A true story of love, murder, and the end of the world’s “great hush”
In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the inter... read full description
In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the inter... read full description
reviews
Nov 10, 2007
Adrienne
rated it: 
I enjoyed parts of Thunderstruck and really had to force myself through others. The chapters about Marconi were often boring and too technical for my non-scientific mind. Larson sort of expects his reader to already understand certain elements of how radio waves works, which I don't. However, when Larson wasn't droning on about building towers and antennae, Marconi's story still captured my attention. (I'm sure more scientific minded people would enjoy the aspects that I didn't.)
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7 comments
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(11 people liked it)
Mar 14, 2008
Dale
rated it:
There's a certain style of storytelling which I have an affinity for, both in terms of telling stories myself and listening to them (or reading them). The style, in a word, would be called "digressive". I know this style doesn't work for everyone, but it works for me. I like talking about or hearing about the little things that don't necessarily advance the plot or aren't crucial to understanding the point of something. As long as the digressions are interesting in and of themselve
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Oct 31, 2007
Xysea
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Well, he's gone and done it again! Another brilliant, engrossing true-life novel, completely with two independent yet seamlessly interwoven story lines that he manages to treat equitably through and through.
This book is a compelling journey of one man into the annals of scientific history (Marconi) and another into the depths of criminality (Crippen). The stories tie together in the end, during Crippen's capture.
Neither story can be said to be particularly happy: Both m More...
This book is a compelling journey of one man into the annals of scientific history (Marconi) and another into the depths of criminality (Crippen). The stories tie together in the end, during Crippen's capture.
Neither story can be said to be particularly happy: Both m More...
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Jun 28, 2008
Karlan
rated it: 
This nonfiction title cleverly combines the work of Marconi and the story of a famous turn of the century murder. The murderer was caught thanks to the new ability to contact ships at sea. I liked it but found the detail overwhelming. At first, I read carefully thinking some of those details might be important later but then realized I could speed read the book.
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Oct 03, 2007
Rick
rated it:
Erik Larson's previous novel, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America, established him as the premier contemporary author of literary true crime. The publication of Thunderstruck maintains his status.
Larson retells the infamous and oft-told tale of the American Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, who, while living in Edwardian London, murdered his aspiring actress wife and attempted to escape on an ocean liner only to be captured, thanks to a n More...
Larson retells the infamous and oft-told tale of the American Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, who, while living in Edwardian London, murdered his aspiring actress wife and attempted to escape on an ocean liner only to be captured, thanks to a n More...
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Sep 08, 2007
Melissa
rated it:
This was very interesting. It's a non-fiction book about the famous Crippen murder in England, how wireless communication came about, and how these two events connected somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean. I didn't know about the Crippen murder until I read this book, which I thought was a good thing, it added a bit more suspense to the book. Apparently, it is the second most famous murder in Britain, after Jack the Ripper. It did take me awhile to get into this book, about halfway through I was
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Oct 17, 2008
Julie
rated it: 
With incredible deftness, Larson weaves together the stories of an Italian scientist and inventor and a British hack physician and hapless lover. The setting is Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a time that saw Edwardian indulgences and a fascination with mysticism and magic dissolving before the advances in science, technology, and the inevitable march toward the first World War.
This book is a lesson in history, an examination of the business and politics of technol More...
This book is a lesson in history, an examination of the business and politics of technol More...
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(3 people liked it)
Jan 23, 2011
Alleycatfan
rated it:
This was paced even faster than The Devil in the White City. Thorougly enjoyed all the miscellany.
Sep 24, 2009
Shelly
rated it:
This is what I was hoping The Lightening Keeper would be! It is exactly what I was expecting from Erik Larson: epic storytelling in bite sized pieces that can be consumed by any lay-person willing to sit down and eat!! And while I mightily respect Mr. Larsen's writing talent I am ABSOLUTELY IN AWE of his incredible ability to SEE two pieces of history and know just how to juxtapose them and then converge both brilliantly into a satisfying climatic explosion!!! Another GREAT read from one of my f
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 31, 2009
Anna
rated it:
In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of two men--Hawley Cripen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creater of a seemingly supernatural means of communication--whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time.
"Thunderstruck" is a better book if you have not read The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, Erik Larson's riveting tale of how the 1893 Chicago Wo More...
Jan 23, 2009
Tom
rated it:
If you like history that reads like a thriller, then Thunderstruck should be on your list of books to read. Much like in Devil in the White City, Larson is able to weave an amazing amount of historical fact and detail into this fascinating story of murder and intrigue from the turn of the century. We take for granted today what was little understood and even less trusted as a viable means of communication then, in the form of radio transmission and communication. Larsen masterfully places his st
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 14, 2009
Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson. B-plus.
This is the second book by the author who made such a hit with his first book: “Devil In the White City.” This book is fascinating but not as enthralling as the first one. Peterson’s weakness is that, for every character he introduces, he tries to give you birth to death information about the character. Again, we have an over-riding event, and a discrete murder that is impacted by the over-all event. This time, we have the history of the inventio More...
