Chris Watts had it all or so it seemed. With a beautiful, successful wife, two young daughters who adored him, a lovely home and good job, the world should have been at his feet. His wife, Shanann, worked from home selling a medicinal skin patch to improve quality of life and, as with everything she cared about, was very good at her job. Her handsome husband was everything she ever wanted, describing him as the love of her life. Her two young daughters had a happy childhood, although, like their mom, both had health issues, and were doted on by their parents. Living, as many families do, with a life played out on social media, they were described by all who knew them as a happy, loving family, and nothing could have prepared them for the story which was about to emerge. 

Shanann and her family's story was beyond shocking, leaving deep traumatic wounds for everyone who became involved either willingly or unwilling in what happened. John Glatt writes an excellent account of a murder case which shattered lives, left families with unanswered questions, and was covered extensively, both nationally and internationally, on all media outlets. 

I hadn't read about this before and so was shocked by the venom and rage hidden away behind the facade of an idyllic family life. It was written in a style which flowed and gave as much detail as was possible from all sides of a story which unsurprisingly was met with disbelief by all those involved in any way. 

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone interested in modern day true crime stories. This is a first class read which has the power to shock and amaze.

The perfect father, written by John Glatt portrays the most horrifying and senseless homicide up to date that took place in Colorado, US on 13th August 2018. Chris Watts, a wonderful son, an ideal husband, and the best father,  murders his wife Shannon Watts and their daughters, Belle and Celeste. The book gives a complete account of the life of Chris Watts before and after the incident. Why exactly he did this, remains a mystery till today.

In his marriage of 6 years, Chris was the loyal submissive partner and his wife, Shannon Watts was dominant. Shannon was an independent representative for the multi level marketing company Le-vel, selling a product called Thrive while her husband was employed by Anadarko Petroleum. On August 13th 2018, Chris murders his 15-week pregnant wife, and his daughters, the four year old Belle and the two year old Celeste. He confessed to strangling his wife to death and smothering their daughters. 
It was later revealed that he had an affair with his co-worker, Nichole Kessinger, which could serve as a possible motive for Chris’s actions. Their financial condition could also have been a motive or it could be in a fit of rage that he murdered his wife, tired of being dominated by her for too long. But none of these actually make sense because it is believed that his wife was ready to separate from Chris, along with the children. Christopher Lee Watts gave three confessions at three different times, and once said to his mother that he would take with him to the grave, the mystery of what had really happened that day. So there is a chance that none of his confessions is true.

The author gives a clear picture of the life of Watts. Every minor detail is penned down in the book. The author gives the readers complete freedom to come up with their own theories of what could be the possible motive for the crime. However it would be appreciated if the author concluded the book with his own account of what he felt could have happened on that day. The book also gives out the message that not everything is at it seems to be.
 As a lover of crime genre, I liked reading this book and the fact that it is written, based on a real life incident is a bonus.

Rating 3.5

Synopsis: 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 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. 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.

I heard about this story before, the videos and articles were heartbreaking. This book allowed me to see what was not tackled and shown by media, and it broke my heart further. I got so anxious and curious as I started reading this book. I feel so sad about every detail and revelation. They seemed to be happy and perfect, but it is all a front, and it is sad. I am not trying to sympathize with Chris; what he did is awful, wrong, and incredibly evil. But this book elaborates Chris life, the before and during, and even after, and I also felt terrible for him. The author did an excellent job of describing the experiences of the Watts Family up to the littlest thing. Very informative, and the analysis is spot on. The story is frightening and painful, but a very interesting read.

Absolutely heartbreaking. I first heard about this horrific and devastating true story via a true crime youtuber,  and have followed the case since. 

This book seems very well written and researched, lots of information on the family and their lives, personalities, relationships, friendships and history. It was so hard to read at times, and I just kept asking myself how on earth did this happen ? Why would Chris Watts do this? It's just absolutely terrifying, horrific and shocking, I just do not have enough words.

Reading this book broke me, and I'm still in utter shock and disbelief at how this could of happened to Shanann, Bella, Celeste and Nico. My heart just goes out to the family.

This is such a hard review to write. Full review to come.

*Thank you to Netgalley, St Martin's Press and John for the E-Arc, in exchange for an honest review.*

I thought I knew this case pretty well, but there were so many details in this book that I had not heard before. It was an amazing, sad, horrible story and I didn't want to put the book down. I have several other books by John Glatt on my want to read list, I really want to push those to the top and begin reading them right away. 

