This was a really enjoyable book to read. I liked how the characters were developed and left us guessing. We knew it was going to get bad with Miles but didn't know exactly how bad until the end. I love a creepy story that is based on "normal" families. Didn't love the porn or cheating thrown in with Pete and Maddie but understand that the author didn't want them to seem perfect but flawed. I thought Lucy's character could have been developed a bit more though. Never really got a sense of what made her who she was. Enjoyable but a 3 star for me. Thanks!

Playing Nice is an explosive read! No question about it! I found the plot to be extremely unique and thick with tension. I had a hard time putting this one down and when I had to I was anxious to pick it right back up again! If you're a fan of intense psychological thrillers look no further. You NEED this book!

This is the second book I’ve read by JP Delaney. This book is like a roller coaster and it took my emotions on a wild ride. The ending was totally worth it. This is a must read!

I was not a fan of The Perfect Wife so I was excited to give this one a chance.
Swapped at birth stories are always intriguing. This story has it all- mental illness, addiction, abuse and murder. It shows just how far parents are willing to protect their kids!
MY emotions were all over the place reading this one but I loved it and finished it in a day!

Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy.

Another great psychological thriller read from JP Delaney. Playing Nice is the story of Pete and Maddie who have a 2 yr old son Theo. With a knock on the door their lives change forever. Miles and Lucy also have a young son who they say was switched at birth. Each couple have been raising the wrong child. At the beginning everyone is working together for what is best for the children and decide to sue the hospital for damages. Then things start to change. Secrets are exposed, lies are told, trials ensue and lives change forever. Do children belong with biological parents or those that have raised them from birth? The question isn’t always easy to answer and as the story unfolds and we learn more about each parent, the answer seems to be obvious. But what will we do for our children, biological or not.

Oooh, this was a fun read. We all have had a run in with a show off, entitled person. This is a worst case scenario between your average family unit and the other end of the spectrum. I wanted to keep reading to see how it was going to play out. A very satisfying ending!

I loved/hated this book. Loved because it was so good and hated because I’m a parent so the though of this happening stressed me out! Would definitely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC of Playing Nice by J.P.Delaney. I have read and enjoyed all of his books and was excited to read his latest psychological thriller.

Pete Riley and his partner, Maddie, make a frightening discovery that their two year old son was switched at birth in the hospital NICU and that another couple has their biological son. When their son Theo’s biological parents, Miles and Lucy Lambert approach them with this knowledge, all four adults attempt to make it work sharing the boys between the two families. However, suddenly, Miles stops “playing nice” and sues Pete and Maddie for custody of Theo. They find themselves in a compromising position, where they will have to fight for both of their sons as well as their own reputation and livelihoods.

I really enjoyed reading this psychological thriller, as it has many twists and turns. I was addicted from the beginning to the end! It includes elements of mental illness, abuse, lies, betrayal and murder. Ultimately, it answers the question of what would you do to keep your family together? The intense family drama coupled with the courtroom drama intensified the tension and made it very difficult to put down! I highly recommend this book to psychological thriller fans.
4/5 stars

The hallmark of JP Delaney’s novels is a rich, entitled, psychopathic ass who you hope “gets it” in the end. Playing Nice is no different, but when switched babies are involved, everything and everyone seems just a bit more sinister.

Excellent book at first reminiscent of something Jodi Picoult would write. What do you do when you realize the beloved, but somewhat difficult, child you have raised for two years is not yours? And your child is being raised by a psychopath? There was enough of a twist at the end to keep it interesting from start to finish. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Playing Nice.

The premise caught my eye so I was excited when my request was approved.

Playing Nice is a twist on a parent's worst nightmare:

A man knocks on your door to tell you that your son is not yours. It's his. Your children were switched at birth.

That's the horrifying scenario faced by Peter Riley and his partner, Maddie Wilson.

When Miles Lambert appears at Peter and Maddie's home, claiming their son, Theo, belongs to him, the couple is in disbelief. But, the DNA doesn't lie and Peter and Maddie must consider these ramifications and what it will do to their small, tight knit family and their son.

Soon enough, they will discover that Miles is not who he seems. And their lives are about to get worse.

The author uses a real life event, swapped babies, and instills an equally disturbing thrilling aspect, Miles is a psychopath.

How does a mild mannered man like Pete, and Maddie, deal with a psycho like Miles and his diminished wife, Lucy?

