Book Reviews of 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.

Good premise, but disappointing execution.

I am not going to be able to finish this one. It's too morbid for my tastes. Very Steven King-ish.

I kept reading thinking that something big was going to happen and surely this can not be what the entire book is about....I was wrong. Scott Smith's over book, A Simple Plan, was an entirely different, and enjoyable read.

I agree with Howard on this one. Great premise but very poorly written. Could have been a great one if written by someone else.
I was very disappointed.

Christa

"The best horror novel of the new century." - Stephen King
I agree! The plot, characterizations, and overall storyline are written in the vein and caliber of King's earlier works, which I think is some of his most creepy and terrifying stuff. Scott Smith is excellent at creating ficticious horror and making it feel chillingly real. I always thought I would like to visit the ancient ruins in the jungles of Mexico. Now? Uh....maybe not!

Slow in the beginning but picks up. Graphic. Would of liked a little more
explained but still a pretty good read.

This book will suck you right into its story. Scott Smith has written a thoughtful and horrifying novel that you will not put down until you are finished. But even then, the story won't be finished with you....

This book reminded me a great deal of Stephen King. This is the first book of Scott Smith's that I have read and I am hooked.
The story, although original, reminded me of Stephen King's "The Dreamcatcher". It gave me an indepth look at each character without being boring and put me in their shoes in the plot.
Sometimes, the story was like watching a train wreck. You did not want to look, but you could not turn away,either. I read it in two days and I am not a fast reader.

Marion

"The Ruins" is all suspense -- it's like a steady uphill climb, with no release until the very end. The characters are collections of traits; they never felt like real people, and I never cared about any of them. There's no tragedy without hope; and (regardless of how it ends) this story never felt the least bit hopeful. It felt like the characters were screwed from the word "go." Not recommended.

Annoying characters combined with plodding and pointless narrative made this the worst book I've read in a long while. I felt like nothing happened in the first thirty-bajillion (roughly) pages of the book, and then Mr. Smith took just forty pages to wrap everything up. Very uneven.

After the first chapter, I wanted to throw this book into a wall... I should always follow my instincts.

I cant believe Stephen king really called this,"the best horro book of the year" Very readable, but average at best. Um the "scary" monster really isnt very scary, and the characters might as well be typecast puppets. Kinda silly book if you ask me. In fact I was hoping they would get killed a lot faster than they did. 500 pages to nowhere.

This is the book that the movie is based on. It is a good scary read and if the movie is anything like the book at all I'm not going to see it! Like Stephen King's "Misery" it is a cannot put it down until it's finished. Just make sure you start reading it early in the morning and -- unless you have a houseful of people -- don't read it alone at night!

I rarely read horror, but Scott Smith is the exception. The book was a page turner. I liked his character development and the creative scenarios.
I did like a Simple Plan much more (movie and the book). Definitely worth reading - hey Stephen King likes him!

This book was just made into a movie (released April 2008, I believe). It's a horror novel in the tradition of Stephen King--be prepared for gore and general ickiness. A good beach read.

If you like Stephen King, you'll like this author too!

It starts off kinda slow but picks up fast. It can get a bit gruesome in some parts but a good read over all.

If you like horror books this is the one to read. Beats Stephen King. Will make you think twice before taking a walk in the woods.

Sci-fi type thriller that I found depressing. Group in the woods, people die, can't say why ...

All books leave us with something. Will be looking for Ruins II. Has to be an ending here sometime.

This book was just ok for me. I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I will not be seeing the movie either.

Good thriller!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and just ordered the author's other book, A Simple Plan. More similar to something by James Rollins or John Darnton than anything by Stephen King. A Sci-Fi thriller with a morbid side showing great creativity. I enjoyed this book and don't understand the negative reviews. Scott Smith, I want more!

This was certainly a thrilling and eventful read! I stayed up way too late to finish this book and while it was certainly entertaining, with the feel of a summer horror movie, my complaints run along the same lines. There were not a lot of answers or motivations, no explanation, silly characters... but the biggest twist was the ending. I did find that to be quite refreshing. The next most frustrating thing about the book was that there were no chapters - 500+ pages and not a single chapter, or section divider... no stopping places! Which, I suppose, does help explain why I read it in less than a day.

Great read. Could not put down once started. The movie was good also.

Awesome book! I am going to have to see the movie, although I usually don't like to do that after I've read the book.

Read this book...and it seemed like I was always waiting for it to get better...and never did

good

I loved this book! It was slow in the beginning and I almost stopped reading it but I'm sure glad I kept going. Once the story started moving along, I couldn't put it down.

Group of teenagers on vacation in South America go off the beaten path to visit what they believe is an archaeological dig. They find the site but no people. It's only when they try to leave that they discover what really lies in the ruins. Good plot that puts a twist on supernatural horror.

Good read, lots of tension. More blood and guts than I normally like.

Lame.

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