investigative pressure, and grasps Olivia’s courtroom strategy the moment it turns on him.
  • Self‑sacrificing: Willingly allows suspicion to attach to himself at trial by invoking the Fifth, prioritizing Ethan’s acquittal over his own reputation (Chapter 34).
  • Compartmentalizer: Lives the contradiction—an ethical lawyer committing an unethical affair—yet draws an absolute line around client confidences.

Character Journey

Jake begins as Chloe’s hidden refuge from a marriage marked by tension and control. His world is shadows and workarounds: careful logistics, private tenderness, strict professional boundaries. Adam’s murder drags him into the open, and his role shifts from clandestine lover to guardian. As suspicion tightens around Ethan, Jake’s calculation changes: the only winning move is to lose publicly. On the stand, he lets the worst version of himself become plausible, embracing ambiguity to save a teenager’s future. By the end, he’s no longer just the foil to Adam; he’s Chloe’s protector and the novel’s clearest example of costly, complicated loyalty.

Key Relationships

  • Chloe Taylor: Jake gives Chloe safety, presence, and strategic calm. Their affair embodies the novel’s tension between betrayal and devotion, making them a case study in Betrayal and Loyalty. His choices—referrals, discretion, and finally self‑incrimination—position Chloe’s well‑being above his own future with her.

  • Adam Macintosh: Professionally collegial and privately adversarial, their partnership runs on secrecy. Jake’s view of Adam as suspicious and controlling dictates the affair’s cloak‑and‑dagger precautions, and after the murder, underscores the moral contrast between Adam’s imposing public persona and Jake’s quiet, consequential integrity.

  • Olivia Randall: Jake entrusts Chloe to Olivia, then submits to Olivia’s hardest ask—becoming a viable alternate suspect in court. Their alliance is transactional but respectful: he honors the system by playing his necessary part, even when it costs him standing and safety.

  • Bill Braddock: A senior figure who should be an ally becomes an ethical fault line once the Gentry revelations surface. Jake’s refusal to compromise privilege or bend rules puts him on the opposite side of the firm’s rot, isolating him professionally and clarifying his moral limits.

Defining Moments

Jake’s most important beats show a strategist turning himself into a shield—first with information, then with silence.

  • Revealing Adam’s lie (Chapter 12): He confirms Adam billed no time to Gentry during the days he claimed to meet them. Why it matters: It validates Chloe’s suspicions and pivots the investigation toward Adam’s hidden dealings.
  • The burner‑phone protocol (Chapter 11): He sets strict communication rules, citing Adam’s suspicious nature. Why it matters: Establishes Jake’s foresight and the affair’s stakes; it also foreshadows how surveillance and perception will decide the case.
  • The nightmare and Gentry disclosure (Chapter 25): A shaken Jake admits there’s a federal probe into Gentry. Why it matters: Gives Chloe the context to link Adam’s Queens trips to the nearby FBI office, tightening the timeline of his final days.
  • The gala support (Chapter 3): He buys a firm table to be present for Chloe’s public success. Why it matters: Demonstrates that his loyalty isn’t just secret and physical; it’s public and sacrificial when it can be.
  • Testifying at Ethan’s trial (Chapter 34): He repeatedly pleads the Fifth on questions that would clear himself. Why it matters: He allows the jury to see him as a plausible killer, manufacturing reasonable doubt and securing Ethan’s acquittal at the expense of his own reputation.

Symbolism & Themes

Jake subverts the “other man” trope by redefining loyalty: he betrays a marriage yet upholds a professional code and ultimately sacrifices himself for a child who isn’t his. He becomes the novel’s clearest test case for gray morality—proof that goodness can exist inside bad choices. His quiet integrity contrasts sharply with public‑facing men like Adam and Bill, illuminating the novel’s focus on Public Image vs. Private Reality.

Essential Quotes

He’s organically suspicious. He notices everything—and interprets every detail in the worst light. Am I telling you something you don’t already know?
— Jake to Chloe, explaining why they need burner phones (Chapter 11)

This line captures both Jake’s keen read of Adam and his risk‑management mindset. It also shows how Jake validates Chloe’s lived experience and designs their secret around it, revealing a protector who plans three moves ahead.

I’m really sorry, Chloe, but I can’t have this conversation with you. I don’t break the rules, not even for you.
— Jake to Chloe, refusing to violate attorney‑client privilege regarding the Gentry Group (Chapter 25)

Here Jake’s moral boundary is non‑negotiable. The moment exposes his internal paradox—an adulterer who won’t bend professional ethics—and signals that his eventual sacrifice will be principled, not impulsive.

On the advice of my own counsel, I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may incriminate me.
— Jake's repeated testimony at Ethan's trial, sacrificing his reputation to create reasonable doubt (Chapter 34)

Each invocation of the Fifth is a deliberate self‑immolation. By accepting the cloud of suspicion, Jake transforms from clandestine lover to legal decoy, converting personal loss into Ethan’s freedom.