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I didn’t have Internet access for a couple of days, so I picked up a book at the local market just to idle through a bit in my free time.

I read it in a day. Didn’t expect that, campers.

The cover said “The best horror novel of the new century – Stephen King.” I thought I’d give it a whirl. I mean, if Stephen King liked it, it might be worthy.

“The Ruins”, by Scott Smith (the same guy that wrote “A Simple Plan”) is one of those novels I’ll be thinking about for a long time.

Although the novels are completely different, it reminded me a bit of “The Body Snatchers” by Jack Finney. Claustrophobic with a wry, gallows sense of humor, the book was unusual in the fact that they main characters, except for The German, were all extremely shallow and unlikeable.

But, you knew them. You understood the prissy girl, the slut, the control freak and the teacher/jock, they are people in our day to day lives. And it’s written in a style that hinges itself on psychological tension stretched so taut that you find yourself with a fine, almost drowning sense of the wiggums.

And that’s why “The Ruins” works so well. We don’t like the main characters, but, by God, we know them.

Spoilers for all those who go there…

The monster was awesome. Deceptive, clever and terrifying on how he reduces regular people into thinking like monsters themselves. The vain and shallow victims in this novel are reduced to a “Lord of the Flies” sort of scenario within hours and you can’t help but wonder if they are us.

And I think that’s about right.

Of course, The German, named Mathius, figures the big picture out long before his companions do, two couples just out of school who deceive themselves on a variety of levels from the first two pages of the book. They have it a bit better than the character they call The Greek and Pablo. (His name is actually Demitrius, something these people don’t find out, or care about, until it’s too late.)

B-movie weirdness with a bit of the smoke monster from “Lost” thrown in was quite intriguing for me and I liked that component about the plot. Part Sci-Fi movie where communication is denied (some of the characters don’t speak the same language. Our heroes (well, there really isn’t one) cannot speak Greek or Mayan which is crucial to the plotline.

But, back to the monster. The monster is exquisite in it’s viciousness. I found myself really being creeped out on how it snares its’ bait.

I recommend it. And its really not a story for the faint of heart.

I like it though. My heart is just fine.

Shirley Jackson would be proud of this book. It reminded me of her as well.

There is nothing like a good horror novel, if you like that sort of thing.

And I do.