Hellbent: Ces Waters & Me

The Waters family amazed and inspired their neighbour Margaret Wentworth. She'd never met a man with bigger dreams than Ces, the charismatic father, nor one from such unpromising beginnings.

 

He'd bashed, thieved and pimped in Manchester slums, did time and migrated to Australia. There he planned an assault on some of the world of sport's most glittering prizes. Sons Dean, Guy and Troy rose to dizzying heights. Troy came close to a world title in a San Diego boxing ring. On results, Ces Waters ranks among Australia's greatest trainers and motivators.

 

They saved doomed dogs, made winning horses out of old nags, ate no meat, drank no alcohol, never swore and focused single-mindedly on reaching the top.

 

She co-produced a documentary, 'Rebels with a Cause', about him, and began a biography, the basis for this book.

 

But when Ces' rival was murdered, Margaret realise the man she was writing about was a lie. To silence her, Ces threatened the biographer's life. She was trapped. His laughter, jokes, yarns and 'honesty' hid his sick obsessiveness and psychopathic ruthlessness. This manipulator operated at a level your office control freak only dreams of.

 

'Hellbent' is a radical biography which shows how Ces used truth and lies to gain the author's trust and cloud her eyes, and how she began to see again.

 

Why was Ces Waters compared to Charles Manson in court?

Why did he threaten his biographer's life?

How did his three sons rise so high in boxing?

Why was Allen Hall shot dead one night?

Why was Dean Waters acquitted?

Was Ces Waters a pimp?

Was the Waters clan's clean living a total fraud?

How did Ces Waters exercise the steely control he did?