• American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century. Howard Blum. Read by John H. Mayer. Random. Unabridged. 9 CDs. 10 ½ hours.

There's a good reason why American Lightning won the recent Edgar Award for best fact crime book. This nonfiction volume that covers the 1911 bombing of The Los Angeles Times by disgruntled union members is a gripping, epic look at the early part of the 20th century politics, economics and social issues. It also is as timely as nonfiction gets, proving that the best historical works are also timeless. With its focus on a troubled newspaper industry, the influence of movies and the cult of the celebrity, American Lightning could have been set in the 21st century. Add in corruption, bribery and revenge and the book becomes even more timeless.

Iron Workers Union leaders James and Joseph McNamara traded a plea bargain to avoid death sentences for their roles in the bombing that killed 21 people. It was to have been the start of a series of attacks that, fortunately, failed. The McNamaras had been caught thanks to celebrity detective William J. Burns, who went on to become director of the Bureau of Investigation, the predecessor to the FBI.

Aiding Burns was silent film director D.W. Griffith, who was just learning that movies not only were entertainment but could be powerful tools. The McNamara brothers' lawyer was Clarence Darrow who, after their trial, was indicted for attempting to bribe the jury. After his acquittal, Darrow would go from labor lawyer to defense attorney, making an international name for himself with the Leopold and Loeb trial and defending John T. Scopes in the 1925 ``Monkey Trial.''

A Vanity Fair contributing editor, Blum pulls this massive, complicated story into a cohesive nonfiction thriller. He's helped by Mayer's no-nonsense voice.

• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Stieg Larsson. Read by Martin Wenner. Random. Abridged. 6 CDs. 7 ½ hours.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was one of best debuts of last year. This story of Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced Swedish journalist, and Lisbeth Salander, a 24-year-old heavily pierced and tattooed computer hacker, introduced a fresh, original voice in thrillers. But Larsson died in 2004, shortly after giving his publisher the manuscripts for each of the novels in his trilogy.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is now out in paperback and on audio; it has recently been nominated for two Anthony Awards. The Girl Who Played With Fire makes its U.S. appearance in July.

In the first volume, Mikael is asked to look into the 40-year-old disappearance of Harriet Vanger, who vanished from her family's remote island retreat near Stockholm. Wealthy industrialist Henrik Vanger wants to find out what happened to his niece and, in return, he will help Mikael fight a libel case. Mikael and his reluctant partner Lisbeth discover family secrets and corruption going back decades.

Even in this abridged version, Larsson's story shines as does the inspired reading by actor Wenner, who forcefully explores the bleak, beautiful Swedish landscape, a family in chaos and the at-odds partnership of Mikael and Lisbeth.

Oline H. Cogdill reviewed these books for The Sun Sentinel.

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