Scott Smith's A Simple Plan was one of my favourite books of the mid-nineties. The resulting movie of same remains one of my favourites to this day. However, as the years passed with not so much as a short story to follow up his stunning debut, his name kind of faded from my radar. His long-awaited return materializes after twelve years with The Ruins, and it's going to be a long time before anyone forgets his name again.
The Ruins tells the story of six tourists, four Americans, a Greek, and a German. Looking for something off the beaten trail, they agree to follow the German on a search for his errant brother, following a copy of a copy of a map to an archaeological dig. However, as with any good story, things don't go quite as they had planned.
Scott's creation is well-paced and relentless, preying on a number of those same base fears that made The Descent such a success. There is no omnipotent view to give you a chance to catch your breath, no breaks for humor to relieve the tension. I absolutely could not put this book down, reading the bulk of it in one sitting on Saturday, and polishing off the remaining chapters as soon as I woke up on Sunday. The characters are well-written and engaging, not a single one falling back on rote archetypes. The book isn't perfect. As with many works of horror, the fear of the unknown was more frightening than the revelation of the threat, and there were moments towards the end in which I struggled to maintain that all-important suspension of disbelief, wishing that Smith had kept this plan of his just a little more simple. However, the brutal final moments more than made up for any missteps along the way, resulting in a very satisfying read.
A late-arriving must for any summer reading list.
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