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TWO FACE: TWO POLLYANNAS
Why the girls? Why did he have to murder Bella and Celeste? In TWO POLLYANNAS the dynamics of the children are added to the criminal psychology. What do the children reveal about the Watts couple that we don’t already know...?
- GenresNonfictionTrue Crime
196 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 12, 2018
134 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 20, 2024
2 Stars & My least favourite in van der Leek's K9 series so far. Still worth a read.
I understand why the author went into such great detail on the Greek mythology aspects, as they are the pillars and stepping stones to the themes in the following books, but I found the reading quite redundant. I did look past this and continued onto reading Book #4 - of which I was highly impressed and rated 5 stars. I really like that there are hyperlinks and sources connected to the pages.
Despite the low rating for this particular book, I will be reading all books in this series.
I understand why the author went into such great detail on the Greek mythology aspects, as they are the pillars and stepping stones to the themes in the following books, but I found the reading quite redundant. I did look past this and continued onto reading Book #4 - of which I was highly impressed and rated 5 stars. I really like that there are hyperlinks and sources connected to the pages.
Despite the low rating for this particular book, I will be reading all books in this series.
December 25, 2018
Pretty good
Lots of speculation here but a good psychological analysis into the mind of a man trapped in an unhappy marriage
Lots of speculation here but a good psychological analysis into the mind of a man trapped in an unhappy marriage
December 4, 2018
This is my first time reading this author. Although I am obsessed with all things true crime, my genre is romance books. So this was stepping out of my comfort zone. This author's writing is extremely thought out and powerful. He research and hypo-links were spot on. I was very impressed. I read all three books and definitely got an inside view of this family's dynamic and how things went down. I will not go into detail as I don't want to spoil this for anyone. I suggest you read these books. I am anxious to read the fourth book now that more information has been released along with the discovery documents. I am excited to see what Mr. Van Der Leek has to say about those documents. In the meantime, I am going to read this author's other work. Definitely recommend.
February 9, 2019
i enjoyed the amount of information, but the attitude of the author really rubbed me the wrong way. i felt a lot of the theories being put out, and the very biased digs at the various people involved in the case, were disrespectful and unfounded. i get going into some nitty gritty details and such, but some of the statements were frankly pretty rude and clearly based on personal bias rather than raw information. i'll keep reading the series because the research going into it is very good, but i don't think i'll revisit this author for any other case.
January 28, 2019
Better than the last book but still full of rubbish
This book was better than his last but there was far too much information that is nothing to do with this case directly, too many theories and metaphoric references that I didn’t really get, it also painted Shan’ann as the monster.
This book was better than his last but there was far too much information that is nothing to do with this case directly, too many theories and metaphoric references that I didn’t really get, it also painted Shan’ann as the monster.
March 7, 2021
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.
Visit my new blog "I Love True Crime Books"
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.
Visit my new blog "I Love True Crime Books"
January 21, 2020
Very intriguing very well thought out
I love a book with facts and details,
The Devil is in the details. There is so much more to learn about the family dynamics. So much more to the Psychology of Christopher Watts & Shanann Watts. Terrible situation that went terribly wrong for a long time I believe. He did not just snap because it would not be premeditated.
Something else going on here that doesn’t make sense. My Opinion I do not think Christopher Watts acted on his own. I’m reading all of the books in order so I will try to give my final opinion. As a you tube True crime scientist I listened to one of your segments, that you enjoy and look forward to other opinions from fans. I have to say I enjoy your writing it makes so much sense. Very easy to understand. Being I love reading true crime nothing is easy about murder or understanding it.
I love a book with facts and details,
The Devil is in the details. There is so much more to learn about the family dynamics. So much more to the Psychology of Christopher Watts & Shanann Watts. Terrible situation that went terribly wrong for a long time I believe. He did not just snap because it would not be premeditated.
Something else going on here that doesn’t make sense. My Opinion I do not think Christopher Watts acted on his own. I’m reading all of the books in order so I will try to give my final opinion. As a you tube True crime scientist I listened to one of your segments, that you enjoy and look forward to other opinions from fans. I have to say I enjoy your writing it makes so much sense. Very easy to understand. Being I love reading true crime nothing is easy about murder or understanding it.
January 10, 2019
Quickie Review In About 50 Words or less:
• If you are following the recent family murder case involving Chris Watts and his wife Shan'ann Watts and their toddlers Bella and Cece, this may be of interest to you.
• I don't always agree with the author's point of view, but I do appreciate the fact that he is writing about this and other recent true crimes. Sometimes I feel like he goes out on a limb, but I am enjoying the book even when I don't necessarily agree.
• It could benefit from some proofreading and copy editing, but interesting and provocative nonetheless.
• Recommended with 3 1/2 stars. I've read three of the four-book series, and I just ordered the fourth installment, so I guess that's a good recommendation!
• If you are following the recent family murder case involving Chris Watts and his wife Shan'ann Watts and their toddlers Bella and Cece, this may be of interest to you.
• I don't always agree with the author's point of view, but I do appreciate the fact that he is writing about this and other recent true crimes. Sometimes I feel like he goes out on a limb, but I am enjoying the book even when I don't necessarily agree.
• It could benefit from some proofreading and copy editing, but interesting and provocative nonetheless.
• Recommended with 3 1/2 stars. I've read three of the four-book series, and I just ordered the fourth installment, so I guess that's a good recommendation!
October 13, 2019
Back to the rambling
Trying not to be unfair, at the time of this book release much was not known about what actually happened with regards to the details of the Watts family murder. However, the attempt by the author to psychologically analyze the reasoning behind this murderer is hilariously inept. The author narrative can only be described as rambling, pulling on threads and throwing out analyses in multiple directions, each one more ridiculous than the other. Why the rush to publish a book after knowing little to no facts?
Trying not to be unfair, at the time of this book release much was not known about what actually happened with regards to the details of the Watts family murder. However, the attempt by the author to psychologically analyze the reasoning behind this murderer is hilariously inept. The author narrative can only be described as rambling, pulling on threads and throwing out analyses in multiple directions, each one more ridiculous than the other. Why the rush to publish a book after knowing little to no facts?
January 11, 2019
An Alright Read
An ok read. I get the connection the author was attempting to make but I just was not buying what he was trying to sell. On the upside I love the video and picture links.
An ok read. I get the connection the author was attempting to make but I just was not buying what he was trying to sell. On the upside I love the video and picture links.
November 28, 2019
More insight on the Chris Watts case, taking into consideration the children. Interesting theories about how their children felt about Thrive, and the way the parents took care of them. Makes me feel even worse for the girls.
November 28, 2021
If it was possible
To give a book a negative number this ONE would get it. Really this author is simply awful. His multi book series tells far more about his personality than the crimes he is supposedly covering.
To give a book a negative number this ONE would get it. Really this author is simply awful. His multi book series tells far more about his personality than the crimes he is supposedly covering.
February 1, 2024
2 face extraordinary
Such an unusual angle in true crime. Which makes it all the more compelling. Thank you Nick so thought provoking.
Such an unusual angle in true crime. Which makes it all the more compelling. Thank you Nick so thought provoking.
April 8, 2025
She was the victim
Author is really over the top making Chris Watts the victim in this horror story. He is the monster in this story by his actions period
Author is really over the top making Chris Watts the victim in this horror story. He is the monster in this story by his actions period
May 10, 2025
More of an indictment of Shanann Watts and MLM than of familicide due to the authors bias, but there are some psychological gems peppered throughout.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews