The Ruins by Scott Smith

(pb; 2006)

From the back cover

“Two young couples are on a lazy Mexican vacation─sun-drenched days, wild nights, making friends with fellow tourists. When the brother of one of those friends disappears, they decide to venture into the jungle to look for him. What started out as a fun day trip slowly spirals into a nightmare when they find an ancient ruins site. . . . and a terrifying presence that lurks there.”

Review

Smith has crafted a mostly excellent, creepy novel that steadily ratchets up the terror factor. His characters’ quirks, flaws and interactions ring true and intense. Smith built this tale around the characters, who are given a lot of room to run.

Unfortunately, Smith did not put the same thoughtfulness into creating an ending that was as interesting or intense as his characters. While logical, this cliché ending is lazy compared to the rest of the book. The finish did not erase the dark joy of reading Ruins but it did make me want to sell it rather than keep it.

Worth reading, with the above caveat.


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The Ruins was released on April 4, 2008. Carter Smith directed the film, from a screenplay by source-book author Scott Smith (a.k.a. Scott B. Smith).

Jonathan Tucker played Jeff Mcintire. Jena Malone played Amy. Laura Ramsay played Stacy. Shawn Ashmore played Eric. Joe Anderson played Matthias.