The Ruins [Mass Market Paperback]

 

 

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Author Scott Smith, whom we haven't heard much of since his smash hit A Simple Plan, has managed to thrill us once again with a novel that gave me chills long into the night. As two couples go off into the wild forests of Mexico, to find their new friend Matthias's missing brother, they embark on a journey that tests their friendships, loyalty and survival skills. What they encounter is 'otherworldly' in nature, a force that is rooted in evil and lurks just beneath the surface. Their vacation becomes the holiday to hell.

Since I read many novels while traveling, I will say this much: I'd never read this book while actually in Mexico. I don't think I'd leave my hotel room! The Ruins will make any traveler to Mexico think twice before setting off into the forest.

Smith combines the right mix of interesting characters with an action-packed plot that is creepy and menacing--a book to be read with the lights on. If you enjoyed A Simple Plan, Scott's novel about a group of friends who find money in a downed plane, you'll find The Ruins even better. This was my favorite!

I highly recommend The Ruins, especially if you enjoy a good thrilling ride, lots of page-turning suspense and enough twists to keep you guessing. Read The Ruins--it is truly bone chilling!

~ Cheryl Kaye Tardif, [.....]

Of course "The Ruins" shows up during the hottest summer in many a years, with the humidity rising and the smell of vegetation heavy in the air. That makes it easier for you to slip into Scott Smith's second novel, mindlessly drinking ice water as you go along to keep some distance between yourself and these ill-fated characters. I am sure the publishing of "The Ruins" in late July is not happenstance, and that I would expect the paperback version (or the movie adaptation) in that same season as well. This is a book to be read outside in the sun. Having it on the nightstand to read a while before going to sleep, would not be appropriate in this case.

Four Americans are visiting Mexico for three weeks in August, hanging out in the Yucatan where the weather is too hot and too humid. Jeff is the one who came up with the idea of a last fling before he and Amy start medical school in the fall, found a good deal on the Internet, and talked Amy into coming along. She convinced her friend Stacy, who convinced her boyfriend Eric. In the Yucatan they are hanging around with Mathias, a German whose younger brother Henrich has gone missing, and a trio of Greeks who do not speak English and who have adopted the Spanish names Pablo, Juan and Don Quixote. With nothing better to do the four and Pablo decide to join Mathias in an attempt to find his brother. It seems Henrich went off with a blond archeologist who was part of a group working on some ruins. Henrich left a crude map for Mathias and on the basis of that they are heading off into the jungle by taxi.

Suffice it to say that things go wrong and leave it to you to discover the why and how bad parts yourself. I am reminded of a line from Harlan Ellison's "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman," when he writes that there was the "sound of tearing paper and fear and the stink of madness went up the flue and there was nothing, absolutely nothing they could do about it"? But the ability of human beings to intellectualize impotence and helplessness is now all it is cracked up to be, which is why "The Ruins" is a tale of survival where survival seems but an illusion. Still, who can live (or die) that way? In a situation where there is not much to do there is not much to write about, so Smith tries to work things out in bits and pieces. I was struck by a conversation in which some of the group try to lighten their collective spirits by imagining that a movie would be made of their story. The talk about who would play each of them quickly descends into how Hollywood would see each of them as stereotypical characters, and what I noticed was that while I would agree they represent such stereotypes, they are not the ones that they think that they are, and I further think that Smith intended this rather subtle bit of irony.

"The Ruins" is one of those books where I am not sure it is a good thing to be holding it in your hands and now you are getting closer to the end. When the psychology of the characters is based on temporal illusions and the effectiveness of the book depends in part on your ability to imagine suffering along with them, knowing the end is near can become a problematic part of the equation. "The Ruins" wants to create a sense of disquiet and it wants that feeling to carry through to the end of the book and the blank pages beyond. Scott is interested in tension and not explanations, and just like with "A Simple Plan" it is clear a defining element of his weltanschauung is that when thinks go bad they go really bad and they go bad pretty quickly. I rounded up on this one in the end because I like the way Smith plays this one out, going for the whimper instead of the bang.

I was hoping for a smart thriller wrapped in the mystery of the Yucatan. What I got was a lot of gore and death with no redeaming features. If you like that kind of thing you'll love this book. It's not that I don't like violent books,I just like there to be a pount. I did enjoy 'A Simple Plan' but this book is no 'Simple Plan.' The book did have me hooked and turning pages at the start, but did not satisfy in the end.

Also recommended: 'A Tourist in the Yucatan' A mystery thriller that has become a cult classic! This book has plenty of violence and sex, but itis part of the story!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Read this Book!
Amazing book. Why does Smith have only 2 books to his name? Nonetheless...Read the ruins, you will not be dissapointed!

Published on Nov 15 2009 by Sleuth Review

5.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes the road less travelled...
will get into a whole heap of trouble. Scott Smith returns with his second novel after the excellent "A Simple Plan". Read more

Published on Aug 28 2009 by Sebastien Lessard

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent book!
Not really knowing what to expect (I had no expectations) I picked up this book, from start to finish I was hooked, it may not be the best horror ever written, but I couldn't put... Read more

Published on May 14 2008 by RoundTheTwist

1.0 out of 5 stars No Ruins, More Torture Porn
This is quite possibly the worst horror novel ever written. I guess there are a lot of sick people out there who get off on torture porn or else we wouldn't have books and movies... Read more

Published on April 21 2008 by beejay

1.0 out of 5 stars What Ruins? What Crap!
Like a trainwreck, this book, possibly the worst novel I have ever read, did keep my attention. I couldn't believe it was as bad as it was and kept thinking that somehow it would... Read more

Published on April 18 2008 by Thomas LaBelle

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay
I read this in a matter of days. I was trying just to get through it. According to the reviews, I pretty much wouldn't want to go on vacation in certain places again. Wrong. Read more

Published on April 10 2008 by Peanut Butter

3.0 out of 5 stars Could've been better
I really thought this book would be better. It was a chore to get through the 500 pages. As for being "the best horror novel on the new century", i beg to differ. Read more

Published on Jan 29 2008 by Thrissur

4.0 out of 5 stars HORRIFIC
You will easily read this book in one, maybe two sittings. It is so deftly written that it's almost breezy, casual. Read more

Published on Dec 31 2007 by R. Penola

5.0 out of 5 stars A MASTERPIECE OF HORROR...
Ever since the since this author blazed across the literary consciousness during the mid 1990s with "A Simple Plan", his blockbuster tale of greed and suspense, fans have been... Read more

Published on Nov 26 2007 by Lawyeraau

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't wate your time or your money!!
I was so excited for this read, but it ended up being totally disappointing. It didnt seem to get remotely interesting until the lst maybe, 100 pages... Read more

Published on Nov 14 2007 by Krystal D. Mcphee

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