So last night I sucked it up and read Nick van der Leek’s second “book” on this case, “TWO FACE: BENEATH THE OIL.”
After reading his first “book,” I had set a pretty low bar as far as expectations go. Amazingly, this one set the bar for the inevitable third book, right around ground level.
Imagine that one of us, someone intimately familiar with the case, was to take LSD and then attempt to write a book. It would likely be far more coherent, and relevant, than the pointless drivel that this guy just produced.
Considering this crime happened less than two months ago, and this guy is already profiting from it, this is literally capitalism at its worst.
But I digress.
Our esteemed, “best selling author,” opens once again with a premeditated scenario. Shanann returns home from her trip, and enters the house, where she is immediately attacked. He describes CW using Bella’s pillowcase to form a type of lasso (referring to ligature strangulation), which he uses to strangle her.
He moves on to discuss the area in which CW grew up, an economically downtrodden town in North Carolina. The point here, is to illustrate that he came from nothing.
The “author’ discusses identity, and how important it is to us. He describes his own “existential crisis,” and how a life coach convinced him to change careers and become an author (possibly the worst advice ever given to any person, in the history of humanity).
He recounts a phone call from a producer at HLN. Basically, she was sussing him out, trying to figure out what inside information he had and who his sources were (none and none).
He talks about how hopeful he was that this could lead to him being interviewed, and how that could positively affect his “book” sales. After the 20 minute phone conversation, in which the producer apparently took no notes (who would), she basically told him “thanks, but no thanks.”
He then attacks the Thayers, who had the gaul to leave a message on his blog page demanding he remove a photo that NT took, that appeared on the cover of the first book. He touches on the legalities of him doing so, and seems to hold a grudge against them for complaining.
I’m not going to go into it, but he devoted an inordinate amount of time discussing what he sees as similarities between the Watts’ and the Thayers (I genuinely hope they sue him).
He goes after Thrive again, going as far as to make the (ridiculous) assertion that Shanann’s Facebook page is still up, in order to promote the company.
He spends a good portion of the “book” on something relatively insignificant, that damn Santa video. He talks about how contrived it was, and how it is a contradiction of the image SW was trying to convey.
A recurring theme throughout, is the loss of CW’s identity in the shadow of Shanann, and how he killed his family in order to reclaim it.
The “author” makes a (rare) good point when he discusses CW’s chance of getting away with the crime, saying that the video evidence from his neighbor’s surveillance camera, all but guaranteed his discovery.
He raises the insane notion that CW grilling on the night in question, was an effort to hide unpleasant smells, possibly from chemicals. The assertion here is that the kids were already dead at this point.
He closes by discussing other cases, offers ridiculous ideas about symbolism, and delves into pointless discussion about Anadarko.
He adds: “If there is a silver linish shimmering somewhere on this giant oil cloud, it’s the fact that this case-grotesque as it is - also reveals the nature of the world to ourselves.” [How incredibly deep]
Some silver lining...
My silver lining lining is that I just wasted 45 minutes reading complete nonsense. And it’s over.
