The Ruins

By: Scott Smith

Narrated by: Patrick Wilson

Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

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

©2006 Scott Smith. All rights reserved (P)2006 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"A stunning horror thriller." (Publishers Weekly
"The book of the summer....Smith intends to scare the bejabbers out of you, and succeeds." (Stephen King)
"If you love ABC's Lost and the novels of King and Thomas Harris, you'll love this book." (USA Today)

Good but could be better.

Innovative idea, nice plot, not bad really for a mystery thriller. But a bit too much pseudo psychology; sometimes not much going on in terms of action but instead you are treated to lengthy descriptions of what the guy A thinks and feels, then we switch to the guy B, then C... And they are all sitting on the same clearing... Thanks God there were not like 50 of them. If you can live wiyth these little shortcoming it still makes for enjoyable audiobook. I hoped it'd be a bit different (I don't want to say "better", it's probably a difference in expectations not the quality of the book) but still I don't regret buying it.

disappointing

After waiting years for Scott Smith to write another book on the same superb level as 'A Simple Plan,' I was unbelievably disappointed by 'The Ruins.' The characters were simplistic, the plot repetitive and not compelling in the slightest, the book lacking completely in suspense. His depiction of the Mayan people bordered on insulting and was inaccurate, as were the descriptions of the jungle, its vegetation and animal life. It seems as if he chose a location of which he had no knowledge. His characters, particularly the women, were one-sided and unbelievable. I have known several Eagle Scouts and not one would have reacted to the situation as described nor missed opportunities to help themselves. The surgical situations were also unbelievable. Unless lacking in nerve endings, the young man's responses to the surgery were inaccurate and flat out annoying.

What all of this points to is sloppy research (or no research at all) in addition to to a lack of interest of the writer's part in the subject matter. I still hold hope that Scott Smith will write another masterpiece, but I'm not holding my breath.

Engaging

Entertaining story with believable characters. A great story for a long ride, or while puttering around the house. The plot is interesting without being overly complicated, and the pacing is steady.

amazing

So sad. so very very sad. Such a disastrous story. But unbelievably gripping to say the least!

Decent enough if you're a horror buff

It's really not a great book. The writing is pretty uninspired and the story is unoriginal, but Patrick Wilson's narration is very well done and, you know, you just wanna see how these things end 🤷‍♂️

A grisly and flat experience

Underwhelming story and characters. Interesting premise and good narration. Patrick Wilson does as good a job he can with such flat characters.

Quite a long ride

The star of this story is the Vine. Everyone else, while not irritating, was just bland. The ending felt sort of rushed, but there were no loose ends.

unexpectedly scary

I was living under a rock before I bought this book. I picked it simply on the recommendation of Stephen King. I had no idea that this was going to be one brilliant horror novel. Because I didn't really read much about it before buying it, I was surprised in all the right parts. I won't go on about the plot here, but I will say if you like a good thriller, I would highly recommend this book. The characters are very well developed - quite a few of them I felt like I knew. In fact, I'm sure people in my own life mirror some in this group.

The ending is not predictable. The entire book kept me on edge for the whole ride. The narration was top-notch. I can't think of a single thing that spoiled this one for me. Check it out for yourself.

Give it a chance.

I almost didn't listen to it because of the negative reviews but honestly really enjoyed this audiobook.

Warning go back

If ever one were to learn more languages this would be that story. Great book,it is somewhat depressing at times but worth it. Better of course, then the movie. Narrator was perfect. Read this one now