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Title: Sophomore Novel Riding the Coattails of its predecessor
Review: Scott Smith, the writer of _A Simple Plan_, returns with his sophomore novel, _The Ruins_. Unlike his previous novel, this one is neither interesting, smart, nor inventive. I was deeply disappointed by the novel. The lengthy, reflective writing burdened the book with unneeded introspection. The agent of horror was not at all scary and rather comical at times. The promise of the novel never truly materializes. The setting had such a wonderful promise, indeed it has been covered by better authors elsewhere, yet this author chose to emphasize the individuals to such an extent, that the thrill of the novel soon dissipates. By the 150th page, I was reading only to complete the novel. This novel has gone the way of most sophomoric works
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