Except Maddie isn't so nice. And she's through playing nice.

I didn't like the characters, not at first. I found Pete to be kind and supportive, but a bit of a crybaby.

I suspected something was off about Maddie, not because she suffered through postpartum psychosis and found it difficult to bond with her son, but her affect and her behavior and personality triggered my instincts.

She reminded me of Dexter Morgan. Maddie was self aware. She knew who she was but she used her abilities to protect her family, and knew when to stop and when to utilize it.

But, by the time I reached the end, I admired Maddie. I still didn't like her, but I respected her.

I enjoyed how the author summarized the court cases, what Peter and Maddie had to go through, the bureaucratic red tape they faced, the hoops they had to jump, the sorrow and grief, their joy and happiness at winning their son back.

The author also throws in the universal question to ponder: Who are we? Nature or nurture? Is it fate? Do we have a choice? Or, are we just a sack of meat and DNA? You decide.

The ending was a no-brainer; there could be no other way for the story to resolve itself.

I enjoyed this much more than the author's last book.

I recommend Playing Nice to anyone looking for a thriller that doesn't involve bickering or adulterous couples looking to off each other.

Reading everything J.P. Delaney writes and finding it a cut above other mystery/thrillers. Playing Nice
is this genre's best book of 2020. Found myself truly on edge and anxious all the way through. The plot, character development, and prose are amazingly good. Predict Playing Nice will be a #1 Bestseller.
Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the advance review copy. The opinions are my own.

PLAYING NICE
BY J.P. DELANEY

This novel is another psychological thriller written by J. P. Delaney and the pace of this one kept me reading so I finished it in just two sittings. The reason I requested it was because I absolutely loved his first book called, "THE GIRL BEFORE," which was unforgettable while being very realistic. In this narrative he pulls at the heartstrings of the the reader by placing them in an impossible situation. He states in the novel that switched babies in a hospital is rare. The setting is London in the UK. Right off he explores and plumbs the emotions of the reader by having them question how they would feel and what would they do, if after raising a child after two years and two months if a bombshell like that was suddenly dropped in their life. How I would feel if I found out the son I was raising was not my biological child because he was switched at birth at the hospital in the NICU? NCIU stands for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I do have some experience with that unit with the birth of my second son in an excellent hospital in Boston in the United States. My second son was purposely taken from me two and a half weeks early. At that time he was already 7 pounds and seven and a half ounces. I had been monitored closely with my second pregnancy by the director of high risk pregnancies in the department in Boston for high risk internal fetal medicine. During my check up which was routine I didn't pass the stress test. We were given a sonogram which looked normal but because I almost died giving birth to my first child I was told I couldn't have more children by my local obstetrician that delivered my first son. The doctor told me that she couldn't deliver a second child because I almost died giving birth to my first child who weighed 9 pounds, eleven ounces. When I consulted in Boston the director of high risk fetal internal medicine; I was told that because I labored too long and my baby was too big that was the reason I almost died in childbirth. When my local obstetrician, who believed in doing everything natural, induced me three times before deciding to give me a c-section. The baby was perfectly healthy and I fell in love with him at first sight as he was whisked away from me without getting a chance to hold him. Still as I lay dying I fell head over heels in love with him. I had to have a blood transfusion because after they removed my baby I lost half of the blood in my body. There were two obstetricians from that practice trying to stitch me up. My uterus kept filling up with blood like a balloon and popping. My husband saw me turn gray and could see the blood running off of the operation gurney onto the floor. When they finally were able to stitch me up I was moved to the ICU unit where my organs began to shut down. I lay there all day from 10:37 am when I gave birth until 4:00 pm when my obstetrician transferred me to Boston by ambulance which I began to recover. It was that hour ambulance ride where I wasn't given any of the medicine I was getting in the ICU in my local hospital that saved my life. Still I was without my baby for a week while I recovered in Boston where they tested my blood every hour. The point is my best friend and my husband visited and that baby instantly became the love of my life. As I said at my six week check up my doctor told me that I couldn't have any more children because I nearly died giving birth. I wanted another child so I consulted with the director of high risk pregnancies for internal fetal medicine.

