The Ruins: A Novel

Exquisite Agony

After my Powells.com blog entry and my Staff Picks comments, I started to fear that I was pushing The Ruins a little too hard. It's a terrific book, a gripping thriller that I read in one weekend while visiting my parents, sneaking away to read precious pages while I was supposed to be socializing and helping my stepdad build a patio. But there comes a point when expectations exceed the capacity to be met, and only disappointment can follow.

Let me be clear, then: The Ruins won't change your life. It likely won't be the very best novel you've ever read. And, frankly, if it is, you should read more novels. It is, however, a thoroughly skillful, dark (sometimes bleak), and riveting thriller, and that's just what it sets out to be. In that sense, it fulfills its mission with aplomb.

I would love to regale you with the plot of the book, but I won't do it. I started the novel knowing nothing more than what the publisher had printed on the back of the book, and I maintain that's the best way to read it. The story unfolds slowly, insidiously, like a vine winding around your ankle while you're looking elsewhere, and by the time you realize it's there, it has tightened like a noose and you can't escape. Readers of Smith's first novel, A Simple Plan, will recall that the author utilizes a "tar pit" technique in his plotting: the harder a character struggles to save himself from his predicament, the more trapped he becomes. Smith is back, and in top form, in The Ruins. The novel takes place over the course of only a few days and has no chapter breaks, providing the reader with as little respite as the characters themselves receive.

It's an exquisite agony, culminating in a peak of existential horror that lingers after the chilling last sentence. If you prefer your thrills quick and upbeat, with easily categorized and entirely likable characters, this may not be your cup of tea. But for those of a macabre disposition, The Ruins is likely to be cherished as one of the best reads of the year.

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