18 July 2008
Scott Smith – The Ruins
Posted by Dirk under: books .
I didn’t actually finish this book. I got about two thirds through it before giving up on it and the second third I was seriously skimming.
I was on my way down to the gym, where my main thing is riding the stationary bike and it’s less boring if I got something to read. I need something groovy to read too, I can’t read boring, dry and informational type stuff while I’m riding. Horror books are good. I didn’t have anything so I stopped at the library. Nothing in the new arrivals section that caught my eye so I wandered about a bit. On the paperback racks I spotted this book. It had some blurb on the cover about being one of the best horror books of the century and lots of nice things written inside from a bunch of sources. It looked like just the ticket.
Wrong! This is a plodding and boring book. I didn’t care a crap about any of the characters. The most memorable part of the book, for me, of the 2/3s I read, was a nasty and graphic description of a dog taking a dump. That’s as good as it got. And that was just good for the gross out factor, there was no hint of scary in this book. I wasn’t compelled to finish it. It did not keep me up late, reading just one more page.
The basic plot is a 4 college age kids head down to South America (I think to Mexico) for an off season beach vacation. A German guy they meet up with and hang out with tells them he’s going into the interior a ways to an archaeological dig that his brother went to and hasn’t returned from. It’s a short day trip so the 4 Americans decide to go along. Along the way the pick up a Greek dude.
They get to the dig site and find ‘the horror’. It ain’t a big deal but I won’t spoil it for you. Maybe you’ll like the book.