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The Ruins | 
 enlarge | Author: Scott Smith
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
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Rating:  963 reviews
Sales Rank: 146512
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 528
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.5
ISBN: 030727828X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780307278289
ASIN: 030727828X
Publication Date: July 31, 2007
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Amazon.com
In 1993, Scott Smith wowed readers with A Simple Plan, his stunning debut thriller about what happens when three men find a wrecked plane and bag stuffed with over 4 million dollars--a book that Stephen King called "Simply the best suspense novel of the year!" Now, thirteen years after writing a novel that turned into a pretty great movie featuring Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton, Smith is back, with The Ruins, a horror-thriller about four Americans traveling in Mexico who stumble across a nightmare in the jungle. Who better to tell readers if Smith has done it again than the undisputed King of Horror (and champion of Smith's first book)? We asked Stephen King to read The Ruins and give us his take. Check out his review below. --Daphne Durham
Guest Reviewer: Stephen King
 Stephen King is the author of too many bestselling books to name here, but some of our favorites include: Cell, The Stand, On Writing, The Shining, and the entire Dark Tower series. King also received the National Book Foundation 2003 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, has had many movies and television miniseries adapted from his novels, short stories, and screenplays, and is a regular columnist for Entertainment Weekly. Keep your eyes peeled for Lisey's Story (October 2006), a new television series on TNT based on Nightmares & Dreamscapes (July 2007), and a graphic novel series based on the Dark Tower books coming from Marvel (2007).
When I heard that Scott Smith was publishing a new novel this summer, I felt the way I did when my kids came in an hour or two late from their weekend dates: a combination of welcoming relief (thank God you're back) mingled with exasperation and anger (where the hell have you been?). Well, it's only a book, you say, and maybe that's true, but Scott Smith is a singularly gifted writer, and it seems to me that the twelve years between his debut--the cult smash A Simple Plan--and his return this summer with The Ruins is cause for exasperation, if not outright anger. Certainly Smith, who has been invisible save for his Academy Award-nominated screenplay for the film version of A Simple Plan, will have some 'splainin to do about how he spent his summer vacation. Make that his last twelve summer vacations. But enough. The new book is here, and the question devotees of A Simple Plan will want answered is whether or not this book generates anything like Plan's harrowing suspense. The answer is yes. The Ruins is going to be America's literary shock-show this summer, doing for vacations in Mexico what Jaws did for beach weekends on Long Island. Is it as successful and fulfilling as a novel? The answer is not quite, but I can live with that, because it's riskier. There will be reviews of this book by critics who have little liking or understanding for popular fiction who'll dismiss it as nothing but a short story that has been bloated to novel length (I'm thinking of Michiko Kakutani, for instance, who microwaved Smith's first book). These critics, who steadfastly grant pop fiction no virtue but raw plot, will miss the dazzle of Smith's technique; The Ruins is the equivalent of a triple axel that just misses perfection because something's wrong with the final spin. It's hard to say much about the book without giving away everything, because the thing is as simple and deadly as a leg-hold trap concealed in a drift of leaves…or, in this case, a mass of vines. You've got four young American tourists--Eric, Jeff, Amy, and Stacy--in Cancun. They make friends with a German named Mathias whose brother has gone off into the jungle with some archeologists. These five, plus a cheerful Greek with no English (but a plentiful supply of tequila), head up a jungle trail to find Mathias's brother…the archaeologists…and the ruins. Well, two out of three ain't bad, according to the old saying, and in this case; what's waiting in the jungle isn't just bad, it's horrible. Most of The Ruins's 300-plus pages is one long, screaming close-up of that horror. There's no let-up, not so much as a chapter-break where you can catch your breath. I felt that The Ruins did draw on a trifle, but I found Scott Smith's refusal to look away heroic, just as I did in A Simple Plan. It's the trappings of horror and suspense that will make the book a best seller, but its claim to literature lies in its unflinching naturalism. It's no Heart of Darkness, but at its suffocating, terrifying, claustrophobic best, it made me think of Frank Norris. Not a bad comparison, at that. One only hopes Mr. Smith won't stay away so long next time.--Stephen King
Product Description
Trapped in the Mexican jungle, a group of friends stumble upon a creeping horror unlike anything they could ever imagine.
Two young couples are on a lazy Mexican vacation–sun-drenched days, drunken nights, making friends with fellow tourists. When the brother of one of those friends disappears, they decide to venture into the jungle to look for him. What started out as a fun day-trip slowly spirals into a nightmare when they find an ancient ruins site . . . and the terrifying presence that lurks there.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 958 more reviews...
 "You can end up not living the life you'd meant to." July 18, 2006
Luan Gaines (Dana Point, CA USA)
177 out of 305 found this review helpful
Thrust into a life and death situation, survivors immediately begin planning their means of escape, committed to life; the others surrender to their fear, losing ground in those few vital moments. The characters in The Ruins face more than the usual problems, a threat that is all but incomprehensible, increasingly complex obstacles that require more than the usual human response to danger.
Two vacationing couples in the Yucatan Peninsula, Jeff and Amy, Eric and Stacy, are enjoying the last week of their vacation before settling into their lives in the real world. They have made friends, Matthias, a German, in Cozumel, and three jolly Greeks in Cancun, all of them reveling in the sun-baked beaches and festive nights of the country. When Matthias' brother, Henrich, runs off to an archaeological dig with the new love of his life, Matthias decides to take an impromptu day-trip to locate him, using the rough map Henrich left behind. The two American couples and the only sober Greek agree to accompany Matthias, expecting an adventure.
