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The Ruins (Abridged) Audiobook
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(3.00) - 13,210 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
HE EAGERLY AWAITED NEW THRILLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF A SIMPLE PLAN
Eerie, terrifying, and unputdownable, The Ruins is Scott Smith's first novel since his acclaimed debut A Simple Plan earned rave reviews and stormed bestseller 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....
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"Wow! That's sums it all up. This is, probably, one of the better horror fiction novels I have read in a long time. I have to give mad props to any writer that can make vegetation so completely and unflinchingly terrifying. The language and imagery was beautiful. The only tiny criticism would be that there were so many characters introduced in the beginning, and the point of view jumped quite a bit. It took a little time to feel connected to any of them or really differentiate any of them. None of the characters were especially likeable and I did feel that the two female characters, Amy and Stacy remained pretty much interchangeable throughtout the story. I felt that the only two, truly interesting characters were Jeff and, to a lesser degree, Mathias. Still, the character development was poor. The characters did not seem to relate to each other. There was no depth into either of the couples romantic relationships and the friendship between Amy and Stacy was negligible. They seemed to hardly know each other and I had a hard time believeing this group of six people would even be hanging out together-let alone vacationing. To be honest, in a story that revolves so heavily upon a character's perception and group dynamics, I was very surprised to see this aspect of the story so poorly developed.All that being said, I still enjoyed the book a lot. The details and imagery were outstanding. The pace of the storytelling was good. It was a 500 page book about a scary plant and amazingly enough, there was never a moment where the story lulled. Toward the middle of the book, I did appreciate the jumping point of view and being able to experience the crisis and horror through each of the main character's eyes.I also have to convey that the hopelessness that these characters endured was completely contagious. After reading a section, I would frequently find myself feeling dark and depressed and eventually came to attribute these feelings as an after-effect of this book. This is how completely I felt the characters' struggle and torment. The ending was every bit as hopeless as it deserved to be...this is horror after all, at its finest."
— Julie (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“The best horror novel of the new century.”
— Stephen King -
“The Ruins is superior horror literature…It leaves you with the sense that the skeleton beneath your skin is closer to the surface than you think.”
— New York Times -
“A tour de force of terror, a novel that seduces, shocks, and dares you to keep reading—and never relents, not even on its final page.”
— Washington Post Book World -
“You won’t be able to put it down until you find out how everything ends. The pleasure of this novel lies in not know what will happen next, or why. This story is a holiday in hell. It’s very hard to escape.”
— San Francisco Chronicle
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
The Ruins Listener Reviews
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" I loved this book! I expected a kind of standard gruesome horror story but this was different. It was a very well done psychological thriller. It completely sucked me in to the very end. "
— Kate, 2/18/2014 -
" I was really enjoying this one until the ending. I just found it to be really anticlimactic. "
— Kapri, 2/15/2014 -
" This is just a great, great, scary book. No chapters, just a non-stop assault of creepiness. "
— Lynne, 2/11/2014 -
" Ugh... horror is not my genre... creepy and then it gets creepier. "
— Deb, 2/7/2014 -
" Nothing wrong with the prose or the premise. The problem is length. This could have been a stunning novella, but at 500+ pages, its B-movie scenario of bland college students menaced by living plants at some remote Maya ruins in Mexico wears itself thin. Check out the novellas in Tim Lebbon's collection FEARS UNNAMED (especially 'White') for an example of what this could have been with some focus and heavy editing. "
— Dale, 1/26/2014 -
" I found this book on a table at work and started reading it. It was mind candy, but I enjoyed it. "
— Kiki, 1/26/2014 -
" TERROR-INDUCING. I really don't understand why people hate this book, it was great! I will always be terrified of vines from now on. "
— Landon, 1/17/2014 -
" Loved this book. Kept me interested and could barely set it down. The movie did it absolutely no justice. "
— Reade, 1/11/2014 -
" Completely weird, strange, twisted, and mind-numbingly bad. Don't waste your time. "
— Kevin, 1/5/2014 -
" Fun beach read. Nothing I'm running to recommend. "
— Licha, 12/8/2013 -
" An interesting, quick read. Engrossing without being too gross. "
— Doc-mok, 11/12/2013 -
" This book got me reading again. "
— James, 9/25/2013 -
" This was a very entertaining book. The plot was not very believable, but a lot of fun. "
— Julia, 5/6/2013 -
" Quick read, not too deep. "
— Kioko, 3/2/2013 -
" it was really good...but EXTREMELY graphic. I almost threw up, and i almost started crying. it's a really really good book though. "
— Rojo, 2/3/2012 -
" Scary, nasty book. Horrible movie. "
— Ross, 6/18/2011 -
" DO NOT see the movie before you read this book. Actually, just never see the movie b/c it is horrible. The book is really good and is different.Creepy and intense. "
— Cassandra, 6/17/2011 -
" Don't read if you don't like jungles. The first book in a long time that's legitimately creeped me out<br/><br/>I felt physically ill when I finished this book. It's disturbing "
— Dan, 5/21/2011 -
" Good concept, and genuinely scary in parts, but the writing is unpolished and occasionally gets in the way of the story. "
— Ravis, 5/20/2011 -
" There is something i really like about books that combine horror elements and psychological disintegration. Scott Smith manages to blend these two elements perfectly, in a tale that combines historical elements, bloody horror, and mental breakdown. Loved it - 5 Stars. "
— Ken, 5/17/2011 -
" It was average. Nothing to get excited about. The characters were not that interesting and I wasn't really interested in what happened to them. I thought the whole thing had potential, but it fell far short of what it could have been. Too many unanswered questions also left me annoyed. "
— Dan, 5/9/2011 -
" one word . . . .gory! "
— Beth, 5/7/2011 -
" Audio Book. Excruciating slow. The same events are told over and over from each character's point of view. It is just a bad horror film. Just out of college kids go to cancun on vacation and take a trip into the jungle where some Mayans hold them host "
— Jake, 5/6/2011 -
" because i loved a simple plan, i had this book long on my radar and couldn't wait to read it. though i wouldn't necessarily call it a real disappointment, it clearly was not on the same level as asp. but it held my interest enough to see it to its conclusion and i'm still glad i read it. "
— Fadedunaway, 4/30/2011 -
" Great book. What happened to Scott Smith???? "
— Michael, 4/24/2011 -
" this is one of those books that when you finish it you think to yourself "thank god". as in "thank god it's over. that's a week of reading i will never get back." if it were possible to give negative stars, i would. "
— Amandamargaret, 4/9/2011 -
" Terrifying, I couldn't sleep for a week once I had finished - skip the movie, try the book. "
— Brittany, 4/7/2011
About Scott Smith
Scott Smith attended both Dartmouth and Columbia. Asides from being an author, he also works as a screenwriter, earning an Academy Award nomination for the adaptation of his novel A Simple Plan and winning him a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award and National Board of Review Award. His noel, The Ruins was named “the best horror novel of the new century” by Stephen King. He lives in New York City.