In The Perfect Father, New York Times bestselling author John Glatt reveals the tragedy of the Watts family, whose seemingly perfect lives played out on social media–but the truth would lead to a vicious and heartbreaking murder. In the early morning hours of August 13th, 2018, Shanann Watts was dropped off at home by a colleague after returning from a business trip. It was the last time anyone … business trip. It was the last time anyone would see her alive. By the next day, Shanann and her two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, had been reported missing, and her husband, Chris Watts, was appearing on the local news, pleading for his family’s safe return.
But Chris Watts already knew that he would never see his family again. Less than 24 hours after his desperate plea, Watts made a shocking confession to police: he had strangled his pregnant wife to death and smothered their daughters, dumping their bodies at a nearby oil site. Heartbroken friends and neighbors watched in shock as the movie-star handsome, devoted family man they knew was arrested and charged with first degree murder. The mask Chris had presented to the world in his TV interviews and the family’s Facebook accounts was slipping–and what lay beneath was a horrifying image of instability, infidelity, and boiling rage.
In this first major account of the case, bestselling author and journalist John Glatt reveals the truth behind the tragedy and constructs a chilling portrait of one of the most shocking family annihilator cases of the 21st century.
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In high school I was a true crime junkie, always turning to the photos in the middle of the book first because I wanted to see actual visuals into the people’s lives. Isn’t that one of the reasons humans are so fascinated with true crime; to take a peek into someone’s life, someone who may even be a lot like you, and be able to feel safe in your own home thinking that something like that would never happen to you. I think The Perfect Father by John Glatt shows that it really can happen to anyone.
For me this book was even more disturbing due to all the social media that Shanann used to grow her Thrive business and continually show the world her wonderful husband and children. You can still go to her Facebook page and see photos of her life and if you become her “friend” you can see posts. It seems so much more real than books published in the 80’s and 90’s that just had some grainy photos to accompany the book.
I really don’t know if this is a good thing.
John Glatt did a fantastic job making this tragic event read like a story and not as if you were reading courtroom documents. He gave a voice to the people and showed their true emotions. And I appreciated that the woman Chris was having an affair with wasn’t portrayed by the author as someone who was an evil husband stealing woman.
If you are a fan of true crime I think this would be one for you to read even if there isn’t an actual conclusion to what really happened to Shanann and her children since Chris keeps changing the story. And although I saw a lot of one star reviews for The Perfect Father, I don’t think that should deter you from reading this book, since I’m wondering if they were put up by Shanann’s family, friends, and Thrive members to try and keep people from reading it?!?
A good read. I recommend this book
I’m trying to read some of the older books in my bookcases to start off the year and this one grabbed my attention. It’s a well told, well researched look at Chris Watts who killed his wife and two daughters in 2018. This was a horrific unbelievable crime and the way the killer acted after the murders was unbelievable – he very calmly told his friends and family that his wife had taken the kids on a play date, he told the media that he wanted them back and hoped that they were safe – all while he knew that he had strangled them and disposed of their bodies. The police noticed immediately that his demeanor was off – he didn’t really act like a distraught husband and father, instead he appeared calm and unaffected. He was their prime suspect as soon as they interviewed him. This was a very difficult book to read especially when it was about the little girls being murdered. This man is evil personified and deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.
The book used interviews with friends and family but didn’t really go into the deep reasons behind the murders. What I didn’t like is that the author continually made disparaging remarks about Shanann that I felt were almost blaming her. Yes, even if there were problems in the marriage, they could have been handled without murder.
Trigger warning: this book contains graphic descriptions of smothering and concealment of dead bodies, including children.
This was heavy. And incredibly sad. I was fairly knowledgeable able this case, having followed it during the trial and watch documentaries about it. But reading the details of what Chris Watts did to him pregnant wife and daughters… wow. That man is a cold blooded monster. Nothing can be said to justify his actions.
This book was very well written, the details were handled with care and I feel as though everyone involved was given a fair and unbiased depiction.
My heart absolutely breaks for the families on both sides of this case. In situations like this… no one comes out okay. And this book definitely made that clear. Tragic and utterly heartbreaking, the story of Chris Watts, family annihilator, will make you sick to your stomach. Reading the details of this case will absolutely break your heart, make you angry, and leave you in complete disbelief… how can a father do the things this man did? How can a father murder his babies, with his own hands, and then go on camera pretending to plead for their safe return? Nothing within these pages is comforting. Nothing within the details of this case make sense or are justified. This is a devastating account of the tragedies that occurred. Read at your own will, this book is incredibly heavy.
Hmmm…..hmmm.
So, opening this book I knew one thing: Chris Watts had brutally murdered his wife and small children; but I didn’t know why. By the time I closed this book I knew one thing: Chris Watts had brutally murdered his wife and small children; I still don’t know why.
His wife Shannan (I spent most of the book wondering if her name is pronounced SHANNON, SHAN-ANN or SHA-NAHN) is described as a loving but overbearing and sometimes domineering woman who by then end saw the writing on the wall but desperately wanted to make her marriage work. Without the cooperation of her parents, the author’s “version” of Shannan is based on previous interviews and Shannan’s own Facebook page.
Chris, however, has been repeatedly described by family and friends as quiet, shy, loving, devoted…essentially the hapless husband more than willing to serve his wife’s needs. So, what happened? Did he snap? Was he provoked? Was this pre-planned (which is suggested as we learn he began having an affair)?
