Wednesday, April 29, 2009 By: Suzanne

Audio: The Ruins by Scott Smith


In the wild interior of the Yucatan, far from the lazy beaches of Cancun, two young couples and some newfound friends venture to the site of an ancient Mayan temple, in pursuit of another in their group.What started out as a day trip spirals into a nightmare when they reach the ruins...and discover the terrifying presence that lurks there.

I'm not quite sure what to say about this book (but I'm sure it will come to me as I write). It was a good story but I can't necessarily recommend it. I like horror, I love horror, but to me horror is about not knowing what's happening. The psychological factor in horror is so much scarier than the blood and guts. This book was all blood and guts. At one point I simply had to turn it off for awhile because it was truly disgusting. The long, seemingly never-ending descriptions of how one of the guys cuts himself (over and over), the very detailed descriptions of horrific death, and the constant reference to all types of bodily fluids just about did me in. This is gross not horror. And yes, it would be horror if it was happening but listening (or reading about it) doesn't make this a horror book, just a gross book.

Besides all this though, the story was well written. There were no parts that I thought had dubious explanation. It was well thought out and every thing that happens is believable. Unfortunately, I got the impression Smith wrote this to be a movie instead of a book. In fact, there is a movie based on the book, which I'm sure is even grosser than the book. I won't be seeing it.

4 comments:

Jenners said...

I read this book a few years ago -- I was a HUGE fan of his book "A Simple Plan" so this was a no-brainer. It was really really gross...and the premise was a bit out there but Smith just can't hide that he is a good writer. And to be honest, I always enjoy when an author doesn't fear to let all the characters meet a bad fate. I kind of digged that. I liked the ending too.

And yeah...this is NOT a movie I will be seeing anytime soon.

Suzanne said...

You know, I did like the writing and I thought the ending was well done also. I was the very gory descriptiveness that I could have done without. That completely turned me off.

Jenny Girl said...

I read this book when it first came out and was very disappointed. I was bored and actually skimmed the second half to see who made it out. You're onto something with the movie angle, because that's exactly what I thought too.

Your dogs are very cute!

Suzanne said...

Thank you! They are my children.

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