The Perfect Father: The True Story of Chris Watts, His All-American Family, and a Shocking Murder

by John Glatt

Ebook, 2020

Status

Available

Call number

364.152

Genres

Politics, Government, Law and Public Policy

General Nonfiction

Nonfiction

Collection

Read

Publication

St. Martin's Press (2020), Edition: Illustrated, 291 pages

Description

"In The Perfect Father, New York Times bestselling author John Glatt reveals the true story of a Colorado family whose storybook life turned into a nightmare. In the early morning hours of August 13th, 2018, Shanann Watts was dropped off at her Frederick, Colorado home by a colleague after returning from a 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 perfect 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, sexual ambivalence, 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"--… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Lauigl

This book tells the true story of Chris Watts and what happened leading up to that infamous day when he ended the lives of his family.

Chris Watts’ family seemed ideal from the outside looking in. He had a beautiful wife who was expecting their third child, and two adorable little girls, Bella

and Celeste, who loved their father dearly. Chris’s wife, Shanann, appeared ecstatic about her relationship with her husband. Her Thrive business was successful and her constant social media presence portrayed a family that was the envy of those who knew her, as well as those who followed her online. So what went wrong? Why did Chris Watts end the lives of his beloved family? Sometimes things aren’t what they appear to be. People are known to hide the negative aspects of their life from those around them. In the Watts’s case, there was debt, control, in-law problems, illness, infidelity and other stresses that apparently contributed to the devastating outcome that shocked their family, friends and an entire nation.

When I saw this story on the news I was shocked and dismayed by what happened to pregnant Shanann and her two little girls. This book gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the not-so-perfect Watts family, including the introverted, anti-social Chris Watts, who went from intensely loving his wife and children, to wanting nothing more than to be free of them.

Thank you, Tantor Audio, for a complimentary download of The Perfect Father. All opinions expressed about it are my own.

Show Less

8 more

LibraryThing member Cherylk

It is kind of weird to want to give a book about a murder story five stars. Yet, I felt like the author really did a good job of recapping this horrible and sad story of how Shanann, Bella and Celeste lost their lives. I still remember hearing and reading about this case as I live in Colorado.

It

was interesting to see how Chris went from being submissive husband and father to a cold, blooded killer. Yet, in a way; I think that years of Chris taking more of a silent role caused him to exploded. Only when his fuse went off, he killed his family. The worse part was how distant he was during the whole event from killing Shanann...loading her body into the back of the truck and his daughters riding in the back seat with their dead mother on the floor. To killing each of his daughters and dumping their bodies into toxic oil drums.

What blows my mind besides the murders was that his parents can go on believing that their son is innocent; despite the various different stories he has told them about the murders. The other aspect that I and others I am sure don't really think about is how a murder affects the detectives and police involved in the case. There were many that suffered PTSD and had to quit afterwards.

Show Less

LibraryThing member fulner

I recieved this MP3-CD as part of Library Thing's early review program. I love MP3-CD it's a format that's not around much. However, that was the only good thing I could say about it. It's long and boring. Reads like a set of police reports.

LibraryThing member stacypilot

Even though from news accounts I knew the bare bones of this horrific situation, the audio version of this book had me hooked. Why? In an extremely in depth factual and chronological narrative you get to know Chris and Shannan so well you can recognize the beginnings of their problems. The only

thing that threw me off at first was the British narrator for an American story. However, he’s very easy and understandable to listen to and it adds to a reportable, detachable veracity to what you’re hearing. If you like the crime murder genre, this is a must read or listen to.

Show Less

LibraryThing member dablackwood

I received the audiobook of this title through Early Reviewers. The narrator had a monotonous voice, perhaps Australian. Somehow the very flat, expressionless telling of this horrifying story worked. Chris Watts murdered his family - pregnant wife and two young daughters. It was a hands on crime

meaning that he strangled his wife and smothered his daughters with his bare hands. His behavior was almost robotic and he offered no real explanation. Shannan, his wife, was ambitious and somewhat controlling but he seemed like a devoted husband and he adored his daughters. An explanation that was hinted at but not put forth is that he was taking dietary supplements and had lost a considerable amount of weight. Maybe this caused some sort of hormonal imbalance. Also, unhappy with his bossy wife, he had begun an affair. He just felt trapped. I was very disturbed by this awful story and the psychotic episode that ended four lives and destroyed multiple family members’ lives as well.

Show Less

LibraryThing member KateHonig

While this was a well researched and detailed account of Chris Watts' slaughter of his family, I was uncomfortable with the portrayal of Shanann. There is no way to know exactly what happened in the privacy of their relationship, but I found it very odd how often Shanann was described in this book

as controlling. The author focuses way too much on how mean she was and how much "happier" Chris seemed when he was cheating on her before he killed her. The book is clear that Chris is guilty, but I did not feel comfortable with how sympathetically he was portrayed.

Show Less

LibraryThing member susan0316

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.

Show Less

LibraryThing member dcoward

Just the facts, ma'am. Author John Glatt does not really offer opinions on Chris Watts. At first, I found this grating. But in light of the fact that no psychological evaluation was ever done on Christopher Watts, this was probably a wise choice. Also, letting Chris and Shannon speak for themselves

through texts and emails, Chris's interviews, and Shannon's prolific social media use really helps you to understand how you never really know what is going on inside of someone's head. Warning - the details of the murders themselves are horrifying.

Show Less

LibraryThing member JanJanFreeman

A thrilling account of the story of Shannan Watts and her two daughters murdered in cold blood by her husband Chris Watts. It goes into great detail the evidence in the case and breaks down the timeline to make it more clear for listeners and readers. I listened to this on audiobook and I thought

it was very well narrated and very well written! I would recommend this book for all True Crime fans, even for those who think they are very familiar with the tragic story.

Show Less

Fewer