Had some moments. Mostly a skim fest. ( )

Very, very scary. This book stayed with me for a while. Warning, don't take it on a trip to a South or Central American country. ( )

4.5/5

This book was phenomenal! Wonderful cast of characters and some of the best and descriptive prose I’ve read this year.

He did a wonderful job of writing the psychological horror that comes with finding yourself in these types of situations. This isn’t a book with huge action scenes and crazy plot development; this is about the psychological state of our four main characters as this “thing” comes after them.

The monster was super fun, and all the death scenes were spot on. My biggest complaint though… if you’re going to pitch me a few scenes and even a title about exploring ancient ruins… there better be some ancient ruin exploration.

The ending was ALMOST good enough to excuse that one frustration, but sadly this book was annoying to read at times because of the “twists” the author tried pulling.

Ultimately it was an amazing unsettling read about the human psyche… but I kind of thought I was going to get more “ruins” or “lethal jungle” than what we did get.

Excited to read his other book, because this one was written almost perfectly. ( )

First edition as new

Unos jóvenes norteamericanos que pasan unas vacaciones en México ven cómo sus días de diversión se convierten en una pesadilla. Lo que en un principio iba a ser un trekking emocionante por la jungla mexicana, se convertirá en una caza y captura en la que ellos serán las víctimas. Inquietante y aterradora, Las ruinas posee la misma tensión in crescendo que caracterizó a Un plan sencillo, así como recuerda algunas de las mejores obras de Stephen King y la perturbadora novela La playa, de Alex Garland (publicada por Ediciones B y llevada al cine con Leonardo Di Caprio como protagonista). Stephen King dice de ella: “Suspense al más puro estilo Ruth Rendell. Smith pretende aterrorizar al lector y lo consigue, y lo hace de una manera directa, sin atajos: Las ruinas es un prolongado grito de horror. La estancia en México de sus protagonistas es el equivalente actual de lo que fuera en su día Tiburón en las playas de Nueva Inglaterra.”