Synopsis Scott Smith, author of A SIMPLE PLAN, returns with a stylish and atmospheric horror thriller. Four American tourists in Mexico join up with a German tourist and go looking for the German's missing brother. Soon, the eerie and unsettling elements begin, and the reader's unease crescendos to a palpable terror. Though the setup is completely familiar, Smith writes with such a deft touch that THE RUINS stands head-and-shoulders above most genre writing.