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

I’m giving this one star because compared to Cadles book (which deserves zero stars) it shines. I like the way she cited nearly everything in foot notes. I have to admit I got bored beyond comprehension reading another regurgitation of the discovery. Her “analysis” doesn’t start until the last pages of the book. It’s not even interesting- she said in an interview with Scott Reisch that she thinks he’s a communal narcissist. Ok- that’s basically all the information in the book. No dissection of the dynamics of the marriage. No mention of Shanann and how she emasculated Chris in almost all of her videos. I’m sorry but this book is a hard pass. Written by a pretentious woman with a psych degree who never interviewed Chris Watts or his family. She bases all of her opinion on Cadles book (which has ZERO credibility), Chris’ interviews, and his family’s interviews. This book is a farce. Save yourself 20$ and reread the discovery.

My paperback copy arrived early and I read it right away. My Daddy is a Hero is a poignantly written true crime novel unlike any I’ve read before. The author provides an in-depth analysis of the roots of violence and psychology behind Chris Watt’s brutal and merciless slaughter of his two innocent young daughters and pregnant wife with gripping and masterful writing. The author does more than just regurgitate the tale of the Watt’s case facts and confession. She delves deeply into the psyche of Watts and gives the reader an intimate understanding of his shocking and heinous actions and the covert signs of a hidden psychopath.

Wow, I could be a sociopath or psychopath! - I couldn't figure out the difference. Because society is just full of them. And if I'm quiet and laid back and take what my wife dishes out, look out! And if I'm lovey dovey with the kids one day, and irritated and just not watching them like I should the next day, oh my goodness you better call the cops right away! Don't matter if I have any kind of criminal background or history of violence. If all the ingredients of the witches brew are present and has been stirred and cooked in the right way, a monster is about to erupt! And if I showed kindness and affection to my wife, And if I supported her and the kids emotionally and financially and comforted them in their grief and rejoiced with them in their happiness through the years, I might just have "thought" I loved them and had all that time really been pretending. Between this writer and writers like FBI profiler, John Douglas, I just don't have a chance! Because good ole John says ya gotta have some kind of aberrant behavior in your past to determine if you can commit a crime on down the road. So what's a man to do? This writer ensconced in psychological jargon her outlandish theories using such terms as: narcissism, communal narcissism, psychopath, sociopath as to make it appear that what she says is genuine and scientifically sound. And that all her years as a psychotherapist gives credence to her assertions. Similar to racial stereotyping, her theories classifies groups of people based on characteristics that has absolutely no relevance to future behavior. But instead of the color of a person's skin, it is based on present behaviors that may- and I emphasize may- turn into something more sinister. I call it doublespeak. Her book is worse than useless. It assigns negative connotations to people with innocuous behaviors that may give pause to some individuals and may even prejudice some against those displaying these innocent behaviors. The only thing she said remotely hitting the mark is her assertion that we can't classify people. We can't put them into neat little boxes because they are too complex. But that contradicts and nullifies the whole thrust of her book! She is trying to compartmentalize people; she is trying to predict their future behavior based on their present behavior! No she can't. There may be people who turn bad displaying these behaviors, but there may be as many, or more, displaying very different behaviors. As I said before, you're caught between a rock and a hard place. - And all the psychiatric mumbo jumbo does not change the fact that we are all unique.

I’ve followed this case closely for a while now and, like most, have been baffled trying to understand how it could happen. Derhally presents a clear, well organized, and easy to read summary of the case with likely explanations for what kind of person Chris Watts is and the “perfect storm” of events that led up to this. Her information is well researched, with references provided.

When we examine the mask Watt's carefully constructed for himself and his reasons for doing so that had it's roots in childhood it's a likely motive for murder when that mask begins to crumble and the facade is cracked wide open. Our problem with those who present a version of themselves that is untrue is how do we identify it when we largely are attracted to people who we believe have traits that are consistent with what we are looking for in a mate. Are we then complicit in enabling those who hide behind a mask of false traits of helping keep the mask presented by the other in place? How might this have turned out differently with clear and honest communication and what are some of the red flags or signals we can pay attention to that will keep us from harm before we enter into a relationship with individuals who are not honest about who they are? We see what we need to see. The author has explained Chris Watt's behavior, family annihilator, behind the mask from a psychological perspective and has acknowledged that we may never know the complete and honest truth from Watts. But Derhally has offered another piece of the puzzle of why, in a well-thought out and easy-to-read and understand book.

