Saturday, May 30, 2020

Playing Nice by JP Delaney

Unputdownable! That is the only way to describe the psychological thriller Playing Nice by JP Delaney. Two babies swapped at birth, one brained damaged, the other a real handful. Two sets of parents, as different as night and day.

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Pete and Maddie, an unmarried but committed couple, are raising Theo, a two-year-old kicked out of nursery school for hitting other children. Miles and Lucy, a married couple, are coping with David and his various health needs with the aid of a full-time nanny. Both children have been born prematurely.

When Miles finds out that David is not his biological son after DNA testing reveals a defective gene that neither he nor Lucy has, he goes on a mission to find and reclaim his biological son, Theo. Anyone who gets in Miles’ way in the course of the book is suspiciously involved in a hit and run accident.

Miles first cons Pete and Maddie to go after the hospital for a lucrative settlement for negligence, before his real intent is determined: to have custody of both boys. Pete and Maddie play by all the rules but at each turn, Miles has been ahead of them in his ghastly plans.

JP Delaney has absolutely infuriated me with the character Miles – he’s that good of a writer. The story was compelling as were the previous Delaney books I’ve read: The Girl Before, Believe Me, The Perfect Wife.

JP Delaney, a pseudonym, was born in Uganda. Educated at St Peter’s College, Oxford, he graduated with a First in English Literature. He has also written books under the names Tony Strong and Anthony Capella. Married to a pig farmer, he is the father of four.



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