Matthew Reilly is my favorite local (well to us Aussies anyway

) action adventure author. If you want non-stop action it hits the spot. His first book Contest was not the best but he definitely improved a lot once you get up to his newer books.
James Rollins is also a great read.
Too bad the first two Douglas Preston books are not available in ebooks. Do you lose the running theme of the stories if you start at book 3 or do I have to buy pbooks again