State of Fear — Michael Crichton

In Paris, a young physicist performs an oceanographic experiment -- then dies mysteriously after a romantic tryst with a beautiful stranger.

In the jungles of Malaysia, powerful hypersonic cavitation technology -- capable of toppling mountains with sound -- is purchased by a private interest for an unspecified purpose.

In Vancouver, a businessman leases a small research submarine for use in the waters off New Guinea.

In Tokyo, in Los Angeles, in Antarctica, in the Solomon Islands . . . an intelligence agent races to put all the pieces together to prevent a global catastrophe.