I recommend Michael Crichton. His new stuff is good, but his older stuff is great. My favorites are Airframe and Rising Sun. Airframe is basically an investigation of an airplane crash. Rising Sun is, again an investigation, this time about a murder. Both great books. Some other great ones are Disclosure, The Andromeda Strain, and Jurassic Park. With Jurassic Park, in my opinion, the movie doesn't hold a candle to the book.