American Black Widow

Title: American Black Widow
Author: Gregg Olson
Publisher: Thread Books
Release Date: July 13, 2023
Page Count: 370
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

Sharon Lynn Douglas Fuller Nelson Harrelson was a woman most men found attractive and exciting, while women tended to dislike her, feeling she was looking for a man, any man, preferably one with money. "Sharon wore her hair long, her dresses tight, her blouses unbuttoned one notch lower than a woman in her position likely should. [...] Sharon Fuller sauntered like a woman who held no doubt that all men watched her every move." 

Sharon married a preacher, a doctor and a fireman, killing two of them and leaving a wide swath of destruction behind her. She alienated children from their fathers, wrung almost the last dollar from anyone involved with her, convinced a man (twice) to murder for her, and almost got away with it. 

Where this book really shines is in all the very salacious details. We get a pretty good breakdown on Sharon's marriages, numerous lovers, a laundry list of various illegal activities, etc. And it's a pretty engrossing tale which definitely holds your interest. 

However, we never really get any insight into her psyche - Sharon is the queen of the self-serving statement, and given that she pled guilty to the murders of her second and third husbands, there was no trial, no expert witnesses to analyze her. We are left with Sharon's protestations (paraphrased by Olsen) that "she didn't do anything wrong. Not a damn thing. This was a free country. She was an American, for God's sake. She was misunderstood. She made bad choices, but she wasn't a murderer." 

After 370 pages of endless details and second-hand observations, without a thorough analysis, the story reads like a regurgitation of facts with little insight. IMHO. 3 stars. 

I received an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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 : Beneath the Oil (K9 Book #2)

Title: Two Face : Beneath the Oil (K9, Book #2)

Author: Nick van der Leek 

Publisher: A Shakedown Title 

Release Date: October 1, 2018 

Genre(s): Family Killer, Filicide 

Page Count: 119 

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 

Read book blurb here

This is the second in a quickly-written series of books about the Watts family murders, and again while many of the basic facts are incorrect - given that the book was published less than two months after the murder -  many of the author's musings are very insightful. 

The author tends to toss out several larger theories (Becker's theory of identity for example), and then winnows down to bits and pieces that pertain to the Watts family.  If you are a fan of this style of writing (which I personally am), you will probably be willing - as I was - to wait to see how this all relates.  Otherwise, you may find the whole series somewhat off-putting.

But having said that, I am fascinated by the way the author puts forward some very concise nuggets of wisdom. He compared Chris Watts to Scott Peterson in that they share the same persona : "the strong, silent charisma, which cast a temporary spell on Shan'ann and Laci - until it didn't."  Each kept up appearances until "these women were trapped in a lie they themselves were breathing life into, and it was the death of them."  It's the eventual heartbreak where "marriage is a reality check, especially if your marriage is founded on a fairy tale." 

The author also gives us a blow-by-blow account of a horrendous Christmas video with Chris as Santa and their two daughters sobbing in fear .... as Shan'ann continuing to film for 15 minutes cajoling them to sit on Santa's lap and smile for the camera. It's beyond sad and very telling in how Shan'ann's tone-deaf desire for that "fairy tale" moment is such a gut-punch for Chris and their family.

3.5 stars, and I'm moving on to the next book in the series, which is currently available on Kindle Unlimited, FYI. 

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.