The Ruins

From all the hype I heard/read, I expected a much better novel.

No. Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad. Why did not somebody tell the author that this was a deeply stupid idea. And yet I listened to the entire thing hoping something would happen. Sheesh...

Well its very graphic and allthough i saw the movie i enjoyed the book more the ending is a little different though

Patrick Wilson did a wonderful job narrating this book. It was brutal, yet so calming. If you like gore and horror, this is definitely a must-read/listen!

Beware this is the abridged version of the book although it is not noted on this app anywhere.

Wow.It's been a long, long time since I've come across a book that's as "un-put-down-able" as this one.Four recent college grads (two couples) are partying in Cancun as a last fling kind of thing ... among the people the meet up with is a German guy, who is on vacation with his brother. The brother has met a girl, who happens to be down in Mexico on an archeological dig. Naturally, when the girl leaves Cancun for the jungle the brother goes with her.And the other German convinces the couple and a fifth guy, a Greek who doesn't speak any English, to go looking for his brother. It's supposed to be some kind of adventure.When they get to the site though, they find a mysterious Mayan village and a pretty horrible situation that I can't go into w/o including spoilers.I can say that the book is absolutely gripping. When you consider this and A Simple Plan, I'm just amazed at how good Smith is at grabbing and holding your attention.Highly recommended.

This was a very scary book but a bit unbelievable. It was a page turner with a lot of tension and hard to put down. I find Scott Smith's writing very entertaining and I would definitely check out his next book. I would recommend this book to those who like a good adventure story.

I did enjoy it, but there was really no character development and the characters that you did get to know were somewhat unlikeable. Still a good story and worthwhile read if you enjoy horror/ suspense

Fast paced and interesting but nothing particularly special for me. I think I was hoping for a more interesting twist or for the group to make better choices.

3.5
A pretty good book. I’ve previously seen the movie, the ending is different.

It was ok. The characters really drove me nuts. Good story tho.

The classic trend of horror writing being “chiller thrillers” is something of a scarcity these days, so when news of Scott Smith’s first novel since his psychological masterpiece – A Simple Plan – reached me, I was pretty excited. There was little to indicate the plot of this title, apart from a non-descript blurb and even the publishers weren’t giving much away. To most, this would seem almost lazy, but the real reason came when I found myself totally lured in by the book – the fear factor which is derived from the slow unravelling of the tale. It centres around 6 young tourists –Amy, Mathias, Jeff, Pablo, Eric and Stacy - who venture into the Mexican jungle to investigate some ancient Mayan ruins and find one of the travellers’ lost brother who has been missing there for some time. After a long hike and some wrong turns, they arrive at a secluded hill, covered in seductive flowering vines. However, as they begin to investigate further, a group of Mayans arrives with guns and bows to warn them away, until one of the 6 accidentally steps upon one of the vines. Consequently forced up onto the hill by the Mayans, the 6 find they have to survive not only the elements, but the horror of the hill itself. This is psychological horror – a story which really got into my head and has stayed there ever since. Not knowing what is going to happen, the lengths they must go to survive and what the true terror that keeps them captive, is where the tension lies and the story focuses on the survivors individual fears and mindsets in turn, each giving a fresh perspective – the German efficiency of Mathias, the boy scout approach of Jeff, the pleading hopefulness of Amy. The slow build and the true unpleasantness which will come in the latter half of this book will not make this ideal for those with a weak disposition. For those looking to be scared, this is the stuff nightmares are made of!

A decent horror story line. But about 2/3's of the book could be edited out as not adding anything except length. I understand why Stephen King was able to write a good review ... it is a good story. Predictable plot and ending with no great aha moments. Kind of boring, but still creepy.

Didn't care for it. The path of the story was predictable.

This is the 2nd time I tried to finish this audiobook. Why I tried again, maybe the end of my bout with the flu, fever induced temporary insanaity...I don't know. I do know the unrealistic dialog and actions of the characters, coupled with the poor reading of the narrator, made window washing more tempting than continuing with this bore. Together, the amateurish attempts of both the author and narrator became a perfect zero for readers offering nothing a 8th grader couldn't do and to be honest, do better. It once again became penance for me, so now I'm off to find the windex for attempting this terrible read twice.

