The Ruins

The Ruins is a top notch horror/thriller book, maybe not as shocking as the goriest splatterpunk - it’s not really that type of book - nor as emotional as your favorite 5-star reads - but it's very well written and has fabulous character development.

Warning: contains some extreme body horror.

Scott Smith does a great job of holding it all together in a calm and collected manner, gradually ramping up the dread, fear and hopelessness until the last few pages, resisting the temptation to go all out nuts and subsequently desensitize you.

Instead, you keep on hearing the chitchat, the recollections, the sometimes immature student tales, the desires and reassurances that it’s going to get better.

It isn't a perfect book sometimes meanders too much, occasionally feeling horror light, but that’s the author’s skill of deferring the nasty bits and leading you blindly to wreck and ruin instead of thrusting it down your neck.

And you'll probably never look at a vine leaf in the same way again!

A great thriller - not quite knowing what’s coming next - but close enough to guess and keep in touch.

Strangely gentle in places and almost subtle, but relentless and terrifying in others.

There's a touch of philosophy as well, one of the characters asking "why are you here?" to diffuse a heated argument - why are we arguing when the situation around us is much worse? Good horror books have that knack of bringing reality back home and making you realize how lucky you are.

Unbelievably, this is only Scott Smith’s second (and final) book - there are no sequels - and the only consolation is hunting down his first book A Simple Plan if you want more reading.

A satisfying horror/thriller with a straightforward plot, easily identifiable characters and plenty of gory and rewarding action.

The Ruins won't necessarily satisfy hardcore splatterpunk fans while also being too heavy for casual readers, but is a top thriller somewhere in between.