This book was superbly written. It was accurate, informative, emotional and insightful. I’m from the U.K. and first heard about this case back in March 2019 so a little bit behind the majority of people in the United States. I was horrified but also captivated by all the information that came to light and found myself drawn to Shanann, Bella and CeCe’s story. I can safely say they have played a big part in my life since I found out what happened to them and always will.Like so many, I could not understand how such a handsome, devoted, loving father and husband could suddenly switch like this. There are so many different theories out there waiting to be explored by armchair detectives online and people on YouTube but it still didn’t make sense to me.Until this book.Of course the author makes it known that she is not able to provide a definitive answer. She has not met Chris and so far he’s not underwent any psychological evaluations or examinations so all she had to go on was his actions, behaviour, the decisions he made before and after the murders as well as her significant expertise in psychology, relationships, human behaviour and her own experiences as well as interviewing so many experts in varying fields. This was another part of the book I found fascinating.I personally believe the theories she discusses in this book are correct. I couldn’t put the book down and kept limiting myself to reading two chapters at a time so I didn’t race through the book too quickly. I wanted to savour every page and that’s when you know you’ve found a good author.I have now found closure from this case because of this book. I no longer feel that I need to speculate, ruminate or dissect what may have happened to Chris to cause him to commit such heinous crimes anymore because . I found the answers in this here. Everything the author said made reasonable sense to me. Chris didn’t just change overnight. He didn’t simply snap. He didn’t have a psychotic episode or experience demonic possession.He was always who he was. He was born the same person he became but his outward behaviour was extremely covert and difficult for anyone to spot. His “nice guy” persona and his easy going, laid back, quietly introverted gentleman was what everyone in his life perceived him to be, failing to understand or recognise the self-serving, self-gratification that was really going on beneath the surface from him behaving in such a way.Please read the book to understand fully and then you can make your own judgements. All I can say is this book helped me find my own conclusion. I can’t say I’ll never read or watch anything again regarding this case, it’s far too compelling to simply forget all about it and I truly believe that so much can be learnt from this horrific tragedy which the author explores as well.However, I found my answers and for that I want to thank the author. I’ll always cherish this book and it was a beautiful and respectful honour in memory of Shanann, Bella, CeCe and Nico.I hope the Rzucek’s find the strength to read this one day. Of course it will not erase their pain but it might be able to provide them with certain answers they might need and more insight into the man they trusted to take care of their daughter.A man who was in fact a complete stranger to them.Superb piece of writing. Please buy it.

This case has fascinated me since I first saw "that" lovely family photo and thought, "He looks too happy and loved-up to have done that, surely ?" A lovely-looking, happy little family......we just never know, do we ? I even thought he wasn't as shifty as people kept saying when I saw THAT interview with him, either.......probably because I was being shallow and just got taken in by how good-looking and quietly spoken he was. I always suspect most people straightaway of the worst transgressions but I just couldn't see it.......however, I do feel somewhat vindicated after reading this book and learning that nobody, nobody who knew him had a clue.......nobody saw it coming, let alone poor Shannan. It was such a godawful tragedy and such a needless one. The title of the book is heartbreaking in itself and speaks volumes......It was shocking to read that those close to them would've had Shannan down as being unfaithful before the thought of Chris playing away.....I was highly irritated to read it was Tammy Lee, the polygraph expert, that first suggested to Chris that Shannan might've killed the babies so he killed her, because he went right from an interview with HER into the meeting with his father that was recorded, where he fed him just that load of old guff !! I was shocked to learn the actual truth of the murders. I'd always had it in my head he killed Shannan and then the girls at home.....the truth was far, far worse.Turns out Nikki, Chris' affair was a liar, too. She was caught out by her internet searches......they never learn, do they ? She made me smile when she stated how much she and he had in common cos' after looking up her photo, the biggest thing in common I could see was how much like Shannan she looked !! Nitwit.I was fascinated to hear what the police said to Chris regarding his Alexa device being trained to pick up distress !! I Googled this and it seems another chap online was intrigued at the same sentence he overheard in the actual recording and he did some in-depth investigation too ! I didn't understand how Chris was charged with 5 counts of first-degree murder and it wasn't explained, either.Some of the psychobabble in this goes on a bit too much and I just didn't see most of it pertaining that much to Chris myself.....he did make one remark nobody ever much picked up on.....about hanging pictures. Now THAT I found fascinating myself ! So how does this feature in among all the differing diagnoses featured ?? He didn't give many reasons at all for what he did so I'd have expected more to be made of that little comment. Yet we're told a lot about psychopaths and narcissists and he didn't really fall into any of those pigeon-holes, I didn't find. Let's face it, at the end of the day, he was a bloke following his dick. That's the basest reason for the whole sorry saga as far as I can understand it, nothing more, nothing less.I think this is cobblers, too, "If we are sexually attracted to someone, and then we become obsessed with them, we have a desire to procreate". Bollocks was what I wrote in my highlight.I spotted an error right away at the beginning when poured was written and not pored and feared the worst but that was almost it for errors, surprisingly. One pops up so soon, you can usually guarantee the whole book will be littered but not so, thankfully !! The only other thing I spotted was l being written twice instead of I.I Googled Dieter after I finished this and was delighted to read Frankie, Shannan's brother now has him.....poor little poppet......how he must've missed his little family. Just heartbreaking all round.All in all, it is a really interesting book and I enjoyed it as I have been wondering about this case for a long old time and haven't spotted a book about it till now.

The Watts family tragedy made world headlines! While the book gave extra factual insight into the case, the author seemed to me, lacking in impartiality.When she gave her diagnosis of the people involved, she failed to examine too closely Shanann's culpability and only focussed on the husband. That description of the wife as 100% blameless was at odds with the task of a certified psychotherapist. 'Experts' like to put us in boxes, so we are told Chris Watts was a psychopath, living under a cloak of normalcy most of his life. And his unfortunate wife was the blameless victim all her life.

Its horrible to read the ins and outs of what happened but after following the case and watching the Netflix documentary I was plagued with questions about why which never usually happens. I've been watching so many different documentaries and reading different articles but I finally think, after this book, some of these questions have been answered. Rest in peace Shannan, Bella, Cece and Nico. You deserved so much more.

There are some real-life crimes that seem to completely defy belief and the one that Chris Watts committed is an outstanding example.Lena Derhally gives us some explanations by as far as possible tracking back through Chris's history alongside that of his wife. The friends of the family that she has spoken to adds to the context that this horrific tale.My only reservations is because while the author has come up with an explanation for the seeming about face in Chris's personality, it can only be that and I felt that perhaps the book touches on the purient as there are precious few lessons to be learnt in this particular instance.