The Ruins By Scott Smith

The screaming filled Eric with a sense of panic. Pablo was down in the hole, in the darkness , in terrible pain , and Eric couldn't think what to do ,where to turn , how to make it better. Stephen King has called The Ruins the book of the summer. this is exactly the perfect example of what kind of book this blog is al about. Pure Plot and forward motion.Even when trying to explain the plot withput it sounding silly.Basically the story is four young Americans,one Greek, and one German while on vacation in Cancun take a daytrip to some Mayan ruins to retrieve the German's younger brother. When they arrive they are forced to stay on top of some ruins at gunpoint by the natives where dehydration, hunger, and a killer vine yes killer vine takes its toll on this small group. Scott Smith previously wrote "A Simple Plan" and his name suits him simple and to the point. The fact that Smith wrote his first book in 1993 the screen adaptation in 1998 and now in 2006 comes out with his second novel is as fascinating. He truly has great talent for telling a story about people who continue to make one mistake after another see this perfect storm of misteps building and cannot stop themselves still . One of the interesting facets of this book is point of view continues to alternate between the four Americans. I think this a great book to read in the middle of the summer at the beach smart story telling that doesn't make your head hurt.