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.

I have been a mystery and then a true crime reader for as long as I can remember. I was glad when NetGalley, St. Martin's press and John Glatt gave me the chance to read The Perfect Father in exchange for an honest review.
I knew some about the Chris Watts case from the media but, not the whole story. John Glatt does a great job of presenting all parties very fairly. Shanann was very driven, maybe a perfectionist and Chris was very easy to get along with and let Shanann take control of their marriage and lives. Everything was great until Chris just decided he wanted someone else. The author shares insight from interviews, social media and friends and family as he writes the story of a family coming to a tragic end. I took note of the list of the authors other works at the end of this book and will be reading more of his works. Great book about a horrible tragedy.

Although I consume a great deal of true crime media, I went into this book only knowing the basics of the case: that Chris Watts had murdered his pregnant wife, Shanann, and their two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, likely in order to start a new life with his mistress. While definitely a difficult topic to read about, I felt like this book gave a factual, to-the-point account of the entire case that was hard to put down.

The author begins with both Chris and Shanann Watts' early lives and then walks the reader through their evolving relationship, the murders, the investigation and the court proceedings. Shanann and Chris were two very different people and this book didn't sugarcoat either of their flaws. Shanann was the more dominant personality, but to everyone who knew them, the relationship seemed to work. Chris didn't appear bothered by their dynamic and he appeared to be a great dad who doted on his daughters. Even by Shanann's account, they were very much in love until she left for 5 weeks to visit family and came back to a distant, changed husband. This led to her suspicions that Chris was having an affair and a short time later, Chris would murder Shanann and their children.

I think that what is so horrifying about this case is that someone who seems to the outside world to be such a "perfect" dad and husband can end up committing such heinous crimes, seemingly without any warning.

The book ends with a brief account of Chris' new life in prison, but more interestingly, details the lasting effects on not only the family, but the investigators and prosecutors who worked on the case.

Definitely an interesting read for fans of true crime.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, author John Glatt, and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book looks into the lives of the Watt's family, who appear perfectly happy and blessed with a beautiful house, nice vehicles, and two going on three beautiful children. But on the inside is a family going through tumulous times with bankruptcy and an unfaithful spouse.

Shannan uses her Facebook to promote a product called Thrive and has a very upbeat, perky personality. Her husband Chris is more of an introvert and gladly lets her be the boss of the household for several years.

Then he suddenly realizes he is unhappy in his marriage and cheats on her. Rather than getting the divorce most couples do at this point, he sneaks around for as long as he can and then decides he would be better off without his family. He then proceeds to coldly murder his family and denies any involvement for quite some time.

I felt physically ill reading what he did to his two little girls, who he supposedly "loved to the moon and back", but that did not prevent him from taking desperate measures for what he thought would be a better life with his girlfriend. I do not really feel like Shannan deserved this either of course, but it seems like she really pushed his buttons to the breaking point. Reading this book, I thought an episode about this case should appear on the TV series "Snapped".

I remember this case well and the photos of this family left you thinking how could this be when they looked so perfect? He looked like a perfectly nice, normal guy, but I've read enough true crime novels to realize a lot of these murderers appear to be quite physically attractive.

I thought it was kind of stupid Shannan's family sued Chris for $6 million dollars. It is not going to bring their daughter/sister back and Chris has already signed over his rights to his father-in-law from the estate, so unless he writes a book and makes a ton of money, I doubt he'll ever make that type of money since he is serving life in prison.

This was indeed a very hard book to read, but it was so full of information in the way that I didn't expect it. It all started as a normal, everyday family. We got glimpses of Chis and Shannan before their marriages, so we could learn something about their individual personalities and lives. Everything was so detailed and so full of other people's views of them and their life.

Thw writing and the pacing were really sutable to the subject, it was written with equal mention of both of their characters and descriptions of their personality. The fact that intrigued me the most was how we chronologically followed their lives up to that moment that ruined their family. We got to see everything unfold and the tragic consequences of the decisions that were made. This also seems to be a very researched book and the author really did take his time to learn all the facts from multiple sources to present this story in the most realistic light.

