I like Stephen King too--I have almost of all of his books in hardcover. "Stand By Me" is based on a novella called "The Body", one of four stories in the book "Different Seasons"--one of my favorites. That's when King was King. Does Jonathan like his short story collections? They're very good too.
Has he tried to read any Vince Flynn novels? if he likes 24, he will like Vince Flynn's books. I've also heard that Ted Bell's books are good.