Two Pollyannas : Beneath the Oil (K9, Book #3)

Title: Two Pollyannas: Beneath the Oil (K9, Book #3)

Author: Nick van der Leek 

Publisher: A Shakedown Title 

Release Date: November 12, 2018 

Genre(s): Family Killer, Filicide 

Page Count: 185 

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 

Read book blurb here

The third in a quickly-written series of books about the Watts family murders, this book contains some interesting commentary and insights into the Watts case.

The author focuses quite a bit on the financial state of the Watts family. Regarding Shan'ann's commitment to selling Thrive: "But to pretend something is working when it's not is something worse than defeat: it's delusion, deception, deceit."

And "We want to shake Shan'ann and say, can't you see what's happening in your life? Can't you see if you don't do something, something terrible to going to happen to you? Please stop. Please just look at your life, for God's sake." 

And finally "Unlike Shan'ann with her pretty patches, his [Chris Watts] work was hard and greasy. He muscled his way through engines, loosening and tightening bolts, making broken things fixed, getting motors to power to their full-blown growling, gutteral potential. And that's why he wanted to do: roar."

Overall, I would give the series so far 3.5 stars, as the author has quite a bit of incorrect information, but does provide an interesting viewpoint on the case as this series of book inexorably pulls us along the awful path to family anihilation.  

Two Face : The Man Underneath Christopher Watts (K9, Book #1)

Title: Two Face : The Man Underneath Christopher Watts 

Author: Nick van der Leek 

Publisher: A Shakedown Title 

Release Date: September 10, 2018 

Genre(s): Spousal Murder, Filicide 

Page Count: 117 

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 

Read book blurb here

Written in the fall of 2018, only a month after the horrendous Watts family murders, the author had a LOT of incorrect information here (the footnotes at the end of the book make some corrections and additions for this edition), yet I found some very worthwhile commentary here about the nature of the Watts' marriage and relationship. 

The author provides some interesting food for thought about the nature of Chris Watts' rage - at a financial crisis looming over the family (a second bankruptcy in 5 years?), a third child coming in a few months, the relationship with Chris' parents torn apart by Shan'ann, the constant camera recording their "perfect life" with Thrive MLM products, etc. 

In contrast to My Daddy is a Hero, where the author spends a great deal of time stressing how no one say this coming, and that Watts was a very nice man that murdered his family out of the blue, van der Leek fairly clearly lays out the contributing factors that drove Watts to murder and they read pretty convincingly. 

There are some off-the-wall conclusions, but there was enough here that I found Two Face a good companion piece to other books I've read about Chris Watts. 3.5 stars.

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

Title: The Perfect Father: The True Story of Chris Watts, His All-American Family, and a Shocking Murder
Author: John Glatt
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: July 21, 2020
Page Count: 304
Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

I was familiar with the Chris and Shanann Watts' murder case prior to reading John Glatt's book "The Perfect Father," and had read another book on the subject. I give Glatt top marks for pulling together all the information into a very readable, cohesive book that does an excellent job of presenting the case without a lot of editorializing.

Some people may have the impression of Shanann as a great mother with a boatload of less-than-desirable traits and qualities, but Glatt gives us a full range of perceptions from family, friends, coworkers and lets us draw our own conclusions. And he gives Chris the same treatment. He also offers up Nichol Kessinger's actions in a similar manner without making any judgment.

My Daddy is a Hero : How Chris Watts Went from Family Man to Family Killer

Title: My Daddy is a Hero: How Chris Watts Went from Family Man to Family Killer
Author: Lena Derhally
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: December 9, 2019
Page Count: 376
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here 

If you aren't familiar with the Chris Watts case in Colorado, mild-mannered, quiet. helpful Chris strangled his pregnant wife and smothered their two daughters (ages 2 and 4) to be with his new love, Nicole.

Chris really was the guy that everyone liked and no one saw this coming. The author details the crime and with her background as a psychologist, she tries to determine if Chris is a sociopath, a malignant narcissist, etc. It really is chilling because Chris - up to until 5-6 weeks before the murder - had never exhibited any signs and his wife truly felt they had a great marriage and were in love. But Chris only mimicked emotions and could callously kill his wife, toss her facedown in a shallow grave and stuff his daughters into a remote oil tank. He stated "I felt nothing for my family."

I liked the book but felt there was a lot of repitition in establishing the pyschological explanation for Chris' acts and the author heavily depends on a book called Letters from Christopher: The Tragic Confessions of the Watts Family Murders that, unfortunately, has since been plagued with charges of plagarism from another true crime author. 3 stars.