This is the second book by the author who made such a hit with his first book: “Devil In the White City.” This book is fascinating but not as enthralling as the first one. Peterson’s weakness is that, for every character he introduces, he tries to give you birth to death information about the character. Again, we have an over-riding event, and a discrete murder that is impacted by the over-all event. This time, we have the history of the inventio More...
Feb 11, 2012
Laura
rated it:
Got this at a library used book sale for 50 cents, and read it in the last two days in FL where I was working, at the West Palm Beach Int. airport, the airplane, and finally my apartment when I got home again.
Definitely an enthralling read, more because the author, E.L., is a fascinating researcher in the details he finds, then uses to tell intriguing stories about historical events and characters than how the story eventually unfolded.
This book was not as satisfying as his More...
Definitely an enthralling read, more because the author, E.L., is a fascinating researcher in the details he finds, then uses to tell intriguing stories about historical events and characters than how the story eventually unfolded.
This book was not as satisfying as his More...
Jan 13, 2012
Bonnie
rated it:
I liked this in general, but got a bit bored with the history of telegraphy. Not that that was never interesting -- it often was -- but I didn't start with any curiosity about that particular subject and it would have been difficult to make it much more than palatable to me.
On the other hand, I'm always interested in certain aspects of true crime -- especially in murders by unlikely killers -- and that half of the story in "Thunderstruck" was compelling.
Larson prev More...
On the other hand, I'm always interested in certain aspects of true crime -- especially in murders by unlikely killers -- and that half of the story in "Thunderstruck" was compelling.
Larson prev More...
Dec 22, 2011
Marks54
rated it:
This is one of Erik Larson's books, although it is not his best. Larson is superb at telling real historical stories with the flair of a novelist. "The Devil in the White City" is one of his best.
As with his other books, Larson combines two different stories together to show how they interact in a given situation. The story combines a murder in London by Hawley Crippen with the efforts of Marconi to develop wireless communication. Without giving too much away, the use of More...
As with his other books, Larson combines two different stories together to show how they interact in a given situation. The story combines a murder in London by Hawley Crippen with the efforts of Marconi to develop wireless communication. Without giving too much away, the use of More...
Oct 13, 2011
Richard
rated it:
It's an axiom that Great Men (and, one supposes, Great Women) are Unpleasant People. Larson's treatment of Guglielmo Marconi, great-great-great grandfather of the device you're reading this on, does nothing to dispel the miasma of meanness from him. What a rotten human being! How completely insensitive, how thoroughly obsessively devoted to his own self and comfort, what a complete rotter of a businessman!
Thank you, Guglielmo, for the gifts all that human wreckage you left behind hav More...
Thank you, Guglielmo, for the gifts all that human wreckage you left behind hav More...
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Jul 02, 2011
Saralee
rated it:
This book was recommended to me by a reference librarian at our local library. I was interested in it mostly as a resource for learning about late Victorian and Edwardian scientific knowledge, but I also found the murder mystery fascinating. I liked knowing how the Scotland Yard detectives went about their work in building a case.
I'm not familiar with any of the wireless technology Marconi used, so I didn't understand a lot of that, but it didn't bother me. I was captivated by the pe More...
I'm not familiar with any of the wireless technology Marconi used, so I didn't understand a lot of that, but it didn't bother me. I was captivated by the pe More...
Jun 23, 2011
Karen
rated it: 
Larson follows the course of the discovery of wireless radio technology and a horrific murder, roughly 1890 to 1910. Believe it or not, the two stories do eventually converge. The story falls into the category of truth can be more ... than fiction. This was an interesting times with creative minds inventing and discovering new technology, Victorian age sliding into something more risque, and historical events that we all know by heart. The chief inspector of the murder started his career wit
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May 25, 2011
Book Concierge
rated it:
3.5***
Larson brings his talent for writing a page-turning non-fiction work to bear on the case of Dr H H Crippen, who was fleeing England with his mistress, after being questioned in the disappearance of his wife. An escape that would have been easily made just 5 years previously was foiled by the relatively new advance of the Marconi wireless, with which Scotland Yard detectives could communicate with their counterparts in Canada and the U.S., and with the ship’s captain. The resu More...
Larson brings his talent for writing a page-turning non-fiction work to bear on the case of Dr H H Crippen, who was fleeing England with his mistress, after being questioned in the disappearance of his wife. An escape that would have been easily made just 5 years previously was foiled by the relatively new advance of the Marconi wireless, with which Scotland Yard detectives could communicate with their counterparts in Canada and the U.S., and with the ship’s captain. The resu More...
Apr 09, 2011
Scott
rated it:
I read this book based soley on my love for Larson's previous book The Devil in the White City. I knew virtually nothing about Guglielmo Marconi and absolutely nothing about Dr. Crippen, but yet I couldn't wait to sit down and read this book when I received it as a gift this Christmas.
Marconi is an early 20th century inventor who dedicates his life to making wireless communication across the Atlantic a reality. He envisioned a world where communication across all continents will More...