My second pregnancy was handled very differently than my first having another woman obstetrician but she told me in my consultation the reason why I almost died giving birth to my first child was because I labored too long with a huge baby. She said that the blood would be on standby all warmed and the c-section would be planned and the worst that could happen would be a hysterectomy. My second son was born two and a half weeks early and he weighed 7 pounds, 7 and 1/2 ounces. I went in for a routine check up and I didn't pass the stress test. The sonogram looked normal but this smart doctor gave me an amniocentesis and found out my second son's lungs had developed and he could breathe on his own. I went into the hospital in Boston and when they removed my youngest son from my stomach I got an instant glimpse of him with dark black hair with the umbilical chord wrapped loosely around his neck. He was also whisked away from me but it was also a profound love so deeply and a feeling of being so lucky that the doctor knew to take him three weeks early. He had to spend two days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit because of breathing issues.

In this tale in the beginning Pete Riley and Maddie Wilson are confronted by Miles Lambert and his private investigator that their two year old and two months named Theo is not their biological son. Miles and his private investigator knock on the door and inform Pete that their babies were swapped in the NICU in a London hospital. Pete is shocked. He is a journalist and works from home and he is what he calls a stay at home dad. Miles returns Theo's sippy cup and announces that the sippy cup is what was used to determine a DNA test that proves Theo belongs to the Lambert's. Pete says to himself that Theo looks just like a carbon copy of Miles. Miles explains to Pete that the baby swap can all be sorted out very friendly. Miles mentions that he is suing the hospital and says that Pete and Maddie can get on board if they want. Miles is a CEO of a company so him and his wife Lucy are much richer with more resources than Maddie and Pete. Miles takes a good look around and he sees two empty wine bottles and clothes laid out drying on the furniture and he is not impressed. After the two of them drop their bombshell Pete calls Maddie at work and she is in the middle of a meeting but says she will come right home. Perhaps the point of the story that I am trying to make by telling my personal history albeit almost 22 years and almost 19 years ago respectively is that maybe Maddie knew instinctively that Theo wasn't her child. She suffered post partum depression after giving birth prematurely and she didn't bond instantly with Theo. When they were naming the child in the NICU where their baby was transferred and the swap took place she said she didn't want to give their premature child a happy name like Jack in case he didn't survive. I found her detached way of not instantly loving her son cold and very much to go against the human nature of most mothers I know and have known over the years. I think since she worked all day that she would be a more hands on mother with Theo in the evenings. Instead she would drink a bottle or two of wine. I just couldn't connect to her or get emotionally involved with her as a nurturing mother. It seemed like Pete was more nurturing towards Theo. It is not long before Miles contacts Pete by an email wanting them all to get together.

There is a psychopathy test included in this novel that two of these character's fit. I don't know if it is based on a real psychopathy criteria test to determine if one is or not. I gave this book four stars because the storytelling was excellent and Pete and Lucy were sympathetic characters. I did not like Maddie or Miles. I thought that since I prefaced my experiences giving birth which were different circumstances but still difficult it would speak for itself why I didn't like Maddie or Miles and found their character traits to be unrealistic and unbelievable. The storytelling was well executed and the pacing was fast and I was never bored hence my 3.5 star rating. My husband gave our baby his first bottle calmly in the nursery. Similarly, Pete fed their baby at first with syringes of Maddie's breast milk. My husband was the first one to spend all his time with the baby in between checking on me in the ICU as I lay dying. The difference between Maddie and myself is that the tiny look I was afforded as they removed him from my stomach; I bonded with him at the first glimpse of him no matter my condition. Unlike Maddie who when she was finally able to see her baby she felt a disconnect. So I found I couldn't relate to her as a mother. This made the story less compelling for me and I would have given it less stars because I didn't feel as immersed in the story as I would like. Granted our situations were reversed as I was dying and my son perfectly healthy and she was healthy and her baby was born so prematurely that she didn't want to get attached to a baby that might not live. Still I think most mothers love their babies with all of their hearts and can't help getting instantly attached. Even more so if your told your baby might not live. I would make every second spent with my baby precious. I would be fighting for my baby by begging the nurses and doctors to do everything that they could to save my baby. Maddie seemed too detached which was the second problem I had connecting to Maddie emotionally as she just didn't ring true for me emotionally. How can you relate to a mother that can look at her baby and not instantly love him more than her own life? This is right in the beginning and just seemed unrealistic to me.

