Playing Nice

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As the tale continues, we see the four characters play out one against the other and as we delve more into their personalities we find very troubling details that threaten the very being of both the children and the couples involved. I enjoyed that we had Maddie and Pete's POV, but not Miles and Lucy's, the other couple involved, as it added tension, and made me question everything! There was also evidence from court, which added to the story. This book raises all sorts of delicious questions and dilemmas. Nature or nurture? What is in the best interest of the child? How much say should the biological parents have in certain decisions? Delaney’s books are always based on ethical quandaries, this most of all.

I've had a few 4.5 star reads which I've rounded up, but Playing Nice has become the understated hit of my reading season thus far. Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine for sharing this fantastic ARC in exchange my honest review. Expect a roller coaster and a feverish excited tense and amazing read right till the last full stop Thank you to J.P. Delaney, Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and NetGalley for a copy of this book due out on July 28, 2020.Both parties seem like appeased with the solution but wait for it! We have a real psychopath in this equation and a psychopath gets furious when he doesn’t get his way and things get uglier. Could Nate and Maddie resume playing nice around them for their son’s sake? Did they put themselves in danger at the very same day they accepted Lamberts in their lives? Swapping babies at birth has always been a huge fear of mine. I remember when I was young I used to ask my mother, “how could anyone know that they took the right baby home? I mean, what if something happened and your baby was swapped with another one?” She looked at me and said, “Oh things like that never happen!” An addictive psychological thriller, perfect for fans of The Silent Patient and Shari Lapena's The Couple Next Door.

Pete and Maggie Riley have a 2 year old son Theo, they’re having a few problems right now with his behaviour, he’s very naughty at home, and doesn’t want to play nice with the other kids at nursery, he resorts to hitting and biting them to get his own way, and there have been complaints from other parents about him - so much so, that he’s in danger of being asked to leave the nursery altogether, but do Pete and Maggie love him? Of course they do! Would they give their life for him? Absolutely!

Then things start falling apart. Miles is demanding, thinking he's going to send Theo to boarding school when he's older, dropping by Theo's house at night to spend time with him, interfering with Theo, Pete, and Maggie's routine and lives. Miles practically demands that Pete, Maggie, and Theo go on a week long vacation with his family and when Pete and Maggie revolt, all hell breaks loose and their life explodes into a huge legal and moral mess. There is even a suspicion that someone may have swapped the babies on purpose. People have been hurt and murder may even play a part in this story. Things look hopeless for Pete and Maggie and they realize they may not ever get to see either child again. What at first seems like a domestic drama definitely turns into a thriller. As the book goes on, the thriller aspect takes over and it becomes quite dark. It had me on the edge of my seat. A character in another book talked about the creepy crawly feeling of anxiety. That is exactly what this book gives you! It’s terrifying and sad because you can just see how it could all play out as written.

Two families arrange a meeting at Miles’ big mansion, being introduced with David and they find out: little boy suffer from brain damage, introvert kid. They finally decide they are not gonna change anything with children’s life: they will live with the same parents but they also decide they’ll involve their biological child’s life like a family friend do. Guess what? Your son is not your son. He was switched at birth. But we want to work all this out amicably, k?”I also found it profoundly interesting that the current political climate played into Delaney’s reasons for writing this book. That he wanted to write “about two ordinary people who try to resolve a near impossible situation through dialogue and compromise…” Playing nice is not something Miles Lambert has ever even tried to be good at. Mid-way through the book we will find out just how manipulating and forceful he can be. This was a very enjoyable read that had twists, turns, revelations and bits to chew on. This had me thinking about the plot well after I finished it. This is a thought-provoking book that was another solid read by J.P. Delaney.

The only gripe I had was with the naiveté of Pete. Personally, I’d be speed-dialing my lawyer before the visitor took his second step into my house. (While also dispensing a serious dose of Mace!) But that’s just me!💁🏻‍♀️ The gentleman on the doorstep is Miles Lambert, and he and his wife Lucy want to amicably work through things, get to know each other. Or so it would seem . . . Most of us would do anything for our family, especially our children. But imagine finding out your 2-year-old isn’t your biological child? That during an emergency in the NICU there was a mix-up at birth? However, where things really went wrong for me was how the 'real son' of Pete and Maddie was handled in the book. He is almost completely ignored in the story, and I just felt that was really unrealistic. If I just found out I had a biological child out there somewhere and that the child I thought was mine wasn't actually mine, I would be EQUALLY distraught about both children. Because both children would feel like mine. I would want to know everything about my 'real' child. Instead we just get a book completely focused on Theo. A secretly carried out DNA test bears this out, not to mention the fact that Theo bears such a strong physical resemblance to Miles. The Lamberts are bringing legal proceedings against the hospital, which triggers an official investigation into what happened there. Initially matters are cordial as Pete and Maddie agree to the well intentioned and understanding civil decision for both couples and the children to get acquainted with and getting to know each other better. The couples are markedly different from each other, the Lamberts are wealthy, Pete and Maddie are more ordinary, struggling to make ends meet. Maddie feels a strong connection to David, her brain damaged son that the Lamberts have raised, a David that will need life long care. However, as it becomes clearer that the psychopathic Miles has every intention of getting hold of Theo, by any means, matters spiral into a living hell for Pete and Maddie.Scrutinizing the guy’s face, acting like a naïve, gullible person and asking: “could you be my son’s second cousin?’ Everyone makes mistakes. We all go through life making simple mistakes and also those that were not so simple. Although in most cases a mistake does not change the course of your life. Things are so strange these days in my community - the sky is sooooo ugly filthy and dark ( ashes from fires)...that it looks we are living on Mars...