German Three Investigators Hollywood Horrors, Web Phantom, and Pirate's Curse

In Hollywood Horrors, the boys witness someone falling from the Hollywood sign up in the Hollywood hills.  The boys find a talisman that contains a message.  The message was written by Casey Wye, an actress who is now deceased.  The boys feel certain that the message is important and holds a clue to an important secret.

This book did not keep my interest very well, and I was rather bored.  I think this has more to do with my reaction to the story rather than how good the story actually is.

For instance, the book opens with the boys sneaking up to the Hollywood sign, solely because Peter made a bet with another boy on whether he would write his initials on the sign.  That type of behavior is not fitting for the Three Investigators, so the book lost me on the first page.  I did not enjoy it very much.

In Web Phantom, Miss Bennett, the librarian, has disappeared!  The boys fear that she has been the victim of foul play as they search for clues to her whereabouts.

I haven't been noticing the expletives in recent books, and apparently, these later books have fewer or no expletives.

We learn that the library has 4,000 books.  This seems small to me, probably because I own more than 4,000 books.

This book grabbed my attention from the first page.  It reminds me of the original Three Investigators books written by M. V. Carey.  Unfortunately, the book began to lose me halfway through, and from that point, I found it a bit boring.  Later, the book got interesting again.

This book is overall good.

In The Pirate's Curse, the boys' rival, Althena, is in trouble and leaves them her cell phone as a clue.  The boys follow a series of clues found in the photos on the phone and discover that Althena was searching for a pirate's treasure that is reputedly hidden on an island.

This passage from page 40 pays homage to Alfred Hitchcock without ever mentioning his name.

Bob parked his vehicle directly in front of the bungalow with the sign Elivira Zuckerman.  It was up one step and then through a glass door.  The reception room was not occupied.  Justus walked up to a large door and knocked.

"Come in!"

Curious, [the Three Investigators] stepped into the office.  Elvira Zuckerman sat majestically behind a gigantic desk. She stood to greet them. "Mr. Shaw contacted you about us," said Justus. "This is Bob Andrews, here is Mr. Shaw's son, Peter, and I am Justus Jonas."

While Mrs. Zuckerman came over to them, Justus winked at Peter and Bob: a picture of a famous film director hung on the wall. Mrs. Zuckerman caught the look. "An important predecessor and an important role-model. This room was once his office." Justus nodded, smiling.

This book is very good.