This was the first ever true crime book I read and knowing the outcome, it was difficult to read about their happy life before everything started to fall apart, but this book seems to contain everything you need to know about this event.

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.

This seems to be a well researched and written book about family tragedy that took us all by surprise and shock at the time it happened. It seemed like we watched Shannan’s Facebook videos over and over on an endless loop for days on end with all of the news and news shows. I’m not sure what was so fascinating about the horrific situation, but it was impossible to turn away when it was on, for me anyway. Hoping at first that Shannan and the girls would be found alive, of course. And then the complete horror when they were found. I’ve read many of Glatt’s works which have gotten markedly better over the years, as seen in this book, where he lets the story do the talking. Worth a read even though we know how it comes out. Advanced electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author John Glatt, and the publisher.

A fast-paced and well conveyed true crime story. I read this one in a single afternoon. A must read for fans of true crime.

The details as provided in this narrative are rendered in a succinct, chronological order. The narrative is well written with a few missed proofing errors, but that is expected when reading an uncorrected proof of the story. I was aware of the case when I started the book, but had no recollection of the details, so this narrative was a welcome addition to my reading venue.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Not since the Lacy Peterson case have I been as obessed with crime as much as I was with Chris and Shanann Watts case. Part of the reason was for the same reason I was so deeply invested in the Petersons is because they were so normal. This was a perfectly normal loving family and the question of what led Chris to do what he did .
This book was well researched and well written with no judgement . Once its released I am going to have my book club read this one!

It is all Shannon Watts fault. She was too controlling, always nagging and belittling her husband. She didn’t let him do what he wanted. She separated him from his hometown and family. She had a toxic relationship with them and constantly fought him. She was obsessed with social media and manufactured appearances. Her need for finer things in life put the family in debt again and again and put pressure on her doormat husband. She insisted on having kids when her body had deficiencies and all her kids developed huge health problems, but she kept on getting pregnant. She was highly insecure and craved 24/7 attention from her husband, friends, family, even strangers. She was too focussed on her career. She had OCD. She was too organized. Hell, give me that neck and I’ll strangle her myself!


This is what Glatt believes or wants you to believe in this incredibly surface-level, substance-less, unobjective, straight-from-the-headlines book, where Shannon Watts plays Meghan Markle to Chris Watts’s Prince Harry. The basic problem with it is that Glatt hasn’t really interviewed anyone or done any footwork to gain any insight into Watses, and has simply re-compiled (copy pasted) all info readily available through public records and online data in a serialized chapter format to complete this book. That is fine if you just want to preserve a basic timeline in book format, but not so much if you want answers.

The major ‘source’ available to Glatt is Shannon Watt’s OTT facebook page where she obsessively promoted the ‘Thrive’ supplement benefits by showcasing her affluent lifestyle and health challenges - something all celebs, instagrammers, social media star-wannabes do to make money - procuring a high-end status both she and that supposedly docile yes-man husband enjoyed - posts Glatt quotes and reproduces here infinitum. His other sources are all second-hand and biased and stuck in their relational prisms: media interviews of her parents and brother, his parents and sister, her friends, his friends, her co-workers, his co-workers. Her side supports her, Chris Watts’ side supports him. Everyone is baffled by the sudden, gruesome turn of events. The police records are after-the-fact. No one knows what their vicious quarrels were about, money, sex, behavior, relatives or being sick of each other. Glatt doesn’t try to peel away any mirage, ask any questions about their passive-aggressive actions, beliefs, lives. Actually, it doesn’t look like he spoke to anyone (and even if he did, the result is all what people already know from the news reels, which still boggles readers and viewers). He hasn’t talked to the subject of the title.

That is frustrating because there’s so much to forensically investigate in the murderer and his dysfunctional marriage, not the least the removal of any notion of dignity of human life, let alone one’s own children.

Because let’s be clear; at the end of the day, everyone wants to make sense of a senseless criminal act in a white picket fence lane by an entitled rich white quiet hunky dude who throws it all away one Monday morning for a bit of p——-y.

