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The Ruins

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The Ruins

By: Scott Smith
Narrated by: Patrick Wilson
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About this listen

 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. Action & Adventure Horror Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Suspense Thriller & Suspense Scary Exciting

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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)
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This novel is genuinely grim. Far more desolate than the film adaptation, IMO. Well crafted and keeps you hoping for the best but fearing the worst.

Grim

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The story is a little slow but gets better as it goes on. If it wasn't for the narration though i may have struggled to finish this as it was a little difficult to follow at times

Great Narration, story above average

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Well performed and the story itself goes from unsettling to outright body horror by the end. You really feel the misery of the characters as the days go on. 100% recommended to any fans of horror.

Chilling Novel

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Great narration and a good story I was expecting it to be creepier but still enjoyable

Great narration and story

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Really enjoyed this book. It starts off a little slow, setting up the setting and the characters but it's still an interesting read. Then when the action starts it had me hooked. Can be quite gory and can be a difficult listen if you're squeamish! Excellent story and a fantastic ending, highly recommended. Competently read but you can tell it takes him a bit of time to get into it.

Slow to start but becomes a very gripping book

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I actually wanted to give this book 3 and a half stars but that wasnt an option. I see most people give this book great reviews, and while I enjoyed it I felt it could have been shorter. I felt bored at times. It is very well written, and the story was different, thou very much like Stephen Kings the raft, to me anyway. Definitely worth reading just didn't hold up to the hype for me.

If you liked Stephen Kings the raft ..

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I loves the survival elememts of this story. I have a hunch it inspired some of Nick Cutters "The Troop" because of a few similarities. The film was good too, but they rushed it.

Grim and Gruelling

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I definitely enjoyed The Ruins, the story didn't quite go in the direction I'd imagined, and it was a little slow to start, but it was a good bit of sensational horror.

I did at times find the style of narration a little slow as the author would often repeat events from another character's point of view, which made me a little impatient for the narration to move on.
My main issue was that the characters were all pretty unlikeable, with the exception of one or two, or rather idiotic so I didn't feel I cared much about their survival. As the novel progressed I expected them to reveal hidden depths but they remained shallow and slightly caricature-esque, which was frustrating and left me feeling a bit removed from their situation.

Still, it was an enjoyable listen and I would definitely give it a go if you're a fan of b-type horror movies!

Pretty good listen to pass the time.

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So good had to watch the movie...Book far superior 😌
kick all your plants out ...

Scary 😨

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The characters are fairly one-note, I can't say I particularly cared for any of them. The prose are good, nothing special but they get the job done. Some of the concepts it introduces in the second half to make the characters situation worse were very enjoyably horrific.

Trashy and somewhat un-engaging but fun mostly.

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