The title is a bit of a misnomer - there aren't really any ruins to speak of, just a hill with a mine shaft in it. It IS horrific, though, when a group of tourists end up on this hill and aren't allowed to leave. These tourists aren't particularly brave, which makes this horror novel interesting. Rather than being about a group of heroes who rise up and face the terror head on, The Ruins seems to be about normal people who end up in a terrible situation. It was kind of refreshing, because as annoyed as I was with everyone, I realized that it was probably a lot more true-to-life than most books and movies in this genre. It only gets three stars instead of four because it did move pretty slowly, and I kept waiting for something MORE to happen. I do, though, like that it doesn't answer all the questions it presents - it's certainly creepier and more enjoyable in its ambiguity.

Enjoyable brew of clueless gringos, malevolent Mayan jungle, and spectacularly bad decisions resulting in a grueling, grim and gory horror. We spend too much time inside the wide open spaces of the characters’ heads imo, and viewing the same events from different perspectives, but it’s all the more satisfying when the gruesome conclusion arrives. Original choice of antagonist/creature in this one.

This was good, but so, so, so, so, so gross.

The slow and inedible demise of the characters pulls you in. The characters make you stay until the end.

It's October, so I'm reading horror and watching scary movies. This was my first horror novel this month and I chose it by watching several vlogs about people's top 10 or so picks for scariest books ever. Several chose this book and I was intrigued. Although, I'm glad I read it - just so I now know what it's like - I thought it was average. This may have much to do with my age and expectations, which were high given all the recommendations, but I found it predictable and a bit annoying. And not very scary. The only time I was very nervous was when they descended into the mine... I thought the book could have used more of that angle, but that's just me. We all have different fears and this one just didn't touch on mine.

It still gets three stars for decent writing, an original story, and not pulling any punches in the end.

The psychological parts of this were amazing. The monster a little ridiculous. But it's a good, solid, horror novel.

A book with a slightly misleading title, in that it led me to expect adventurers finding something terrible buried beneath the earth or in some old tomb. If I say it’s about a strange vine, no doubt many will want to move on, but this book’s saving grace and what lifts it above B-Movie status is it’s so well written. There’s no letup, and no doubt left in the reader’s mind. The narrative draws you into the characters’ plight, makes you root for them regardless of their personalities. Makes the reader plead for a rescue. The narrative, sadness, predicament, and dread are simply relentless. This completes for a read of the year.

This review contains no spoilers, no specifics, just generalities.

I have nothing good at all to say about this book, one of the worst stinkeroos I've ever had the misfortune to stumble across. I can't believe it was ever even published. It's junk like this that make me feel that no matter how bad my writing is, if drivel like this can earn money, than there is no reason why anything I slap together can't make money.

Horror story? Nope. Didn't scare me one bit. Didn't even make me uneasy. Extended character study? Yep. But did it make me care about a single character? Nope. Maybe it was the author's intent to people his novel with an entire cast of throw-away characters. If so, then the book was a raging technical success.

Strangely, the movie trailer does look good compared to the book. This is surely a case where the movie has to be better than the book. The only other example of this I ever found was the movie Excalibur. Great movie, bad book. (20+ years later, I'm still not convinced that the duo Gil Kane and John Jakes could write their way out of a paper bag, although John Jakes did a fine job with North and South. Kane must've been the limiting facter in Excalibur.)

There are two reasons why I finished it: 1. Instead of actually reading a book, I mostly listen to books on tape, and I have a very hard time finding stuff at libraries that I want to listen to (can't afford to buy/rent books on tape). I usually end up listening to books of which I would never have read the hard copy. 2. Everything about the story was so bad that I naively thought there had to be a gold nugget hidden somewhere because, after all, the stupid thing WAS published. I kept thinking that the next chapter would take off like a literary rocket and the auther would finally deliver on the promise made by the praise heaped on the silly thing on the cover. Never happened. Nunca.

