I never read fiction, but I was told by my son that I must read “The Ruins” by Scott Smith (Published by Random House. Paperback, 528 pages. Price: $7.99.) He knows I spend a lot of time in the Peruvian Amazon jungle and have visited the Mayan ruins in Mexico. I finished the book in one sitting, rushing fast through it to find out what happens. The writing was terrific. “The Ruins” was exciting, informative, and terrifying. I learned quite a few survival techniques I actually might use since I am returning to the jungle in July. I plan on visiting shamans days away by boat from villages.

I’ll bring food, water, warm clothes, a knife and rope.
Scott Smith wrote the screenplay and except for giving it a happy ending, certainly delivers the terror and suspense. I knew everything that would happen and I still hid my eyes. Smith sets up an odd, but it could happen to anyone, scenario and allows you to be the seventh person being held captive on the top of a ruin. How would you survive?
Amy (Jena Malone) and her boyfriend Jeff (Jonathan Tucker) are vacationing in Mexico with Stacy (Laura Ramsey) and Eric (Shawn Ashmore). They meet German tourist Mathias (Joe Anderson) and one of his Greek buddies, Dimitri (Dimitri Baveas), who are planning a day’s trip to a secret Mayan ruin where Mathias' brother has gone with an archeologist he met. Mathias’ brother never returned and they are due back in Germany.
With a crude copy of the map drawn on a napkin, the six of them head to a remote area where they are soon warned to go no further. Hidden away is the path to a vine-covered pyramid, but the local Mayans are extremely hostile as the visitors approach. When they kill Dimitri, the rest of them run up the pyramid, hoping to reach the archeologists campsite. They do, but the camp is deserted. The Mayans have surrounded the pyramid and are keeping them from leaving.
Jeff, a pre-med student, quickly assesses the situation and realizes that the Mayans are keeping them as sacrifices to the vines.
I kept thinking about various maneuvers I would try. Why not make a sling-shot and catapult vine-covered rocks at the Mayans? Why not leave vine-laced American stuff lying around for the kids to take? Why not throw vine-covered rocks at the Mayans from the top of the pyramid?
Instead, the girls become hysterical, moan and groan, and very bad things happen to Mathias.
Jonathan Tucker ably leads a cast of uninteresting co-stars - but that's the director's fault for not giving them much to do except cry and scream. Tucker's Jeff is the only one thinking about survival. You want him to get out alive; the others can be plant food.
As far as the premise is concerned, ancient cultures and religions made human sacrifices to mountains. In fact, I read a fascinating book of the subject, “The Highest Altar: Unveiling the Mystery of Human Sacrifice” by Patrick Tierney. In 1983, while accompanying archaeologists conducting high-altitude excavations in South America, Tierney made a startling discovery. Human sacrifice is still being practiced today in remote regions of Chile and Peru. The gods of the mountains are the guardians of the crops and herds. The villagers are appeasing the mountain gods and offering up victims in return for benefits to the whole community.