Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
I love Stephenson, and I was pleasantly surprised when I recently read his Reamde. While one of his lighter tomes, it is filled with bad mooselimbs and very conservative protagonists. With a very pro-gun outlook and self-reliant characters, it may be a bit much for the vox populi.
For me, it was a nice break from many modern SF books that are filled with Goth antiheros saving their hedonist selves in various Malthusian apocalypses, or with the now stereotypical corporate antagonists who are greedily raping mother Gaia to pursue their evil capitalist visions. While it is nowhere near as complex as Cryptonomicon or Anathem, Stephenson moved up the ladder with this one simply for the courage to show a positive image of old-school Americana.