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.

On August 13th, 2018, 15-weeks pregnant Shanann Watts and her two daughters - Bella, 4 and Celeste 3 - went missing. Concerns were raised by friends and family and a search party was held. However, the search led to no new discovery. Later on, Christ Watts, was asked to do a polygraph test in which he failed, and he eventually confessed to the murders of his family. Chris was arrested, convicted and is now serving five life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus 84 years.

To be honest, I heard about this case but did not follow it. So, this book provides a lot of information that is new to me. I liked how it covers background information of the family and all the events that led to the confession and incarceration of Chris Watts. It certainly has the width of the case but I feel it lacks the depth. Compared to other true crime books I've read, this book is considered on the lighter side. Chapters are short, with short paragraphs and a lot of dialogues. I wish that there were a lot more information on the psychology or investigations part of the case.

Nonetheless, this is one tragic case of family annihilation which should not be forgotten or ignored. It reminds me of the Scott Peterson and John List cases which were crimes of the same type. This is my first book from John Glatt and I honestly did not know that he has written many other true crime books. Overall, it is still a good true crime book to read if you are new to this case or want a lighter true crime book.


Pub. Date: 21 July, 2020

***Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this gifted e-copy in exchange for an honest review. All views expressed in this review are my own and was not influenced by the author, publisher or any third party.***

Wow. Heartbreaking, disturbing, unforgivable read. I didn't know what to expect going into this one. I related to it all to well.

The Perfect Father is a phenomenal read. I followed this case from day one and was in aww of the events that took place. This book show the tremendous amount of emotions that each family went thru. I couldn't put it down. AMAZING READ!

This is the second John Glatt book I've read, and one of the things I really like about his writing is that he does an excellent job of taking all the information and presenting it in a very linear, factual way. He doesn't necessarily bring a lot of new, undisclosed information to the table, so if you are looking for sensationalism you won't find it here. . Whether you know a little or a lot about the horrific deaths of Shanann Watts and her children, you will be moved and horrified by the details in this book.

Beautifully written

True story of a husband who killed his pregnant wife and two little girls

A guy who seems so perfect, a family who looked perfect on social media...

If true crime makes you flip those pages and can’t sleep at night, read this.

This is my first John Glatt and I have a feeling it won't be my last. Glatt writes without an agenda and gives a blow by blow, almost minute by minute retelling of the case. The amount of research and detail included in this book was almost overwhelming. Glatt put his own voice aside to allow the voices of the family, the victims, and the assailant ring true.

This case is particularly harrowing and close to home.

One of the best true crime books I have recently read. This case received a lot of publicity at the time and this book by John Glatt gives you a detailed in-depth look at exactly what happened as far as the police investigation is concerned. As to whether the confession is a true portrayal by Watts is open to dispute. He has changed his story a few times, and only he knows the truth. A truly terrifying, and tragic story, well told. I enjoyed reading the folding drama, even though I already knew the outcome.

A chilling read about the Chris watts case. I remember following this case at the time and was horrified. This detailed book outlines the case in a clear and concise way.

I have been waiting and waiting for this book to come out, so I flew through it, and boy, did it deliver! I did know some about this case before going in, but this book puts it straight forward from the beginning of the Watt's relationship to the horrifying end. You do not need to know anything going in, as the author spells it all out without the use of non-essential information. I really enjoyed "fluff-free" the writing and the way he has the chapters broken up. There is a whole list of other books by this author in the back that I will be working my way through!!

Make sure you catch this one in July 2020!

Thank you to #NetGalley, St. Martin's and the author for an eARC (that I so desperately wanted) in exchange for an honest review.

I remember hearing about this case as it unfolded and it was absolutely devestating when it came out that Chris Watts was responsible for the death of his entire family. I was already familiar with the case and was hoping to get more insight into it, which I did get at the beginning with the early years of both Chris and Shannan. At the beginning the book almost felt sympthetic towards Chris, but as the book went on it was evident that it was just giving all of the information that we may not have had before. After reading the book, I don't feel like I understand the case any better, but I don't know that it will ever be possible without Chris Watts telling someone exactly what happened and not changing his story. I felt terrible reading the story and thinking about his own parents trying to process what this person they raised, who was a "good guy" buy all accounts, did. The book was difficult to read in places and isn't for the faint of heart, but if you find true crime interesting I definitely recommend this book to you.

