Thunderstruck

 Thunderstruck by Erik Larson, 463 pages.

In Larson's trademark style, he traces two separate men's histories that intersect in spectacular fashion. Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen was described by everyone who met him as a kind, gentle man. Yet he almost got away with a sensational murder that held Edwardian England transfixed. Guglielmo Marconi was a man consumed by obsession. His obsession with developing a way to wirelessly send transmissions across the Atlantic was immense, and it would intersect with the manhunt for Crippen in a way that would forever alter both of their lives. 

Although running parallel, these narratives are less interwoven than those in Larson's more famous The Devil in the White City, and for most of the book they feel connected only by their setting. That being said, both pieces of the book were very interesting, and Larson has a very engaging, readable style. I also appreciate the thoroughness of his research, and his talent for taking disparate elements and combining them into something that feels expansive and cohesive. I especially found the examinations of science as an institution in Edwardian England very interesting. I don't know that I liked this as much as my first book by the author, but I still think it's worth a read, especially for anyone interested in the period.