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  • The Perfect Father

  • The True Story of Chris Watts, His All-American Family, and a Shocking Murder
  • Written by: John Glatt
  • Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
  • Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (31 ratings)

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The Perfect Father

Written by: John Glatt
Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
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Publisher's Summary

In the early morning hours of August 13, 2018, Shanann Watts was dropped off at her Frederick, Colorado, home by a colleague after returning from a business trip. It was the last time anyone would see her alive. By the next day, Shanann and her two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, had been reported missing, and her husband, Chris Watts, was appearing on the local news, pleading for his family's safe return. 

But Chris Watts already knew that he would never see his family again. Less than 24 hours after his desperate plea, Watts made a shocking confession to police: He had strangled his pregnant wife to death and smothered their daughters, dumping their bodies at a nearby oil site. Heartbroken friends and neighbors watched in shock as the movie-star handsome, devoted family man they knew was arrested and charged with first degree murder. 

The perfect mask Chris had presented to the world in his TV interviews and the family's Facebook accounts was slipping - and what lay beneath was a horrifying image of instability, infidelity, sexual ambivalence, and boiling rage. 

In this first major account of the case, best-selling author and journalist John Glatt reveals the truth behind the tragedy and constructs a chilling portrait of one of the most shocking family annihilator cases of the 21st century.

©2020 John Glatt (P)2020 Tantor

What listeners say about The Perfect Father

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

blaming the victim

this book basically blames Shannan for her own death. I have never been so disgusted by a book. I have nothing left to say except this book will leave a bad taste in your mouth. shame on the author

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book for anyone interested in this case

I thought the British narration was great- I prefer it over an American accident; even tho it’s an American crime. Great story without too much unnecessary information or dwelling on certain aspects of the case.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Riveting

Excellently read. I felt like I had a better understanding of the dynamic of the marriage

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book

Overall I give this book a 4/5 and would have given it a 5/5 but there were a few bits of info that were inaccurate!!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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  • sd
  • 2020-07-27

Interesting if you are unfamiliar with story

Distracting narration in English accent doesn't connect with the narrative. Not very engaging as plot divulged in the introduction .I kept rewinding as I would drift off. Flat and boring with an abrupt ending.

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  • jill greeson
  • 2020-07-23

Disappointing

If you want to hear the same old facts and learn absolutely nothing new being read to you in the most irritating voice ever, then get this book . If not, pass this one by.

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30 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2020-12-21

Victim shaming is a thing now?

This book is disgusting. I have followed this story and if you’re new to it, it totally tries to lead the reader/listener to believe that Chris was the shy, nice, quiet guy and shanann this bossy woman who was dominate and took control of the relationship and came between him and his family? when in reality, Chris’s mother and sister and every female he gravitated towards WAS the one in control, he didn’t know how to think for himself. Chris killed his pregnant wife and daughters for a woman he met 6 weeks prior, is it impossible to think he’d cut his family off if they got in the way of him and Shanann? Truth is she was a bossy b#%<h while Chris was just a B^%#h. If you want to get a honest and real insight into this story then you should read “My daddy is a hero.” Really gives you a better insight into Chris, mental illness, and gives you a lot more to think about than this crap. Hey audible, can I get a refund? You can have this garbage.

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25 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Terri Thomas
  • 2020-07-27

Horrible narrative!! I can’t understand him

You can’t understand the narrator! His accent is way to strong ! It makes it really hard to get into story

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18 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • BG
  • 2020-07-22

Crikey!

Why is an Aussie narrating this? I don't have anything against Aussies, but it just seems off-kilter to my American ears.

The gist of the story is: she was a domineering workaholic, and he was this meek little subservient trophy husband. I know this because the story repeats this again and again and again and again and AGAIN.

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18 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • linz
  • 2021-01-02

Very Very Biased

All this book was about was shaming the victim and trying to make the person who MURDED HIS WHOLE FAMILY the victim.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Jeanette
  • 2020-07-24

just a chronological order of the Chris Watts case

if you are unfamiliar with the Chris Watts case, this is an excellent book for you. It presents all the happenings in order. What is in the book is all public knowledge and obtainable from the discovery documents. The book is well written but I personally did not care for the “reader” of this book, way too strong of an accent for an American murder story. Would I suggest this book for purchase? yes if you are unfamiliar with the case and no if you are like me already know all the details, there is nothing new to learn in this book.

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Ashlyn Taylor
  • 2020-10-28

Many facts I didn't know

If you want to know a lot of facts missing from all the youtube channels this is the book for you. It fills in a lot of the gaps. A must read

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6 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Gail Stanley
  • 2020-10-26

Dull

Puts me to sleep! The narrator sounds like he’s reading the newspaper out loud, over tea and crumpets.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Snorlax
  • 2021-03-15

The case discovery in story format

It’s good. I liked it. A lot of us read the discovery and are looking for more. This was good to hear everything in chronological order and story format. Even if you know everything on the case it’s still an engaging story.
The only thing that bothered me was ‘Shanann walked into her office after she got home at 1:42am to buy hair care products but her card was denied.’ Come on Glatt! We all know that was a reoccurring purchase on autopay! Why didn’t you think first? Research and then research again when writing a book. That’s just lazy on your part. Who’s going to Get home, tired and exhausted and think ‘Oh yeah. I need to buy hair care products at 2am!!?’
The heavy British accent was ok. I finally adjusted to it. I think publishing companies need to be better at picking narrators though. Clear and concise please. It was better than that robot who read the other watts book though. The Lena-daddy-is-a-hero One. So that was a plus.
He also went with Chris’ version of things which we all know we can’t trust. The autopsy showed Shanann didn’t fight back at all which is common for strangulation or suffocation deaths while sleeping. The coward killed her in her sleep.
I would recommend it. It’s a good listen and if you don’t know the case, it’s a good introduction despite a few minor errors.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Kylen Spears
  • 2021-10-16

Very good book! Not so good narrator

This book is heavy! I knew what happened going into it, but once I heard what he did to his daughters, I had to stop reading and pick it back up the next day. Having a kid of my own really hit home for me. Overall, this book is very well written. The ONLY con I guess I could say is that the narrators voice isn’t my favorite. But it’s a great read!

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2 people found this helpful

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  • IGanalysecomportementale
  • 2023-06-17

Amazing!

The most detailed document I could find so far on Watts becoming a murderer. Thank you to the author!

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