The Ruins

Written by Scott Smith

Narrated by Patrick Wilson

HE EAGERLY AWAITED NEW THRILLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF A SIMPLE PLAN

Eerie, terrifying, and unputdownable, The Ruins is Scott Smith's first novel since his acclaimed debut A Simple Plan earned rave reviews and stormed bestseller lists.

The Ruins follows two American couples enjoying a pleasant, lazy beach holiday together in Mexico. On an impulse, they go off with newfound friends in search of one of their group -- the young German, who, in pursuit of a girl, has headed for the remote Mayan ruins, site of a fabled archeological dig.

This is what happens from the moment the searchers -- moving into the wild interior -- begin to suspect that there is an insidious, horrific "other" among them....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jul 18, 2006
• ISBN: 9780743563444

Scott Smith

Scott Smith was educated at Dartmouth College and Columbia University. He lives in New York City.

Reviews for The Ruins

[Nina Quartuccio · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

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 of 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.

[Jason Doerr · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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

[Christine Kunkowski · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

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...

[slmr4242 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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

[Delmindi Jacobs · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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

[Robyn Faryna · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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!

[Dan Andriola · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

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

[kromestomes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[Rachel k · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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

[Seff Liddell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[Madara Sprūde · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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

[Lana Riddick · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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

[diehardkev · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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!

[deldevries · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

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.

[Jacob · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

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

[brookeashley-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[paroof · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[yarb_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[chibitika-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

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.

[caanderson-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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

[jessicareadsthings · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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

[sharonmariabidwell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[equestrienne · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

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.

[jeanbmac · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book is a horror novel. Four friends are vacationing in Cancun when they meet a German who says his brother is missing. The brother had met a woman who was on an archeological dig and went to the dig with her. He has not returned. The four friends, Eric and Stacy, Jeff and Amy, along with Mathias, go to search for the brother. The ruins are 13 miles from a town that they traveled to by bus from Cancun. When they reach the area, they are warned away from going up the hill to the ruins, however they don't heed the warnings. From there, everything goes downhill for them. They are held prisoner on the hill due to its sinister nature. This was a very far-fetched story, but I suppose that is what made it horror. The stupidity of these 4 people to go off searching for a missing person without notifying anyone of their plans, or even having a plan, was so irresponsible. I felt the story dragged on and on and I couldn't wait for it to be over. This book was not for me. #TheRuins #ScottBSmith

[readingover50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a very entertaining book. The plot was not very believable, but a lot of fun.

[rsplenda477 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I would ideally like to give this book 3.5/5 stars. It's definitely a solid nature and survival horror novel. It's a slow burner and the terror strikes in unexpected places and ways that are thrilling. Some of the character's thought processes during their ordeal were incredibly thought out and delivered to the point where I could see myself imagining the same things. However, there were times when the story and plot dragged along without any momentum. There were also times when the characters behaved and did things in stereotypical and frustrating ways that left me thoroughly unconvinced. Still, this is worth any horror fan's time.

[ron18-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A recent "best horror novels" list contained The Ruins in the top 10, and I was dubious. I'd started the book years ago - and abandoned it when I thought it was too cheesy. Someone earnestly asked me to give it another chance - so I did. It got prime reading real estate as my early October horror novel.

I moved through it pretty quickly. I'd prefer to give it a 3.5 star rating - I don't think it warrants an 80% perfect - but it was fun enough, so I rounded up.

The book is capably written, in that you do become fairly invested in the characters - and they aren't two dimensional. It knowingly plays with some tropes, and does horror fans the favor of avoiding cliches at a lot of turns, and playfully neutralizing some assumptions and details with expository writing.

It isn't easy to end horror novels. They so often have lousy, predictable outcomes - Ruins does a half decent job, and it could have been a good deal worse.

I would personally liked to know more about the history and motives of some significant secondary characters (an entire community, in fact) - and of the threat faced by the protagonists… but they are left under-defined.

A few stand-out moments recall scenes from The Thing.

I don't know if it would rank on my 101 favorite horror novels - - but it may well do, for the fact that so many books in this genre are barely readable. I hate to leave on a faint praise note, and will remind you that I rounded to 4 stars. If it isn't your cup of tea - rest assured, it's a fast read.

[wordsampersand · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I remember hearing some negative buzz when this book came out, mostly from frequent shoppers at the bookstore I worked at. After reading this, I can see why a lot of people didn't like it: it's horror centered on what happens when normal people get in over their heads (nothing good in this case). Bad things happen with very few answers.