Following the map with some difficulty, the six young people hire a taxi to deliver them to the site, not dissuaded when the driver remarks that this is not a good place. Hopping from the taxi with the few supplies they've packed, the six set out on their search, blissfully unaware of what awaits them, the invisible enemy not at first apparent; once revealed, the threat is almost too bizarre to comprehend. Of them all, only Jeff and Matthias remain clear-headed, the others falling victim to their emotions, denial increasing with each new test.
What follows defies the imagination. Confronted with the implacability of nature, each character is taxed to the limits of his resources, trapped in a nightmare that defies logic. In A Simple Plan, Smith peeled away the layers of duplicity and greed of his protagonists; The Ruins moves even further into the unknown, exploring man's ability to survive enormous odds, the fracturing of community and the stunning revelation of helplessness when faced with the unimaginable. Luan Gaines/2006.
So blasted good I couldn't put it down... July 19, 2006
Robert Busko (Waynesville, NC USA)
80 out of 159 found this review helpful
Wow. It seems futile to try and review The Ruins by Scott Smith after Stephen King has given it such a wonderful pat on the back. Its like following the most popular keynote speaker ever at a gala function when all you have to give the crowd is information about parking or some other benign subject. Oh well.
I was a terrific fan of A Simple Plan. I might be the only person on the face of the planet that was disappointed in the movie. As good as it was it paled when compared to the book. I think The Ruins is similar to A Simple Plan in that the author relies on the reader's ability to stay up with the plot. Smith writes for an intelligent reader and doesn't play to cheap tricks with the plot.
The Ruins takes four American tourists on the trip of their lives. They meet a mysterious German named Mathias who is looking for his brother who has disappeared into the Mexican back country. This is the only part of the story that I have a problem with. What would the average American do while in a strange and foreign land when invited to trek off to the boonies looking for someone they don't know? Hmmm. Well, we wouldn't have a book if they'd behaved sensibly would we?
Off they go and here is where Smith shines. Like any good creative genius he turns the heat up slowly, allowing the suspense to build gradually. King is right. Some critics will blame Smith for dragging the story out because of this style but don't listen.
The Ruins is unique in the genre and hard to draw comparisons to other books. The best way to experience The Ruins is not listen to what anyone says but to read the book on your own. You won't be disappointed.....I wasn't.
 The Ruins will ruin a good nights sleep! July 21, 2006
Joe Grundig (USA)
76 out of 102 found this review helpful
After reading Brumfield's cult classic thriller, A Tourist In The Yucatan I could not wait for Scott Smiths' "The Ruins." It promised to be another thriller set in the jungles of the Yucatan. As you can tell from the other reviews, this is not a thriller but a very creepy horror story about a group of friends who head out into the jungle to a mysterious Mayan ruin site, only to meet the ultimate horrors! "The Ruins" is a true page turner that builds to an awesome mind bending conclusion. But what really keeps the story together are the different characters and how each reacts to the situation (sorry to be so cryptic, but I don't want to say too much and ruin the surprises!-- In fact be careful reading through some of the other reviews as they give away too much). If you are a fan of Stephen Kings better suspense/horror books then this is the book for you!
A remarkably good horror book, hard to forget February 3, 2007
Schtinky (California)
55 out of 78 found this review helpful
Two couples, Amy and Jeff, Stacy and Eric, travel to Cancun for a month before going off to college. They meet up with Mathias, a German, who's brother has gone missing. Together, along with a Greek who calls himself Pablo and doesn't speak English or German, they make their way into the heart of the Yucatan, Coba, to look for Henrich.
Warned by locals, by their taxi driver, and by the Mayans near the archeological dig, the six tramp forward into the jungles, determined to find Henrich. When they step foot onto the archeological site at a vine covered hill, its too late for warnings. Now they're trapped, unprepared for more than a day hike, with no one but the Greek's partners possibly knowing where they are, and the Mayans won't let them leave the hill.
And there's something else on the hill with them, a sinister presence of hunger and evil that lurks inside the beautiful vines. Trapped, thirsty, hungry, alone, and frightened, the six will desperately try anything to discover the secret of missing Henrich, and what lies in store for the rest of them.
'The Ruins' is the most languidly chilling jungle tale I've read since Jeff Long's 'The Reckoning', and the most scary Yucatan tale since James Brumfield's 'A Tourist In The Yucatan'. Scott Smith has captured the atmosphere of a strange, exotic land, the horror that envelops futility, and the unsettling sense of when sanity slips away - when a human life is measured by a slice of orange. He captures every detail of thought and action without slipping into boredom or redundancy.
I felt like I was right there in the heat and the vines with them, felt the languid, creeping dread, tasted the senselessness of imprudent action and fruitless inaction. 'The Ruins' is a true horror tale, splattered with just enough gore to keep you smacking your lips. No wonder Stephen King recommended this book, its far greater than anything he's written in the last several years. If you're a true aficionado of horror, this book is a MUST HAVE for your collection. 10 Stars. Enjoy!
What horrible secretes do the ruins hold? July 19, 2006
Bill Pullman (USA)
37 out of 47 found this review helpful
I could not pass up reading the Advanced readers copy of this book offered to me by the publisher! For one I really liked "A Simple Plan" and on top of that the Yucatan is one of my favorite places in the world and I have toured many of the ruin sites. The book cannot help but keep your interest given the well drawn characters and the almost non-stop horror and gore once the book gets rolling. It also mixes in equal amounts of mystery and suspense. The authors description of the settings is detailed and atmospheric, but I think he could have done a better job mixing the ancient Maya culture and mythology into the story (this probably won't bother most people). I also thought the story goes on a bit too long, but the suspense needle stays high enough to keep you turning pages. The excessive gore might be a bit much for some readers, but those that don't mind a little blood with their horror should be satisfied. Also readers familiar with the area should get a kick out of this book.
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