Playing Nice

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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!” 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!)

Living a waking nightmare, Pete (James Norton) and Maddie (Niamh Algar) are jettisoned into the world of the other couple; Miles (James McArdle) and Lucy (Jessica Brown Findlay). At first it seems all four are agreed on a solution, but it soon becomes clear that hidden motives are at play. How far can each couple trust the real parents of their child – or even each other? As Pete and Maddie are stretched to breaking point, they realise they will stop at nothing to keep their family together. Miles’ behaviour seems slightly odd, at first; you could dismiss it, perhaps even attribute it to his over-enthusiasm and excitement at getting to know his biological son. But the warning signs are there, even if Maddie and Pete are slow to spot them for what they are and protect themselves by putting appropriate boundaries in place. When they do realise the full extent of what’s happening, they have to decide what part Lucy plays in all of this – she’s a more enigmatic character and harder to read for reasons which only later become apparent – and then decide how they’re going to react.

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This is the third book I have read by this author and definitely my favorite. I enjoyed the character development and how the atmosphere in the book changed from amicable to diabolical by the end of the book. What really wrapped this up for me was the great ending, of which I won’t speak a word!! Ah,” I said defensively. That was the third time this month. “Okay. It’s something we have been working on at home. According to the internet, it sometimes happens at this age if physical skills get ahead of verbal skills.” I smiled ruefully, to show that I wasn’t stupid enough to believe every parenting theory I read on the internet, but neither was I one of those entitled middle-class dads who thought that just because my son was now at nursery I wasn’t required to put any effort into being his parent anymore; or, even worse, was blind to the possibility of my little darling having any faults in the first place. “And of course, his speech is a little delayed. But I’d welcome any suggestions.”

So no grabbing. And take turns. That’s very important. Remember we said we’d take turns to choose lunch? So today it’s your turn, and tomorrow it’ll be mine. What do you want for lunch?”

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Pete Riley and Maddie Wilson are the unmarried parents of a two-year-old boy named Theo. Even though his birth was traumatic --- a premature delivery followed by time spent in the NICU --- he appears to be a happy and well-adjusted little boy. However, he doesn’t always play nice with his fellow toddlers at daycare and often hits them. This book is everything I never knew I wanted. Swapped baby stories are such a cliché, but Playing Nice is so much more. This is a story about mental illness, addiction, abuse, murder, lies, betrayal, the law, and most importantly, it covers just how far parents are willing to go to protect the child they love, despite the multitude of nightmarish scenarios facing them. It's a total roller-coaster ride. My emotions were all over the place! This is the dilemma facing Maddie and Pete. In the beginning, everyone is playing nice as they attempt to work out an amicable arrangement. Both sets of parents appear to want what’s best for the children. It’s difficult to say much without giving away key plot points, but as you would expect, there are ulterior motives and not everything is as it seems. How far would you go to protect your child? is so cliche but Delaney adeptly adds the unexpected making for an amazing summer thriller. Had I merely read the description, I might have thought “meh”. Don’t do that! This is one you can’t and won’t put down! That is the situation faced by Pete Riley and his wife Maddie in JP Delaney’s “Playing Nice” when Miles Lambert shows up on their doorstep and shatters everything. Miles and his wife Lucy have been raising David for two years and who they recently discovered was not theirs. After hiring a PI, they found out that the Riley’s were raising their biological child, Theo. Initially, both families try to work together to salvage things and form a relationship