Maybe all those ‘Thrive’ patches, protein shakes, and obsessive workouts went to his head and changed his brain chemistry?! Maybe he didn’t want to be a single father to two sick kids?! Maybe an argument spiralled into a ‘Fargo’? Why did he come up with a half-baked confession after 10 hours of questioning?! Why did he not ask for a lawyer?! Was Shannon’s blood alcohol level due to drinking or decomposition? Would investigators have figured out the oily burial ground for daughters on their own?! Why didn’t he at least try to plan the murder well? Why didn’t he just walk away?! What really happened?! Who knows?!

The only clear thing is that Chris Watts is a very stupid man, and you don’t need to read this run-of-the-mill book to know that.

I felt sorry for the two sets of parents, Wattses and Rzuceks, forever marked with every wart of their family and children laid bare for public consumption, analysis and ridicule, in books, TV/film, internet, and around water-coolers. And that is Chris Watts’s fault, not Shannon Watts’s.


Observations of An Armchair Detective:

1) On a personal level, I did not understand why Rzuceks needed to file a multi-million dollar civil law suit against Chris Watts. They’d already got hold of the estate and a fund for proper burial. I thought placing a monetary value on their pain and loss was beneath them. Surely, their trust in people and humanity cannot be less than the Wattses, and those unfortunate people cannot even sue anyone.

2) I’m sure I’m not the only one who thought Chris Watts’ letter to their youngest daughter on what would have been her 4th birthday in July 2019 was in bad taste, like this guy had zero self-reflection even after ‘finding god:’ for someone who smothered the girls in blanket and threw them in an oil tank noting how shallow the sound was, to make references to “you wanted to be splashing around,” “you were always flying around,” “you loved all your blankies, you couldn’t go to sleep without two books” - and to keep up a sense of entitlement “I have,” “I love,” “I know,” “I would,” “I miss” - and never once write that he’s sorry or ask for forgiveness. He keeps telling the dead daughter what value she brought to his life, which is sneaky because of the cold hateful ‘I own you’ manner in which he killed, and humiliating way he disposed all off.

3) Nikki Kessinger was smart, got good advice, played her cards well, immediately deleting all evidence of an affair, cutting off contact, calling the police, safeguarding and negotiating her role and future, googling the right things at the right time. My personal favorite: ‘Kessinger googled to see how much money (Amber) Frey had received for her bestselling book Witness: for the Prosecution of Scott Peterson and whether people hated her afterward.’ - this was on the saturday after murders on The Monday, and exactly 6 days since she googled ‘anal sex, double penetration and threesomes’ before her evening romp with Chris Watts, and 2 weeks since she googled ‘wedding dresses.’ Girl knew how to prepare for all eventualities and chapters of her life, and make the most of them. Besides, it’s got to be some ego boost for a guy to snuff out his entire family (and himself) just so he could be with you. Footnote that cast a long shadow.


A few typos:
pg 71: all (of) Shannan’s postings.
pg 101: all (of) Shanna’s old friends
pg107: had (seen) his family
pg 147: He(’s) acting so suspicious
pg 206: put on lockdown to protect him
pg 239: writing from his cell her appeared detached from reality [should not be in italics]
He finished by writing [should not be in italics]
pg 239: he wrote that (he) had already

A tremendous account of the Watts murder case. Mr. Glatt shines a perfect spotlight on the case and everyone involved. I highly recommend this book and learned a lot that I didn't know just by watching the shows about the case and following online.

As an obsessive, I hate to say “fan” of the Chris Watts case...(maybe an obsessive reader of it?) I’ve read every book and internet group about the case. The books have all been pretty decent, but Glatt’s writing style hooks you in to where you not only learn about the case, but feel like you get to know the characters involved in this tragic story with the details he shares and how he shares them. A fascinating book, one where even though you know the sad ending that’s coming, you start to hope for a different outcome even more due to feeling close to the victims involved. Five stars and two thumbs way up.