Any mother that could have the reaction that Maddie had to Theo is just beyond the scope of my understanding. I was transferred from our local hospital because I was dying after giving birth. I was sent to Boston by ambulance without ever holding my baby but I only needed to glimpse at him to fall head over heels in love with my son at first sight. I spent a week in Boston without my baby but I still loved him and it completely changed my life seeing him no matter what my condition. My organs started shutting down the day I gave birth and my husband like Pete gave my baby his first bottle in the nursery. My over powering love for my baby is the big difference between Maddie's reaction to seeing her son in the NICU and my reaction. This is where the book lost credibility for me. I need to be gripped by an emotional connection to the character's and to feel a great deal of intimacy to invest in a story and in this one I wasn't able to do it early on.

I did feel like Pete was emotionally affected unlike Maddie. When Miles and Lucy invited Maddie and Pete over to their house and when Maddie saw her son David, her biological son there was that instant connection between mother and child. She loved David her real son despite his disabilities. She had that love that is universal in every mother when they gaze into their child's eyes. Maddie saw her biological son David who was living with Miles and Lucy Lambert and instantly loved him. The minute Maddie looked at David she felt that instantaneous love and connection that most mothers feel. So sadly I have to rate this 3.5 stars based on my own motherly instincts in what did and didn't ring true. Still I also have to say that this was a stunning premise and the way the rest of the story was told was well executed. The acrimony shown by Miles Lambert was fascinating as time goes on in the story. There is a checklist for psychopathic personality included in this psychological thriller that I am not sure if it is the correct criteria to rate a person with psychopathic qualities or not. It did fit a couple of the character's in this story. I have to say that J.P. Delaney's first book "The Girl Before," is his best work to date and far exceeds this one. I have to give credit that this one was hard to put down, just not that all realistic. I am sorry because I really wanted to love this as much as his first book but for me it just didn't ring true. But don't just go by my opinion when deciding to pick this one up as there are many five star reviews and many people loved it so maybe it's just me but I had to be honest when describing my reading experience and again I can only rate this 3.5 stars.

Publication Date: July 28, 2020

Thank you to Net Galley, J.P. Delaney, Random House and Ballantine Books Publishing for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#PlayingNice #JPDelaney #NetGalley #RandomHouseandBallantineBooksPublishing
PLAYING NICE
BY J.P. DELANEY

This novel is another psychological thriller written by J. P. Delaney and the pace of this one kept me reading so I finished it in just two sittings. The reason I requested it was because I absolutely loved his first book called, "THE GIRL BEFORE," which was unforgettable while being very realistic. In this narrative he pulls at the heartstrings of the the reader by placing them in an impossible situation. He states in the novel that switched babies in a hospital is rare. The setting is London in the UK. Right off he explores and plumbs the emotions of the reader by having them question how they would feel and what would they do, if after raising a child after two years and two months if a bombshell like that was suddenly dropped in their life. How I would feel if I found out the son I was raising was not my biological child because he was switched at birth at the hospital in the NICU? NCIU stands for Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I do have some experience with that unit with the birth of my second son in an excellent hospital in Boston in the United States. My second son was purposely taken from me two and a half weeks early. At that time he was already 7 pounds and seven and a half ounces. I had been monitored closely with my second pregnancy by the director of high risk pregnancies in the department in Boston for high risk internal fetal medicine. During my check up which was routine I didn't pass the stress test. We were given a sonogram which looked normal but because I almost died giving birth to my first child I was told I couldn't have more children by my local obstetrician that delivered my first son. The doctor told me that she couldn't deliver a second child because I almost died giving birth to my first child who weighed 9 pounds, eleven ounces. When I consulted in Boston the director of high risk fetal internal medicine; I was told that because I labored too long and my baby was too big that was the reason I almost died in childbirth. When my local obstetrician, who believed in doing everything natural, induced me three times before deciding to give me a c-section. The baby was perfectly healthy and I fell in love with him at first sight as he was whisked away from me without getting a chance to hold him. Still as I lay dying I fell head over heels in love with him. I had to have a blood transfusion because after they removed my baby I lost half of the blood in my body. There were two obstetricians from that practice trying to stitch me up. My uterus kept filling up with blood like a balloon and popping. My husband saw me turn gray and could see the blood running off of the operation gurney onto the floor. When they finally were able to stitch me up I was moved to the ICU unit where my organs began to shut down. I lay there all day from 10:37 am when I gave birth until 4:00 pm when my obstetrician transferred me to Boston by ambulance which I began to recover. It was that hour ambulance ride where I wasn't given any of the medicine I was getting in the ICU in my local hospital that saved my life. Still I was without my baby for a week while I recovered in Boston where they tested my blood every hour. The point is my best friend and my husband visited and that baby instantly became the love of my life. As I said at my six week check up my doctor told me that I couldn't have any more children because I nearly died giving birth. I wanted another child so I consulted with the director of high risk pregnancies for internal fetal medicine.