The book provides very little answers, but more of a detailed study of husband and wife that just happened to end in murder.
I always have difficulties reviewing true crime novels because my biased emotions often gets in the way. But this book & author, John Glatt, did a wonderful job humanizing all the people involved. We get to know Chris Watts & Shan’ann Rzucek as kids and young adults before they became The Watts. Their marriage is an interesting one, there’s more details here that wasn’t reported. Marriage isn’t easy I get that so why not walk away? Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for an ARC. This is my honest review.
“In The Perfect Father, New York Times bestselling author John Glatt reveals the tragedy of the Watts family, whose seemingly perfect lives played out on social media—but the truth would lead to a vicious and heartbreaking murder.”
The Watts family murders occurred on August 13, 2018, in Frederick, Colorado, US. Christopher Lee Watts and Shanann Cathryn Watts met in 2010, and were married in November 3, 2012. They had two daughters: Bella Marie Watts and Celeste Cathryn “Cece” Watts. Chris Watts was employed by Anadarko Petroleum, while Shanann was an independent representative for the multi-level marketing company Le-vel, selling a product called Thrive. At the time of her death, she was fifteen weeks pregnant with a son. In “The perfect Father” Glatt attempts to reveal the Watt family secrets leading up to and after the vicious murders.
It is no secret that I believe MLM schemes are full of nothing but vultures and charlatans but I refuse to let that cloud my judgement and lead me to victim blame. It has been hinted at before that Chris Watts “changed” after being pressured by his spouse to not only take but sell/promote the Thrive products. It is possible that his actions were inflated by the use of the products, but I still feel that there was always darkness lurking deep within his soul.
“The perfect father” did an excellant job detailing the lives of the Watts family, up to during and then after the murders. The one issue I had was its apparent lean towards one side. It painted a portrait of a loving and doting father ( and perhaps at one time he was), but also of a husband led to murder by an incessantly overbearing spouse. If I am to be fair though it would be hard not to be onesided, afterall the only other true witnesses are dead.
I will admit that at times I did find myself drawn towards feelings of sympathy for Chris Watts. If any of the mistreatments such as verbal abuse orignate from truth that is unfortuante. Irregardless, it is no way indictive of murder nor does it make the senseless murder of two small children understandable or forgivable. I feel deep sorrow for the loss of three lives but it is for the two small children snuffed from existence by the person whose job it was to love and protect them, that my heart shatters for over and over again.
“The perfect father” is extremely well written and fast paced but it is not a light hearted read. Any book that focuses on the annihilation of a family is anything but easy to swallow.
I recieved a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
FIRST THOUGHTS: A devastating and haunting true crime novel that I won’t forget. This book had me rolling in emotions.
MY REVIEW:
John Glatt is a seasoned true crime writer and when I saw he was writing a book about the Chris Watts case (it made headlines around the world) I knew I needed to read it. For one thing, the story is absolutely devastating. How can a seemingly perfect man kill his pregnant wife and two daughters? It’s unthinkable. Secondly, I remember reading about this case and seeing it all over the news. I live in Massachusetts and this happened in Colorado and seeing as it made it way over to my little hamlet shows how sensational the case is (was). Finally, I am a true crime junkie. I have a master’s degree in psychology and reading stories about the abnormal side of the human brain (and the abnormal side of human nature) is interesting to me. All this put together, this is a book for me.
For the most part, this is a good book. John Glatt writes the story in three parts (before, during, and the aftermath of the crime) so we gain an understanding of everything that led up to the crime; how their relationship may have played a part etc. and what happened in the courts. The chapters are small so reading it quickly is fairly easy (unless your queasy then it may be harder to read it in one sitting). HOWEVER, the beginning of the book (when looking at this couple relationship) it seemed like the author was siding with the murderer. There were things in the book that bothered me because it looked like he was throwing more of the blame at the victim (she’s to controlling etc.) rather than her husband who killed her. That put a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t care how controlling she was or what she did, she never deserved what happened to her or her babies. This is the main reason I am giving this one 3.5 stars.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you’re a true crime reader, I would recommend this one to you. The case is still “new” as the events occurred within the last 2 years and many will know the story anyways because it was plastered all over the news. Be warned though, this book is devastating. I cried a few times because I can’t imagine what happened. Ugh, it makes me sick to my stomach. I am however glad to know more about the victims who deserve peace and justice.
I read this incredibly sad book in a day and a half because I simply could not put it down. Author John Glatt did an excellent job chronicling Chis and Shanann Watts’ lives from their childhoods, courtship, marriage and very tragic ending for Shanann, her two young daughters and unborn son. I was familiar with this case but this book gave a lot of details that I was not aware of. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of this very sad book which was very well researched and well written in exchange for an honest review.
The Perfect Father is a disturbing yet somehow compelling read.
The author presents the story in a straight forward manner and the pages turn quickly.
It is the story of Shanann and her 2 daughters Bella and Celeste and their horrific murder by their husband/father Chris.
Evil knows no bounds.
You follow the Watt’ s family through when Shanann and Chris first met , how they lived over their means, to the life they had with their 2 daughters.
And how it went so horribly wrong.
It is inconceivable what happens and how so many lives were destroyed , you feel the pain of both families .
This was my first book by John Glatt but not my last.
This book will stay with me for a long time to come.
Thanks to Net Galley and St Martin’ Press for the opportunity to read The Perfect Father.