This book is a good overall look at this case. It does a good job of covering everything from their lives to after sentencing. Unfortunately it also seems to do a bit of victim blaming when describing Shanann.

I do wish it could have had more insight into Chris but that isn't the authors fault as you can only work with what information is available and Chris isn't telling the truth.

As I didn't follow this case in the news I was happy to read this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy for my honest review.

The family annihilator. A crime which is so inconceivable to the population at large, and yet occurs with an alarming regularity in households across the US. The Perfect Father chronicles the events that led to Chris Watts murdering his pregnant wife and two young daughters in 2018. The book is split into three parts: the story of the Watts’ marriage and the birth of the two girls; the summer leading up to the murders; and the murders and their aftermath.

Frankly, although interesting, this was a pretty disappointing read, for a number of reasons. To start with, the writing style was very staccato and disjointed. The information was given in short bursts, usually with about 4-5 paragraphs at a time before a paragraph break, which led the chapters to be organized without a lot of deliberation or meaning. Furthermore, there simply wasn’t a lot of the author’s voice coming through the narrative, because everything was told in quotes. Glatt certainly did his homework, collecting a wide array of first-hand evidence through Shannann’s Facebook posts, texts to friends, emails, and interviews with friends and family members, and The Perfect Father is more a collection and summary of that evidence rather than a true narrative. Probably at least 50% of the book is simply, “On this date, Shannann posted a Facebook Live video that depicted Chris interacting with the girls in this way. She captioned it, ‘Chris is such a wonderful father, I’m so lucky to have him!’” or, “Shannnann texted so-and-so, ‘I am having this problem with Chris,’ and the friend texted back, ‘Wow, you are so right! He is not doing good enough for you.’” Another 30% is just quotes from other sources.

To expand on this a little more, I was disappointed that Glatt didn’t bring in any outside information. It seemed that throughout the book he was attempting to use these disjointed quotations to give us some idea of why Chris Watts killed his family, but he never gave any information about what psychologists say about family annihilators, the rate of occurrence of family annihilators, or how Watts compares to other criminals. Beyond just the things that would enhance the story of the crime, there were also key elements of the story that could have used a more thorough explanation but were never given it—primarily, Thrive, the multi-level marketing scheme that Shannann was part of. It featured prominently throughout the book, but Glatt never bothered to take a paragraph or two to explain exactly what it was. In addition, there was a point at which Watts’ affair partner mentioned that he always wore two Thrive patches, although he admitted you were only supposed to wear one at a time; Glatt didn’t bother presenting any research to see if the Thrive products could have had a negative influence on Watts’ psyche, or what the double patches could have done to the chemicals in his body and brain. I’m not trying to imply that I think this is what caused him to commit his crimes, but that I think Glatt did his readership a serious disservice by sticking strictly to quotations and details related directly to the case, rather than exploring the crime a little further.

Another huge, glaring issue for the entire first half of the book is the amount of victim-blaming. As I said previously, it seems as though Glatt is trying to explain what would cause “the perfect father” to commit such a crime, but this unfortunately becomes 150+ pages of victim-blaming. Glatt goes on and on about how Chris resented the marriage, how Shannann was domineering and controlling, and how she overreacted to things and pushed his family away and how she made him feel like he was walking on eggshells around her, as well as how he resented how active Shannann was on social media. Newsflash! There are plenty of people who are unhappy in their marriage, and they don’t murder their spouses and children. When you go into the book, you know that he murders his two young children, and there is simply no marriage that is so unhappy that would cause a person to do such a thing—that requires something fundamentally broken in your psyche. It also rang very hollow because many of the friends and family quoted said that they thought Chris and Shannann were a perfect couple. The quotes almost always say completely positive things about Shannann, but the little narrative that Glatt inserts implies that she was horrible and that is was only natural that Chris eventually turned against her.

