A perfect title. The Ruins...what can I say. I remember seeing the previews for the movie based on this book and it look extremely thrilling. I didn't see it. I don't usually see movies for at least 2 or 3 years after their release if they aren't a kids movie or an action movie since I live with a house full of teenage boys. But I saw this on the book shelve in the library and remembered how interested I was in watching the thriller. I snatched up and dug in. There's those moments in life when you lift your head and say wow! amazing. Amazing that you've found such a moving and thrilling piece of work. This was not one of those times for me. I did lift my head only to see how much time of my life I wasted on the book.

Here's the story: Four friends on vacation after college decide to venture into the jungle with a German tourist looking for his brother and a Greek looking for an excavation site at an old Mayan Ruins. They find it only to get trapped on it and attacked by a ancient plant. The locals won't let them off and you basically sit and read how they go mad and lose it...lose all of it. It had a good plot but the book fell short of explaining many things that could have made the book more believable and even more understanding.

To give the book a fair shot, I watched the movie. This is one of those moments I have to contradict myself. The movie, although graphic and completely different in characters development, was actually better than the book. I noticed that the screenplay was written by Scott Smith as well. Perhaps he saw the holes in his story and tried to fix it. Still it left much to be desired. Overall, I can't recommend this one. There is just to much left unanswered and it left me wanting a different story line. I don't know if I am just not into the Horror/Thriller genre anymore but I'll have to pass on a sequel.