Wait... I just thought of something good to say. All aspiring writers should be encouraged, even emboldened, by this terrible little novel whose only horror lies in its horrible failure. Truly, if this is all it takes to make a name for oneself and to get a movie deal, then dazzling success is just right around the corner for all of us.

I'd love to hear from someone who liked this book. Anyone. Maybe they can explain to me what I missed in about 10 hours of listening.

In spite of the mixed reviews, I read this book because I found a hardcover copy for 10 cents at a library book sale. At this low, low price, the book wasn't such a bad investment, I could probably turn around and sell it for $2.

There are too many holes in the plot and I found it very hard to maintain my suspension of disbelief.

I don't understand the people who found this book so horrifying.......the scariest thing about this book was all the tiresome, monotonous,unending, tedius tedium of a bunch of twenty somethings bickering with each other. Yap, yap, yap, yapping yappers like annoying ankle biting dogs; these characters were constantly having conversations and thoughts that became more boring as the story progressed. Pedro was a sympathetic character because he had no dialog or POV role. Mathias was the most likable of the characters with a voice; simply because he was the most sensible, had the best survival skills and again, no POV insights.

Hmmmmm; the vine. At times it seems invincible, but at other times oddly powerless. A bit of explanation about the vine and its properties would have gone a lot further toward building some atmosphere and a sense of menace and doom. The idea of a sentient carnivorous plant is intriguing and could have been quite frightening, so something went wrong here.

Where is Lieutenant Bill Kilgore when you really need him?

I know a film version of this book exists. I have not seen it. I am tempted, however, to get a copy and ..........edit it a little. End it quickly, and in a spectacular fashion, as soon as the unfortunates realize that they are trapped and doomed. Toss in the Apocalypse Now footage of jungle exploding into napalm hell and end with a great quote, maybe from Tony Soprano ........wait, no, Al Pacino from Scarface......."well, looka you now, you stupida facking vine....."

I digress. Anyway, I gave it 1 star for a reason; it was ok. Read it, don't read, it doesn't matter. It might not even be a waste of time, because the possibility exists that you might waste your time reading a much worse book than this one.

If you do read it, I have one suggestion. People who live in a cold northern climate would do well to read it during the frozen depths of winter. It will be like a vicarious tropical vacation to visit the steamy jungles of the Yucatan. Also, if you start to feel a little scared, you can just look out the window at the 7 degrees Fahrenheit snow crusted tundra that is your landscape and chuckle to yourself, "Survive that, bitch" and you will feel safe and secure.

There are books that produce physical sensations. Some cause dizziness, others exasperate, and others bring pleasure. I’m not speaking figuratively, but about concrete physical reactions. I’ve read very boring books that generated a very specific state of nervousness (close to anger). Well, THE RUINS, by Scott Smith, also produced a specific sensation in me: suffocation. As I progressed through the reading, I felt as though I was drowning, to the point of despairing. Fear, at times, produces things like that. This doesn’t usually happen to me with stories, so I thank Smith for what he did.

THE RUINS tells the story of Jeff, Amy, Eric, and Stacy, a group of American friends who go on vacation to Mexico, where they meet Mathias (a young German who traveled with his brother) and a group of Greeks who call themselves Pablo, Juan, and Don Quixote. After Mathias recounts how his brother abandoned him in the middle of Cancun to pursue an archaeologist woman he had fallen in love with, Jeff offers to go look for him. Amy, Stacy, and Eric reluctantly agree, and Pablo, who doesn’t speak a word of English, joins them not quite knowing why. The terror begins once the young people find the archaeologists' camp, set up on a hill covered by a strange plant with red flowers. The problem is that the plant is not a common one, but a unique, murderous, intelligent, and relentless species, guarded by a small village of Mayan descendants. There is a thin line that divides the plant from the rest of the world, and once one crosses to the other side, the Mayans ensure that there is no turning back. On one side, the natives with their weapons, on the other, the plant with its voracious appetite. And there, the young people, doing everything possible to survive.