In the same vein, I think there was a lot of slut-shaming towards Chris Watts’ affair partner, and just shaming in general. Somehow, Glatt got ahold of the affair partner’s Google search history, and uses it at several points to paint her character in a very poor light. At one point, he says that the partner spent time before a date looking up information about anal sex and that she watches pornography. There is absolutely zero justification for this. It is not relevant to the murders, it is not relevant to Watts’ actions, it does not shed any sort of light on Watts’ mindset at this time. There is no reason to publish this except to shame Watts’ partner. After Watts is charged with the murders, Glatt portrays the partner as completely self-serving and says that her Google searches show that she looked up information about an affair partner of another family annihilator writing a book about the experience and the public perception of that woman. Again, this does nothing but shame Watts’ partner. Glatt’s treatment of this woman was absolutely disgusting.

Glatt also does not explain how he came about his information. I am not sure if this will be included or not in the final edition, since it seems a very glaring oversight for such a book, but in the advanced readers’ copy I read, it was not included at all. Primarily, I would like to know how Glatt obtained phone records and the search history of Watts’ affair partner, especially since it seems that he continued to have access to these even after the sentencing or when the information would have been relevant to the crime (as I said, he detailed a Google search that the affair partner made after Watts’ arrest, which tells me that this information was not part of the case against Watts and was obtained elsewhere).

Finally, Glatt does not explore the nuance of this case. The scenario he presents as the “truth” is the version that Watts tells investigators when they visit him in prison in 2019, although he later gave a different version. There was a lot of speculation in this case about when the girls were killed—before their mother arrived home, or after their mother was murdered—but Glatt doesn’t go into this at all and presents Watts second version events as truth, while not acknowledging the uncertainty of these events.

Altogether, there were a lot of glaring issues with The Perfect Father. I think it could have benefited a lot from a different narrative style—maybe an alternating chapters style, where one chapter describes the events leading up to the murders, and the next describes after the murders, when police are trying to get to the bottom of it. I think it could have used a lot more narration, and that Glatt could have done a better job painting the picture of life with the Watts. However, I think the story could have benefited the most from having a more sympathetic and kind author, who didn’t blame the women of this story for their own misfortunes, when the story should have been about the monster that is Christopher Watts.

Written by John Glatt, a true crime writer and journalist, this books is a riveting, chilling account of the cold-blooded murders of Shannan Watts and her two beautiful daughters by her own husband, Christopher.

The book is very well-investigated and detailed account of the murders that shook the world.

However, the writing style is not very fascinating and also the slandering of the victim in the initial chapters kind of felt unwarranted.

This book is definitely not for the faint-hearted and the graphic descriptions of the murders will give many people nightmares for quite a long time.

Read at your own risk!

I don’t really want to rate this book because I can’t think of it as a story to give any sort of stars to but since the review needs it here goes..

P.S will post a review on my IG page @Thetravellerofpages in a few days.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

Ok, I slept on this book, thought about it awhile, and then came back to write this review. John Glatt’s “The Perfect Father” is well written. It is thoroughly researched and doesn’t have that “ripped from the headlines” feel of other true crime books. The descriptors made the book feel like a work of fiction, easy to read and follow while informing the reader and holding their interest. HOWEVER- and this however was huge-this book has a lot of victim blaming, If you didn’t know anything about the case, you would honestly feel that Shanann Watts was the bad guy. That really turned me off.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy of The Perfect Father in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really loved this book!! It had so many twists and turns. It kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next!! This was my first book by this Author, and it won’t be the last!! Quick read!! Highly recommended!! You won’t be disappointed!!

5 stars
This is an extremely well-written book regarding the tragic murders of Shannan, Bella, Celeste and Nico Watts committed by their husband and father Chris Watts.
The author John Glatt did not sensationalize the story but relayed it as it really happened. He wrote each individual in this horrific tragedy for who they really were/are. I still have questions though regarding Watt's girlfriend and childhood upbringing.
I remember when this all played out in the media about two years ago, I recall wondering why Chris Watts would annihilate his family. I still wonder, it is all so unfathomable. Watts has given so many explanations for what happened that day and none of them are very believable.
I recommend this book to anyone who sees this kind of thing online or on the news and wonders why and how a seemingly normal family man could murder his whole family.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. The views given are my own.