My second pregnancy was handled very differently than my first having another woman obstetrician but she told me in my consultation the reason why I almost died giving birth to my first child was because I labored too long with a huge baby. She said that the blood would be on standby all warmed and the c-section would be planned and the worst that could happen would be a hysterectomy. My second son was born two and a half weeks early and he weighed 7 pounds, 7 and 1/2 ounces. I went in for a routine check up and I didn't pass the stress test. The sonogram looked normal but this smart doctor gave me an amniocentesis and found out my second son's lungs had developed and he could breathe on his own. I went into the hospital in Boston and when they removed my youngest son from my stomach I got an instant glimpse of him with dark black hair with the umbilical chord wrapped loosely around his neck. He was also whisked away from me but it was also a profound love so deeply and a feeling of being so lucky that the doctor knew to take him three weeks early. He had to spend two days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit because of breathing issues.

In this tale in the beginning Pete Riley and Maddie Wilson are confronted by Miles Lambert and his private investigator that their two year old and two months named Theo is not their biological son. Miles and his private investigator knock on the door and inform Pete that their babies were swapped in the NICU in a London hospital. Pete is shocked. He is a journalist and works from home and he is what he calls a stay at home dad. Miles returns Theo's sippy cup and announces that the sippy cup is what was used to determine a DNA test that proves Theo belongs to the Lambert's. Pete says to himself that Theo looks just like a carbon copy of Miles. Miles explains to Pete that the baby swap can all be sorted out very friendly. Miles mentions that he is suing the hospital and says that Pete and Maddie can get on board if they want. Miles is a CEO of a company so him and his wife Lucy are much richer with more resources than Maddie and Pete. Miles takes a good look around and he sees two empty wine bottles and clothes laid out drying on the furniture and he is not impressed. After the two of them drop their bombshell Pete calls Maddie at work and she is in the middle of a meeting but says she will come right home. Perhaps the point of the story that I am trying to make by telling my personal history albeit almost 22 years and almost 19 years ago respectively is that maybe Maddie knew instinctively that Theo wasn't her child. She suffered post partum depression after giving birth prematurely and she didn't bond instantly with Theo. When they were naming the child in the NICU where their baby was transferred and the swap took place she said she didn't want to give their premature child a happy name like Jack in case he didn't survive. I found her detached way of not instantly loving her son cold and very much to go against the human nature of most mothers I know and have known over the years. I think since she worked all day that she would be a more hands on mother with Theo in the evenings. Instead she would drink a bottle or two of wine. I just couldn't connect to her or get emotionally involved with her as a nurturing mother. It seemed like Pete was more nurturing towards Theo. It is not long before Miles contacts Pete by an email wanting them all to get together.

There is a psychopathy test included in this novel that two of these character's fit. I don't know if it is based on a real psychopathy criteria test to determine if one is or not. I gave this book four stars because the storytelling was excellent and Pete and Lucy were sympathetic characters. I did not like Maddie or Miles. I thought that since I prefaced my experiences giving birth which were different circumstances but still difficult it would speak for itself why I didn't like Maddie or Miles and found their character traits to be unrealistic and unbelievable. The storytelling was well executed and the pacing was fast and I was never bored hence my 3.5 star rating. My husband gave our baby his first bottle calmly in the nursery. Similarly, Pete fed their baby at first with syringes of Maddie's breast milk. My husband was the first one to spend all his time with the baby in between checking on me in the ICU as I lay dying. The difference between Maddie and myself is that the tiny look I was afforded as they removed him from my stomach; I bonded with him at the first glimpse of him no matter my condition. Unlike Maddie who when she was finally able to see her baby she felt a disconnect. So I found I couldn't relate to her as a mother. This made the story less compelling for me and I would have given it less stars because I didn't feel as immersed in the story as I would like. Granted our situations were reversed as I was dying and my son perfectly healthy and she was healthy and her baby was born so prematurely that she didn't want to get attached to a baby that might not live. Still I think most mothers love their babies with all of their hearts and can't help getting instantly attached. Even more so if your told your baby might not live. I would make every second spent with my baby precious. I would be fighting for my baby by begging the nurses and doctors to do everything that they could to save my baby. Maddie seemed too detached which was the second problem I had connecting to Maddie emotionally as she just didn't ring true for me emotionally. How can you relate to a mother that can look at her baby and not instantly love him more than her own life? This is right in the beginning and just seemed unrealistic to me.