A huge thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this publication, in exchange for an unbiased review.

St. Martin's has done it again. A great book. Like all true crime books though, its heartbreaking. 

Set some time aside to read this (broad daylight recommended) as you wont want to put this down.  Very well researched which all true crime novels should be. Highly recommend.

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.

I am a true crime addict and knew about this case from the media.  This book brought to light new information about the family and those involved with the family that I had not heard before reading.  If you are a true crime enthusiast pick this book up!  The author did a great job with this disturbingly tragic event.  I rate this four stars and received this from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

An informative, disturbing look at the case of Chris Watts. 

A heartbreaking tale to read, but a fantastically in-depth, well written and informative piece on this horrific crime. It is clear the John Glatt has put a great deal of research and heart into this book.

Shanann, her husband Chris and their two young daughters, Bella and Celeste live a perfect family life. They have a beautiful.home. go on nice family vacations and seem to have it all. Shanann gets involved with a pyramid scheme selling a supplement and is so good at encouraging her friends to also try it and join, that soon she is on the level of getting a new car and great getaways. Chris is also in on this, but not quite with the enthusiasm of his wife.  Shanann writes her daily blog, praising the supplement and her husband, saying how blessed she is that they have such a perfect marriage and how he is the perfect husband and father. Then Shannan and the girls go missing. 
This book is a true crime story and will keep you reading late into the night. Sad, but entriguing.

I received this ARC from Netgalley and St. Martins Press for an honest review.  A Perfect Father is a true crime story about Chris Watts who murdered his pregnant wife and two young girls.  Shanann  was a vivacious energetic young women who meets and marries Chris Watts. His marriage seems to be perfect and all who know him think he is the perfect father. Chris was an extreme introvert who was more than willing to let Shanann rule and schedule his life until one day he wasn’t.
John Glatt did a fantastic job telling the story of this horrible murder scene.  He shows the emotion or lack of, and the facts of this time.  It’s a page turner and hard to put down.
#ThePerfectFather #StMartinsPress #netgalley

The Watts family murders were sickening and horrifying, and just never made complete sense to me. I had hoped to get more of an understanding of why Chris Watts murdered his pregnant wife and two daughters from this book, but it did nothing. The book was a sloppily written hodgepodge of the author’s notes of tediously-recounted Facebook posts, text messages, notes, and phone calls, with very little narration. There was somehow too much detail and yet not enough at the same time. 

But the main reason for my low rating is the victim-blaming. If I hadn’t known the full story before going into this book, I probably would have thought that Shannan Watts had murdered Chris, not the other way around. The author seemed to really dislike Shannan, and I was horrified at the amount of victim-blaming present throughout the book, especially the first half.

Riveting, chilling, gripping. All words that perfectly describe this book. The writing is so smooth that you get completely engrossed in it and only put it down once you have finished it.

Although this case is undoubtedly fascinating and horrifying, I wasn't really impressed by this true crime book exploring the case. 

It was easy enough to read and follow, but it read just little snippets of information right after another without anything piecing it together. It's unclear as to whether the author found these quotes and pieces of information through other sources or through his own interviews.  While some of me appreciated the fact that the author didn't impose himself into the telling of this story, I did feel like there was hole missing this book where the author should have pieced together information more.  

I also wished that it would have explored the psychology of Chris Watt's more and perhaps the effects of the the "Thrive" drug he was using and how it could have affected him. 

An interesting read for sure,  but it just left me wanting to know more.

Chris Watts and his annihilation of his family was headline news for quite some time here in North Carolina when in happened in 2018, so I knew that eventually I'd be reading some sort of expose on the details of a crime that was shocking in its out of left field depravity. John Glatt's account, The Perfect Father, is the first of those that I've come across. It's a strange combination of a book that is incredibly distressing but tough to turn away from. It's the literary equivalent of "rubbernecking" when driving by accidents on the highway. We have a horror for what's happened, but also an innate need to know the hows and whys. 

