Sphere, by Michael Crichton

Crichton is so frustrating. He has awesome concepts--What if the navy found an alien spacecraft buried on the ocean floor?--but he just can't follow through on them. His plots always seem to devolve into a theme about how humans can't handle their own technology. And his characters never really come alive. They run around trying to solve the mystery and fight each other like grade-school children, but they remain cardboard cut-outs.

But his concepts keep sucking me back in! At least his books are quick, easy reads. I have a feeling I'll be back for more.