Any mother that could have the reaction that Maddie had to Theo is just beyond the scope of my understanding. I was transferred from our local hospital because I was dying after giving birth. I was sent to Boston by ambulance without ever holding my baby but I only needed to glimpse at him to fall head over heels in love with my son at first sight. I spent a week in Boston without my baby but I still loved him and it completely changed my life seeing him no matter what my condition. My organs started shutting down the day I gave birth and my husband like Pete gave my baby his first bottle in the nursery. My over powering love for my baby is the big difference between Maddie's reaction to seeing her son in the NICU and my reaction. This is where the book lost credibility for me. I need to be gripped by an emotional connection to the character's and to feel a great deal of intimacy to invest in a story and in this one I wasn't able to do it early on.

I did feel like Pete was emotionally affected unlike Maddie. When Miles and Lucy invited Maddie and Pete over to their house and when Maddie saw her son David, her biological son there was that instant connection between mother and child. She loved David her real son despite his disabilities. She had that love that is universal in every mother when they gaze into their child's eyes. Maddie saw her biological son David who was living with Miles and Lucy Lambert and instantly loved him. The minute Maddie looked at David she felt that instantaneous love and connection that most mothers feel. So sadly I have to rate this 3.5 stars based on my own motherly instincts in what did and didn't ring true. Still I also have to say that this was a stunning premise and the way the rest of the story was told was well executed. The acrimony shown by Miles Lambert was fascinating as time goes on in the story. There is a checklist for psychopathic personality included in this psychological thriller that I am not sure if it is the correct criteria to rate a person with psychopathic qualities or not. It did fit a couple of the character's in this story. I have to say that J.P. Delaney's first book "The Girl Before," is his best work to date and far exceeds this one. I have to give credit that this one was hard to put down, just not that all realistic. I am sorry because I really wanted to love this as much as his first book but for me it just didn't ring true. But don't just go by my opinion when deciding to pick this one up as there are many five star reviews and many people loved it so maybe it's just me but I had to be honest when describing my reading experience and again I can only rate this 3.5 stars.

Publication Date: July 28, 2020

Thank you to Net Galley, J.P. Delaney, Random House and Ballantine Books Publishing for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#PlayingNice #JPDelaney #NetGalley #RandomHouseandBallantineBooksPublishing

This book has sent my anxiety through the roof, and I still feel my heart beating more rapidly than normal at the dark, frustrating, and seemingly plausible tale author J.P. Delaney weaves.

Pete and Maddie are in a long term relationship and have a son they love, a two-year old named Theo. Imagine their surprise when one day there’s a knock at the door from a man named Miles, as well as his lawyer, saying their child is actually his, and the child him and his wife have been raising for the past two years actually belongs to Pete and Maddie.

From there, things slowly go from shocking to bad to worse, and what results is a disturbing story so well written that I couldn’t help but feel anger and frustration at the events occurring. It’s also written in such a way that I believe something like this could really happen in our world, which makes it terrifying for those with children. I would highly recommend, as long as you don’t mind a stressful and taut read. J.P. Delaney is a brilliant writer.

Thank you to J.P. Delaney, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for an ARC.

This is an Intriguing mystery with twists and turns. There are a couple of scenes that could be left out as they are explicit, but the main plot keeps one interested. Switching babies...why and how? There are no really lovable characters in this book, but it is not a cozy mystery. It is full of deceit and manipulation with a surprise
ending. I thought I knew what would happened! Surprise!! Can’t give it five stars because frankly the scenes that give too much information do not add to the plot of this book.

Any parent that reads this book is going to be beyond frustrated and at times even angry. I had moments of not being able to turn the page fast enough to sitting the book down for a break. Any parent that reads this would probably describe it as their worse nightmare. Extremely excellent writing and so many feels, I’ll be thinking about this one for a very long time.

