State of Fear
I, too, bought State of Fear - I think I was in a fugue of some kind and thought it would be more like The Andromeda Strain (though that was one I read so long ago...) and I felt the same as you, Robert. I have a hard time not finishing books that I start, even if they are crap, but it certainly left a bad taste.
It's only good point was the contention that politicians use fear to manipulate people.