Domestic Suspense That Will Quickly Draw You In
Description
Pete Riley answers the door one morning and lets in a parent’s worst nightmare. On his doorstep is Miles Lambert, a stranger who breaks the devastating news that Pete’s son, Theo, isn’t actually his son—he is the Lamberts’, switched at birth by an understaffed hospital while their real son was sent home with Miles and his wife, Lucy. For Pete, his partner Maddie, and the little boy they’ve been raising for the past two years, life will never be the same again.
The two families, reeling from the shock, take comfort in shared good intentions, eagerly entwining their very different lives in the hope of becoming one unconventional modern family. But a plan to sue the hospital triggers an official investigation that unearths some disturbing questions about the night their children were switched. How much can they trust the other parents—or even each other? What secrets are hidden behind the Lamberts’ glossy front door? Stretched to the breaking point, Pete and Maddie discover they will each stop at nothing to keep their family safe.
They are done playing nice.
Details
- Title: Playing Nice
- Author: JP Delaney
- Publisher: Ballantine Books- Random House
- Publication Date: July 28, 2020
- Page Count: 416
My Thoughts
Pete and Maggie have an arrangement where Maggie works and Pete cares for their 2-year-old son, Theo. At the same time, he works from home as a freelance writer. All is going well until Pete gets a very upsetting knock at the door.
Miles, a man who also had a premie in the prenatal unit when Theo was there, has come with an investigator to talk to Pete. The two inform him that there was a mixup at the hospital and that Theo is Miles’s child and Miles has Pete’s little boy.
I began turning pages quickly. The driving force was pure curiosity. What would happen? Would the two couples play nice and somehow work things out among themselves? Would the 2-year-olds just be exchanged!
The excellent writing and flashbacks start bringing each character to life as chapters alternate between Maddie and Pete. It didn’t take long to discover that JP Delaney created quite a suspenseful character study.
While I never felt this book was a thriller, I found it extremely hard to put it down. I was completely engaged in this just-one-more-page story.
What Concerned Me
As I said, I was totally engaged in the story, but I did feel there were a few places it could have moved a little faster. It almost felt a bit repetitive.
Also, I was a little disturbed by the ending. Yes, it worked for the story. Yes, it was surprising and good. But I would have liked it to have been resolved in a different way. (I can’t say anything more without spoiling it.)
What I Liked Best
The writing was able to quickly draw me into a unique situation. And I felt the characters were quite fleshed out and interesting.
If you enjoy a suspenseful, character-driven thriller, don’t overlook this book.
My thanks to NetGalley and Balentine books for the ability to review this ARC and give my opinion of it.
Rating
I had just a few concerns.
Here is my review of JP Delaney’s book The Perfect Wife.
JP Delaney is a pseudonym for a writer who has previously written fiction under other names. Delaney is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Girl Before, which is being brought to the screen by Academy Award winners Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment.