The novel is very good. The fact that it is not divided into chapters (it is only separated by blank spaces which, more than dividing the story, allows it to continue according to the perspective of the different American characters) contributes to that feeling of suffocation. There is no respite. The story goes on and on without rest, in a race that has no turning back. Had I not had other obligations, I would have read the four hundred pages in one go (though, well, I read them in two sittings). What this author achieved with a group of characters and a single setting is truly interesting. The desperation of the young people is contagious and makes us wonder what we would do in a similar situation. For the first time in my life, I felt that I would be capable of committing suicide. If I were in those kids' place, I think that would be the only thing I could do. I suppose that’s another thing I should thank Smith for.

Finally, after reading the book, I sat down to watch the movie. I don’t usually do that, but since the adaptation and script were by Scott Smith, I decided to give it a try. Undoubtedly, I made a mistake. The movie simplifies the story to the extreme: a character's presence is reduced and what characters do in the novel, others do in the movie. The ending, of course, is different (more in line with what is expected from a Hollywood movie), and the suffocation I mentioned earlier disappears completely. (Translated from Spanish)

This book delivers what it promises. It's not the kind of book I usually read but was part a back-up supply that was given to me. Was I in for a surprise...it was hard to put down. Thank you, Scott Smith, for a great book. I'm looking forward to A Simple Plan.

Jeff and Amy and Scott and Stacy are two couples spending three weeks in Cancun, Mexico after graduation from college. While on the beach, they make friends with a German and three Greeks. Matthias, the German, is concerned about his brother who has been missing for several days. He left a note for Matthias before leaving to work on an archaeological dig and never returned. When Matthias searched his room, he discovered his brother had left behind a map of his intended destination. The two couples, along with one of the Greeks, decide to go look for him.

There are plenty of reasons for them to go back to Cancun but they ignore them in their concern for Matthias' brother. The trip takes a fatal turn when they reach the Mayan village that guards the ruins. They can't tell if they're ignored because of language differences or if the villagers are just unfriendly. Unable to find the archaeological site on the map, they begin to backtrack along their route, discovering discovering a hidden path and the hill with the archaeologists' tents. When they find the remains of one of the archaeologists, they decide to return to Cancun to inform the authorities. The villagers refuse to let the outsiders come down from the hill, forcing them to confront a mysterious carnivorous vined plant.

The Ruins is a solid horror novel that really shows how a relationship can turn ugly during a crisis. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone looking for a great plot with a creepy undertone. What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico.

A good story, it must be said, for the morbid. I liked the pace of the story's development, and even more the ending. (Translated from Spanish)

Incredible! That's how I can define this read. I firmly believe that this is the ideal book for any lover of horror and mystery. It's not that the story is very complex, but it is very original and filled with enormous tension. Although I should clarify that the interesting part of the plot happens after the first 150 pages, so if readers don't have prior knowledge of this book, many might abandon it before reaching the intriguing part of the story. That said, let me share what I liked most about this book. To begin with, I love horror stories featuring young protagonists, because you undoubtedly know that someone (or a few) will end up dead. Second: The plot itself is very good; it presents an ancient evil that has survived for hundreds of years, adapting to become an effective hunter. Third: each of the deaths that occurs in this book is incredible and terrifying; I really managed to get into the skin of each character and feel their fear, terror, and desperation. And it was these sensations that kept me hooked to the story from beginning to end. Although the best part of this story is undoubtedly the way the writer immerses us in the mystery surrounding the ruins and the Mayans; you literally can’t stop reading until you understand what is happening. Additionally, I want to mention that this book has a film adaptation, which is very faithful; although the events happen to different characters, the essential plot of the story remains, so I also recommend watching it. And before I go, I want to tell you that if you have read the book “To the Bone” by J.R. Johansson, you will love this book. (Translated from Spanish)

So bleak. Very realistic - I like the nods to popular culture about horror films, but so very bleak.