"Thunderstruck": Marconi and the murderer

"Thunderstruck"
by Erik Larson
Crown, 463 pp., $25.95

"Thunderstruck" is an electrifying book, a rare nonfiction tale that stays riveting from the opening prologue to the final chapter. The story is so dramatic, and so well told, that I found myself pausing between chapters because I didn't want it to conclude so quickly — which says a lot for a nearly 500-page tome.

Seattle-based Larson doesn't write traditional biography. Instead he tells life stories affected by technological innovation — and, in his last two books, lives touched by murder.

In "Thunderstruck," as in his previous bestseller "The Devil in the White City," he seeks that strange intersection between crime and science that occurred around 1900, when police investigations began to take advantage of modern techniques like fingerprinting and forensic medicine. This vortex of invention provides contrast between the scientific discoveries of the day and a decidedly baser underbelly of violence at the turn of the 20th century.

"Thunderstruck" and "Devil" both bear structural similarities to Simon Winchester's "The Professor and the Madman," in the sense that these books serve as dual biographies, juxtaposing stories of parallel — but disparate — lives. By using multiple characters, Larson is able to give us a larger portrait of Edwardian London, the setting of his new book.

Larson is fascinated by the over-reaching ambition of inventors, and the central character of "Thunderstruck," Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi, is an over-achiever of the first-degree. Most will know Marconi's name as the person generally credited as the inventor of wireless telegraphy. But Larson traces the debate over that credit, as his Marconi struggles against disbelieving skeptics, competing inventors, unfavorable weather conditions, poor financial planning and a technology that he discovers but does not completely understand. There have been numerous biographies of Marconi that focus on his entire life, but Larson is more interested in the application of Marconi's ideas, and how quickly they changed the world.

The second protagonist in "Thunderstruck" is a scam artist and a murderer, and his character stands in stark contrast to that of the celebrated inventor. Hawley Harvey Crippen is a small and petty man, hounded by his larger, louder, insufferable wife. He was a celebrated enough criminal to have been the subject of many other books — and some say he was the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window."

There is little suspense in wondering what will happen to Mrs. Crippen — that is hinted at from the very start — but Larson's clues as to how her fate will intersect with Marconi's provide much of the book's tension. On the surface, these stories appear to be completely unrelated, but Larson is a master at keeping two complicated narratives going in the same book.

"Thunderstruck" is so well-crafted it should be taught in nonfiction writing programs. When Marconi's relationship with the Prince of Wales is described, every kernel is a nugget of interest. When the prince's mother, Queen Victoria, complains about Marconi cutting through her gardens while setting up his equipment, she commands her staff to "get another electrician." Her attendant's reply sums up Marconi's power to woo even royals: "Alas, Your Majesty ... England has no Marconi."

Yet Larson is even more fascinated with the details of Crippen's life. Crippen works selling fraudulent mail-order cures but can't heal his dead marriage. One observer notes that Crippen "would not have been human if he had not sought consolation elsewhere." Still, that hardly explains the brutality of Crippen's crime. ("Thunderstruck" offers grisly details — perhaps too many.)

I began "Thunderstruck" wondering how Larson would ever manage to connect an inventor and a madman. Yet I came away pondering why no other writer had already written what seemed like an obvious story.

That's the skill of a writer of great talent — making the impossible seem preordained. Inventor Marconi, murderer Crippen, and yes, even storyteller Alfred Hitchcock, would all be proud.

Charles R. Cross is the author of several books, including "Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix" and "Heavier Than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain." He can be reached at charlesrcross@aol.com.