Thunderstruck by Erik Larson: Turn of the Century International Intrigue Just about every popular mystery novel has these components: love, murder, and a plot twist that the reader realizes that they probably should have anticipated once they reach it. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson encapsulates just that, with that ever alluring historical fiction feel, but there’s a catch: it’s all true. How’s that for a plot twist? The book opens with an introduction to Captain Henry Kendall of the SS Montrose who observes a strange father-son relationship among two passengers on his ship. Before Captain Kendall has the chance to explain his suspicions, the book switches perspectives. It flips to the two main storylines: the life and times of Dr. Hawley Crippen, primarily his ever intriguing and convoluted love life, and Guglielmo Macroni, an obsessive and deeply paranoid scientist fixated on electricity. Things really heat up when Crippen announces that his wife has left him and is now missing, then proceeds to muddle his own story on whether she disappeared or died (but that’s not suspicious or anything, and neither is the fact that he now has a young new lover and they decided to suddenly skip town after this story broke). At the same time, Macroni is fervently working on being able to transmit electrical waves to send messages. He’s deeply motivated by the fear that someone else will profit off his life’s work before he does. The clever intertwining of the story of a man initially not under suspicion for his wife’s disappearance, but now seemingly on the run, and the importance of one neurotic scientist’s incessant experimentation on the proceedings of a high profile missing persons case leaves the reader forgetting that they’re reading a nonfiction book. The correlation between an allegedly gentle and personable American doctor and a manic Italian inventor is initially unclear, but it only serves to increase the suspense, along with the frame narrative involving Captain Kendall of the Montrose (just when the reader thinks Larson forgot about him!). The frame narrative functions as one more device to hook the reader into the elaborate (and completely real) world of Hawley Crippen and his associates, and it does it remarkably well, giving the reader enough to work with to form an educated guess on the ending, but keeps enough underwraps to keep the reader engaged in the story. Thunderstruck is the perfect book for the reader that devours mystery novels by the dozen. The classic “scorned lover” trope with the unique spin of the influence of the creation of modern wireless messaging can make this book suspenseful and riveting for even the most seasoned mystery book reader. And don’t forget: this is a real story that actually happened in London, America, and the Northern Atlantic Ocean during the height of the turn of the century.
Just about every popular mystery novel has these components: love, murder, and a plot twist that the reader realizes that they probably should have anticipated once they reach it. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson encapsulates just that, with that ever alluring historical fiction feel, but there’s a catch: it’s all true. How’s that for a plot twist?
The book opens with an introduction to Captain Henry Kendall of the SS Montrose who observes a strange father-son relationship among two passengers on his ship. Before Captain Kendall has the chance to explain his suspicions, the book switches perspectives. It flips to the two main storylines: the life and times of Dr. Hawley Crippen, primarily his ever intriguing and convoluted love life, and Guglielmo Macroni, an obsessive and deeply paranoid scientist fixated on electricity.
Things really heat up when Crippen announces that his wife has left him and is now missing, then proceeds to muddle his own story on whether she disappeared or died (but that’s not suspicious or anything, and neither is the fact that he now has a young new lover and they decided to suddenly skip town after this story broke). At the same time, Macroni is fervently working on being able to transmit electrical waves to send messages. He’s deeply motivated by the fear that someone else will profit off his life’s work before he does. The clever intertwining of the story of a man initially not under suspicion for his wife’s disappearance, but now seemingly on the run, and the importance of one neurotic scientist’s incessant experimentation on the proceedings of a high profile missing persons case leaves the reader forgetting that they’re reading a nonfiction book.
The correlation between an allegedly gentle and personable American doctor and a manic Italian inventor is initially unclear, but it only serves to increase the suspense, along with the frame narrative involving Captain Kendall of the Montrose (just when the reader thinks Larson forgot about him!). The frame narrative functions as one more device to hook the reader into the elaborate (and completely real) world of Hawley Crippen and his associates, and it does it remarkably well, giving the reader enough to work with to form an educated guess on the ending, but keeps enough underwraps to keep the reader engaged in the story.
Thunderstruck is the perfect book for the reader that devours mystery novels by the dozen. The classic “scorned lover” trope with the unique spin of the influence of the creation of modern wireless messaging can make this book suspenseful and riveting for even the most seasoned mystery book reader. And don’t forget: this is a real story that actually happened in London, America, and the Northern Atlantic Ocean during the height of the turn of the century.