This is a story of two infants switched at birth and the resulting dilemma of how the respective parents respond after finding out the truth two years later. Although the parents agree to share time and avoid disrupting the children's lives, disputes arise and a family court case results. Peter and Maddie's money problems, his loss of employment, and her history of post partum depression are strikes against them as they join in the custody battle.

While the story kept my interest, I felt like there were some holes in the plot that didn't ring true. Even so, it was a decent read. I was intrigued by an interesting question of nature vs. nurture ... are psychopathic tendencies inherited?

Thanks Net Galley.

Peter is a work at home dad who cares for his 2 yr old son Theo while his wife Maddie earns most of their money working away from home. When Peter's doorbell rings one morning he is horrified to discover that Theo may not be his after all. A man named Miles tells him that their sons were actually switched at some point during their NICU stay. As the two families try to come to terms with what this all means and work out arrangements, Peter and Maddie start to get the feeling that Miles has a very different agenda for how this will all play out. At first amicable, Miles starts to become hostile and threatening. Peter and Maddie are soon involved in a court case and find their every move scrutinized and investigated. How far will Miles go and will he be able to be stopped?

I was excited to see a new book from Delaney and anxious to read it. This is the 4th book I've read by this author and they are all consistently good. This story was a departure from previous styles, which focused a lot on futuristic and technological aspects, and instead focused more on relationships within families. As with some of the other books this one took off right from the beginning and sucked me in, and then seemed to lose some steam towards the middle. There were a few loose ends that I felt were tied up a little too neatly (the car, the fact that Peter definitely should have called the police when Miles took Theo from the grocery store) It still held my interest and I will still continue to read books by Delaney.

Can you imagine during your mid-day somebody knocking on your door and when you answer it, you see a man standing in front of you looks like older version of your son! There are three options for you to express your feelings:

1) Slamming the door shut at the man’s face and form a plan to kill your spouse for her infidelity (you may also hire a contract killer if you have great connections at the dark web. Don’t you dare to ask me how I can know!)

2) Slamming the door shut at the man’s face, moving fast to toss everything inside your valise, grabbing your son and leaving your place from your back door.

3) Scrutinizing the guy’s face, acting like a naïve, gullible person and asking: “could you be my son’s second cousin?’

I know my three options are so stupid! And I cannot imagine a man appears in front of my door telling me two years ago our kids switch at birth and he is biological dad of my son. It’s so devilish, smart, gripping, hooking you from the beginning plot, isn’t it? That’s why J. P. Delaney is one of the great authors: he doesn’t give us stupid choices or plot has more holes than my socks have! (I spent all my money to booze and books! And I love my feet get more air!)

So we have two families: Lamberts-wealthy ones (Miles and Lucy) and Rileys ( wait a minute, we have Pete and Maddie but they are not married and unfortunately they are not financially stable. Pete is journalist, stay at home dad but he is responsible and gets parenting very seriously, spending his time at chat forms for dads to read the comments and try the best options to help his son! Maddie suffered from post-partum depression after giving birth to her child and had problems to connect with him. She didn’t share the same bound Pete and Theo have but it doesn’t make her bad mother and it doesn’t mean she doesn’t love him, does it?)
Two switched kids: Theo and David.

Miles’ life completely changes at the day Miles Lambert knocks his front door accompanied with a private investigator, showing him the DNA results and telling him they’re suing the hospital for their crucial and impactful mistake! But a few pages later we find out: there are affidavits indicate that Miles also sues the family and we may sense he’s after the full custody of Theo!

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.

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?

This is gripping, psychological, high tensioned family drama plays with your nerves, making you face with your insecurities and inner fears, nightmares! I was wearing gloves not to bite my nails during my reading so you may imagine I changed 6 pairs of gloves! I may have stress-eaten some of them!
The conclusion of the story and final twists are also well-played, well-written and well-developed.

Overall: I read while I was sitting at the edge of my couch. It was one of the reads make you nervous, edgy, frustrated and when you finish it, you take a long deep breathe and say thanks loudly for not being one of the characters of the book!

This means I’m addictive to this author’s books and I keep going blind and devouring them without thinking a second!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine for sharing this fantastic ARC in exchange my honest review.

Thank you to JP Delaney, Random House - Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for this ARC.

I flew through this book, it was THAT good! I've liked all of the previous JP Delaney books I've read, but I think this one is my favorite. I loved the characters, and I loved the creepiness that Milo exuded throughout the book. The ending was a complete surprise to me, which made the book even better. A fantastic read by a fantastic author!