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The Ruins

By: Scott Smith
Narrated by: Patrick Wilson
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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)

What listeners say about The Ruins

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

amazing

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

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

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 🤷‍♂️

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

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.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Give it a chance.

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

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Liked the movie, loved the book

I can listen to Patrick Wilson read anything, especially horror. Book was great overall as long as you don't need a happy ending.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Griping and tightly paced

3/4 of this is amazing. The ending is a little over the top but forgivable given how good the rest is.

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