Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Wade is a high school computer game geek in 2045.  Society has come to revolve around one all-encompassing computer simulation called the OASIS.  When the creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves his company and his vast fortune to whoever can find a hidden "Easter egg" in his program.  Clues to its whereabouts are based on the programmer's life and interests.  Millions of people start the search for the prize initially, but when no progress has been made after five years most people give up the hunt.  Wade is one that doesn't.  When he manages to be the first person to solve the first clue, he sets in motion a series of events that catapult him a few of the other gifted "gunters" into a high stakes game of cat and mouse with the powerful corporation bent on winning the challenge and ruining the OASIS for everyone.

This was one of the most engaging science fiction books I have read in the last decade.  I almost didn't get past the first chapter because I was put off by the main character's gutter language, but the premise of the story and Cline's world building are so compelling I stuck with it.  It turned out to be fast paced and pretty fun.  I reiterate, if you are bothered by profanity this is not the book for you, but if you can get past it this is a great read that begs a lot of philosophical questions about where modern society is headed.  It is not a surprise that they made the book into block-buster movie. (2011, 274 p.)