Thunderstruck - by Erik Larson (Paperback)

About the Book

Larson tells the true stories of two men whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time. Gripping from the first page, and rich with fascinating detail about the time, this story is splendid narrative history from a master of the form.

Book Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - An "irresistible" (The Washington Post) true story of love, murder, and the last moments of the "great hush" before wireless radio connected the world, from the renowned author of The Devil in the White City and The Demon of Unrest

"Gripping . . . an edge-of-the-seat read."--People

In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of two men--Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication--whose lives intersect at the turn of the twentieth century during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time.

Set in Edwardian London and on the stormy coasts of Cornwall, Cape Cod, and Nova Scotia, Thunderstruck evokes the dynamism of those years when great shipping companies competed to build the biggest, fastest ocean liners, scientific advances dazzled the public with visions of a world transformed, and the rich outdid one another with ostentatious displays of wealth. Against this background, Marconi races against incredible odds and relentless skepticism to perfect his invention: wireless communication, a prime catalyst for the emergence of the world we know today. Meanwhile, Crippen, "the kindest of men," nearly commits the perfect crime.

With his superb narrative skills, Erik Larson guides these parallel narratives toward a relentlessly suspenseful meeting on the waters of the North Atlantic. Along the way, he tells of a sad and tragic love affair that was described on the front pages of newspapers around the world, a chief inspector who found himself strangely sympathetic to the killer and his lover, and a driven and compelling innovator who transformed the way we communicate.

Thunderstruck presents a vibrant portrait of the era of séances, science, and fog, inhabited by inventors, magicians, and Scotland Yard detectives, all presided over by the amiable and fun-loving Edward VII as the world slid inevitably toward the first great war of the twentieth century.

Review Quotes

"Larson is a marvelous writer . . . superb at creating characters with a few short strokes."--The New York Times Book Review

"Larson's gift for rendering an historical era with vibrant tactility and filling it with surprising personalities makes Thunderstruck an irresistible tale. . . . He beautifully captures the awe that greeted early wireless transmissions on shipboard. . . . He restores life to this fascinating, long-lost world."--Washington Post

"A ripping yarn of murder and invention."--Los Angeles Times

"Of all the non-fiction writers working today, Erik Larson seems to have the most delicious fun. . . . for Thunderstruck, Larson has turned his sights on Edwardian London, a place alive with new science and seances, anonymous crowds and some stunningly peculiar personalities."--Chicago Tribune

"[Larson] interweaves gripping storylines about a cryptic murderer and the race for technology in the early twentieth century. An edge-of-the-seat read."--People

"Captivating . . . With Thunderstruck, Larson has selected another enthralling tale--two of them, actually. . . . [He] peppers the narrative with an engaging array of secondary figures and fills the margins with rich tangential period details. . . . Larson has once again crafted a popular history narrative that is stylistically closer to a smartly plotted novel."--Miami Herald

"As he did with The Devil in the White City, Larson has created an intense, intelligent page turner that shows how the march of progress and innovation affect both the world at large and the lives of everyday people."--Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Larson again demonstrates that he's one of the best nonfiction writers around and proves that real-life murders can be as compelling to read about as fictional ones."--Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"[Larson] captures the human capacity for wonder at the turn of the century. . . . [He] has perfected a narrative form of his own invention." --Cleveland Plain Dealer

"An enthralling narrative and vivid descriptions . . . Larson has done a marvelous job of bringing the distinct stories together in his own unique way. Simply fantastic!"--Library Journal

"Splendid, beautifully written . . .Thunderstruck triumphantly resurrects the spirit of another age, when one man's public genius linked the world, while another's private turmoil made him a symbol of the end of 'the great hush' and the first victim of a new era when instant communication, now inescapable, conquered the world."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Erik Larson is the author of six New York Times bestsellers, most recently The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, which examines how Winston Churchill and his "Secret Circle" went about surviving the German air campaign of 1940-41. Larson's The Devil in the White City is set to be a Hulu limited series; his In the Garden of Beasts is under option by Tom Hanks for a feature film. He recently published an audio-original ghost story, No One Goes Alone, which has been optioned by Chernin Entertainment, in association with Netflix. His Thunderstruck has been optioned by Sony Pictures Television for a limited TV series. Larson lives in Manhattan with his wife, who is a writer and retired neonatologist; they have three grown daughters.