The Perfect Father

This book was eerie and full-on creepy!

Chris and Shannan Watts were like most families - hard-working, raising two daughters, and they seemed to have everything going for them. So why did he then turn around and murder his pregnant wife and two young daughters? Shannan had a thriving business and was working to better their lives, although the family was deep in debt. Everything they had was nice, and the price tags that went with it were not small. They had declared bankruptcy once already and were in the process of being sued by their HOA for non-payment of dues. When Shannan came home from her business trip, she was hoping to spend the next weekend with her husband, working on their marriage. But Chris had other plans.

Chris Watts made himself the number 1 suspect through his actions and words on the day that his family disappeared. Throughout the entire process, he was withdrawn, and seemingly unaffected by their disappearance. He was even planning to continue going to work, he said, to keep his mind busy. He did not act like the husband and father of three missing people. He was still talking to his girlfriend on the phone, cleaned the entire house, and spent time giving interviews to new stations instead of looking for his family. But he didn't need to look - he knew exactly where they were.

This book, was hard for me to read. As a mother, cases with children are always hard to get through, but I wanted to read more about this one. I cried through the scene where he talks about how he smothered his children, and then disposed of them in the oil tanks. I was angry when he very calmly talked about how he had eradicated his entire family - without a single thought to the many lives that he was going to destroy in the process. I was livid when he tried to blame the deaths of the two little girls on his wife.

I loved and hated this book. I hated the reason it was written, but I enjoyed diving into the content and looking at what made this mild-mannered man snap and murder four people.

I received an ARC copy of this book to read and review. My opinions are my own.

As sad as the story of Chris Watts is, I found the book read like People Magazine, full of quotes from Facebook statuses. There was no more investigation there than what anyone could watch on YouTube on the case. Disappointing.

I like the way the writer tells you in detail about the lives of Chris and Shannan Watts. The details of the case have been seen in documentaries. In some of these documentaries, Shannan is portrayed as very innocent, which came out of the blue. I am not saying that Shannan deserves this, and please do not misinterpret what I am saying. Marriage is work. There needs to be compromises and conversations, which must be based on truth. It takes two for the relationship to work.

This marriage started rocky from the moment the in-laws clashed, and there were a few times on everyone's part to make the family dynamic work. Shannan had a strong personality and liked the control, which she admitted. Shannan does talk several times and reflects on her responsibility in the relationship, but it seems that Chris had made up his mind that the only way out was by death. It is still incomprehensible why the little girls he loved so much had to die. They were innocent. This couple was constantly in front of the cameras, claiming perfection and marital bliss. Did they lose their sense of identity and not see the conflicts? Only the Watts know, and as Chris told his parents, he will take to the grave the truth of what happened.
Cases that I can think that have some similarities: Scott Peterson and Diane Downs.: extramarital affairs and the desire of a new start without their children. (less) [edit]