The Ruins
-
-
4.1 • 360 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Trapped in the Mexican jungle, a group of friends stumble upon a creeping horror unlike anything they could ever imagine in "the best horror novel of the new century" (Stephen King). Also a major motion picture!
Two young couples are on a lazy Mexican vacation—sun-drenched days, drunken 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 the terrifying presence that lurks there.
"The Ruins does for Mexican vacations what Jaws did for New England beaches.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Smith’s nail-biting tension is a pleasure all its own.... This stuff isn’t for the faint of heart.” —New York Post
“A story so scary you may never want to go on vacation, or dig around in your garden, again.” —USA Today
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At long last, Smith follows up his bestselling first novel, A Simple Plan (1993), the film of which received an Oscar nomination for best screenplay, with a stunning horror thriller. Four American friends on vacation in Canc n, Mexico Jeff, Amy, Eric and Stacy meet a German tourist, Mathias, who persuades them to join his hunt for his younger brother, Henrich, last seen headed off with a new girlfriend toward some ruins. The four soon regret their impulsive decision after they find themselves lost in the jungle and freaked out by signs that they're headed for danger. Smith builds suspense through the slow accretion of telling details, until a deadly menace starts taking its toll, leaving the survivors increasingly at each other's throats. While admirers of such classic genre writers as John Wyndham or Algernon Blackwood may find the horror less suggestive than they might wish, the eerie atmosphere and compelling plot should appeal to fans of ABC's hit TV series Lost, who will help propel this page-turner up bestseller lists. Ben Stiller's production company has bought film rights. 100,000 first printing.
Customer Reviews
WOAH
In my top five for the year so far, how could it not be? Because uhm WHAT?! This book was unlike anything I’ve ever read. The ending especially the last two pages had me in a tizzy. Idk if I will ever get over some of the details in this book! Great great thriller.
Book Review
This book was no good. It took me four hours to finish. Gonna read more by this author, though.
Entertaining, appropriately disgusting
This book didn’t feel especially groundbreaking to me but it definitely satisfied my need for gruesome body horror. Not super “scary” but very violent and gross and somewhat shocking. Well-written, it jumped nicely from each characters’ perspective to piece together an interesting story.