Search - The Ruins

If I ever read another book by this author again, it will be because there is no more civilization, and I have run out of cereal boxes.
If you want things to be resolved in the end,there to be some purpose of the horror,and somebody to get out alive...don't read this book.

Vacationers get trapped in Mexico by stepping onto the wrong hill. Horror novel, seems the author wrote it hoping it would be turned into a movie. If so it would be a B-movie. Anyway, the action is fairly slow - once they figure out what is trapping them, nothing much happens any more, except the inevitable, of course. Put near the bottom of your stack of books-to-read.

WHERE ARE THE EDITORS?
A compelling premise when combined with stereotypical, static characters results in a 319-page interminable read. Sadly, I find almost every book lately is an overblown short story. If memory serves Stephen King already did a similar tale with his usual panache, perhaps explaining his favorable review. See if you don't agree this book should have been trimmed by half, thereby ramping up the tension and reader enjoyment, as well as freeing time better spent on more deserving books.

put it this way dont waste your time reading this book ,it sucks ! Lol

Too plodding, too predictable and, a too obvious ending. I can't believe I lasted till the end. I should have tossed away half way through. The only good thing was that I bought it for adollar at Half Price Books.

After reading Scott Smith's first novel, A Simple Plan (1993), I was enthused about the promise of this novelist. My enthusiasm was heightened when I sought out the short story published earlier in the New Yorker upon which A Simple Plan is based. Ready to become an avid Scott Smith fan, I was eager for Smith's next novel, The Ruins (2006). What a disappointment. The plot is weak and not very credible and hardly supports the operatic length of this novel that should have been a short story. The title is apt because the poor character development alone is ruinous. Smith's writing is engaging enough but this story falls short of his first novel by leaps. Hopefully the author will focus more sharply on his next novel. Then I may once again believe in this talented writer's potential promise. Save your money. If you're looking for a good horror story read instead Dan Simmons's A Winter Haunting or Michael Laimo's Deep in the Darkness.