Glatt's account worked for me insofar as it was just a simple recounting of the facts as they were: Chris and Shanann's childhoods, how they met, their marriage, and their decision to have children. Glatt also does a fine job contrasting the "perfect" life that the couple portrayed on social media with the problems behind the scenes (bankruptcy, a tendency to continually live above their means, and marital issues that Chris seemed incapable of vocalizing or confronting.) Post-murder, many of their social circle and even Shanann's own family had trouble correlating the reality to the idyllic social media portrayals, describing Chris as "the perfect father" and "a good man." While Glatt's account doesn't drive us completely to that elusive "why" answer, this is more likely because Chris Watts himself seems confused as to why and has continually changed and lied about the events. 

Recommended for true crime enthusiasts, with a warning that the description of the murder and aftermath is incredibly disturbing. Watts' crime was beyond description, and it was made even more horrendous by his cowardly attempts to accuse Shanann of a hand in it during his interrogation. This case is unfortunately one of the more graphic reminders that in the age of social media we are all mythmakers, and sometimes the truths hiding behind that veneer are too terrible to believe.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press**

This book is a must read for all true crime fans. It was researched well, and included a lot of details. 

The Perfect Father is divided into three parts...
Part I covers the early lives of Chris and Shanann Watts, their seemingly perfect marriage, and the births of their two daughters, Bella and Celeste. 
Part II of the book is where things start getting darker... Chris and Shanann start having marital problems, and Chris starts his affair with coworker Nikki Kessinger.
Part III dives into the horrifyingly heartbreaking details of the August 13 murders and the events that followed, all leading up to his eventual confession.

Back in 2008, I remember hearing about this horrific event. Since then, I have listened to multiple podcast episodes on what happened. Despite my previous knowledge of the murders, The Perfect Father was written in a way that maintained my attention the entire time. It's a highly emotional read due to the facts presented, but also with the way the author chose to write the book. Unlike a lot of true crime books I have read that are just straight facts, John Glatt incorporates quotes into his narrative, which helps to enhance the emotion in the book. 

While I did really enjoy the book, and gave it a deserved five star rating, I did have two critiques of the book:
- Glatt's descriptions of Shanann's personality felt kind of victim blamey - She is described as controlling and as having the more dominant personality between the two, which may have been an accurate depiction, but it just felt kind of gross. I feel as though the author could have done a better job at portraying Shanann accurately without making readers feel sympathetic towards Chris. 
- Nikki Kessinger isnt included in much of Part III - Although the book is primarily about Chris, I would have liked to have heard more about the mistress after Chris has been arrested. Investigators say they dont believe she was involved, but I would have liked to have seen more of an explanation as to why they felt that way. She does cooperate with police, but I didnt feel like they wrapped up her aspect of the story.

Overall, it was a deeply emotional read, and I would highly recommend it to all crime junkies out there.

This is a thoroughly researched book and I felt that the author did a great job of telling the story without over-sensationalizing the murder which can happen when you have a true crime type story. I was very interested and was happy that I got the opportunity to read it

Well written, thoroughly horrifying story of what a father did to his family.  This one will give me nightmares.

This is an excellent piece of true crime writing.
The author provided and researched well rounded background for all parties involved. 
I’ll be honest, prior to reading this, I really knew nothing about Shannan, only that she and her daughters and unborn son were brutally murdered.
But there is a Shannan that the public maybe wasn’t privy to, and I felt almost guilty for feeling at times like she was a not what I thought. Because you don’t speak Ill of the dead. However, she was seemingly controlling, aggressive, bad with money. 
I was surprised that she cut Chris off from his family. 

All of that being said, Chris Watts is a steaming pile of you know what. I don’t care what nice things you can dig up, and there were many people in this book who arrested to his inherent kindness prior to this horrendous act, but none of that matters.

What matters is what he did that night he snuffed out his entire family. 

There was no sleep for me when I started reading this book, I had to keep reading, I couldn’t put it down. Five stars from me.
Well researched and well written.

Family annihilators, more than most other criminals, confound me. Why did Chris Watts kill his whole family? Why not just get a divorce? After killing his family, why didn't he kill himself?

The Perfect Father doesn't seek to answer these questions. What it does is lay out clearly and methodically everything that occurred before, during, and after the murders. Shanann had a carefully curated social media presence, and her husband couldn't stop texting, so there was a lot of documentation for the author to sift through. 

I'm giving this 4 stars. The book was an interesting and educational read, and I'll recommend it to true crime fans. I guess I wanted more of the WHY, beyond statements about Shanann being bossy. Maybe that's not fair, because, maybe it's not possible to know. At any rate I'll be looking up John Glatt's other books.