Marconi is an early 20th century inventor who dedicates his life to making wireless communication across the Atlantic a reality. He envisioned a world where communication across all continents will More...
Feb 13, 2011
Kirstie
rated it:
I didn't ever read Larson's most famous work, Devil in the White City even though it exploded onto the Chicago literary scene in quite a pronounced way but I guess it was also highly criticized for embellishments. This novel didn't seem nearly as publicized as the former and so I'm not sure if it faced the same amount of criticism. There is a list of references at the back for the information and I would gander to say that if didn't 100% meet the criteria for nonfiction, it was at the very lea
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Jun 20, 2010
Bart
rated it:
After reading Thunderstruck, my dad said something along the lines of, "Damn, I want to have that guy's job." And I second that. As he details in his footnotes, Larson spent a large chunk of time combing the historic stacks of London libraries to write this book. He searched through century old police records, the dusty old memoirs of scientists (and their lovers), and hyperbolic news pieces. In short, he lived in his book as he wrote it. And he emerged with an interesting historical n
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May 16, 2010
Kurtbg
rated it:
If you enjoy educational historical fiction this book is for you. Whenever a book can synthesize factual and historical information and present it into a story form I'm always excited. Erik Larson's follows the same formula he used in"Devil in the White City" by weaving together the historical race for wireless communication Via Guglielmo Marconi with a sensational murder in the early Twentieth century. This synthesis of stories both educates and illustrates larger concepts found withi
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Jan 30, 2010
Peter
rated it:
"Thunderstruck" interleaves two stories: the early days of wireless telegraphy, and the commission and detection of a murder. The early parts of the book alternate chapters between these narratives in a asynchronous manner that always leaves the reader confused about the date.
The combination of the two narratives is artificial and does poor service to both of them. The history of wireless was entirely new to me and left me ultimately frustrated by its lack of technical de More...
The combination of the two narratives is artificial and does poor service to both of them. The history of wireless was entirely new to me and left me ultimately frustrated by its lack of technical de More...
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Jan 28, 2010
Steven
rated it:
Erik Larson has done it again. His new "Thunderstruck" is another of his works that ties together separate narratives into a compelling story. His earlier "Devil in the White City" juxtaposes a serial murderer with the creation of the Chicago Columbian Exposition. The result is powerful.
This book takes a similar tack, juxtaposing Guglielmo Marconi's obsession to master wireless communication with the gentle, quiet Hawley Crippen's murder of his wife. The book beg More...
This book takes a similar tack, juxtaposing Guglielmo Marconi's obsession to master wireless communication with the gentle, quiet Hawley Crippen's murder of his wife. The book beg More...
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(5 people liked it)
Nov 02, 2009
Rick
rated it:
Not quite as good as Larson's previous book, The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. This used a similar format, which is an alternating duo biography. The inventor of the wireless telegraphy, Guglielmo Marconi is half the focus of the book. The other half is on the mild-mannered murderer, Hawley Crippen. And how the two stories ultimately overlap. I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to true crime books. I usually avoid the genre as being the subje
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May 03, 2009
Tristan
rated it:
After Devil In The White City, I had insurmountable expectations. The only thing that I felt fell short in this book, however, was that my preliminary knowledge and interest in London and Marconi was lower than my knowledge and interest in Chicago.
Larson achieves much of the same in this book as the previous one. A murder and a technological breakthrough are the twin foci of the book, and without one story line or the other, the book would still be enthralling. The level of research More...
Larson achieves much of the same in this book as the previous one. A murder and a technological breakthrough are the twin foci of the book, and without one story line or the other, the book would still be enthralling. The level of research More...
Jun 04, 2011
Oldesq
rated it:
Like his Devil and the White City Larson's Thunderstruck is an account of true events that read like a mystery novel. Indeed, some facts are so outrageous it is unlikely an editor would have allowed the author to keep them in a fictional account. Larson tells two parallel tales in Thunderstruck. The first is about Hawley Harvey Crippen an unassuming patent medicine salesman -- a cuckhold, milquetoast with bulging eyes who is at the mercy of his extravagant spendthrift wife until she disappear
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Sep 24, 2009
Ladiibbug
rated it:
Non-Fiction - 4.5 stars
From Book Jacket:
"... tells the interwoven stories of two men -- Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of seemingly supernatural means of communication -- whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time."
I enjoyed this book very much. The story track of Marconi and his pursuit of making wireless telegraph a reality was interesting, even for a non-sci More...
From Book Jacket:
"... tells the interwoven stories of two men -- Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of seemingly supernatural means of communication -- whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time."
I enjoyed this book very much. The story track of Marconi and his pursuit of making wireless telegraph a reality was interesting, even for a non-sci More...
Jul 02, 2011
Debbie
rated it:
While Larson's second (to me anyway) "real life novel" is meticulously researched, and his narrative technique (cutting back and forth between two seemingly unrelated events: turn of the century wireless communication and a murder which ends up being completely grisly) is well-done, I was almost completely uninterested in Marconi's story, and thus the detail of the science, of the rivalries, of the missteps had me longing for the next installment of Crippen, his mysterious path to rich
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