Friday, July 3, 2015

Biff Brewser #10 Tibetan Caravan and #11 British Spy Ring Mystery

In Biff Brewster #10, Mystery of the Tibetan Caravan, Biff searches for his father, who has disappeared in Tibet while searching for a Golden Buddha.

A passage on page five states that Biff's family had joined him in India right after the conclusion of Mystery of the Ambush in India.  However, Biff has been to the Caribbean and to Egypt since he left India, so this is another inconsistency.

The book opens with Biff and Taz watching some Bedouins, hoping to steal their food.  They are in Tibet.  Next, Biff recalls what brought them to that point, so the book goes into a lengthy flashback to previous events.  The flashback lasts until page 114, with Biff and Taz at the Bedouins' campsite.  I dislike it when books do this.  I would rather get the story in chronological order rather than get a prevue during the first chapter of events that occur far later in the story.

I overall enjoyed this book, but it's not a favorite.

In Biff Brewster #11, British Spy Ring Mystery, Biff attends school in England,  He goes on a bicycle trip with his friend, Peter, after the term ends.  The boys purchase a book in an antique book store, and the book turns out to be valuable.  Later, the boys realize that several men are after the book, but they cannot fathom why.

We can infer why the men want the book, based on the title of the story, but it seems so stupid.

Biff is a bit flippant in this book, and he jokes a lot.  I got used to serious Biff, so this doesn't set right with me. 

This book is different from the other books.  It's not in an exotic locale.  Like with the later Cherry Ames books, the story reminds me of the typical Grosset and Dunlap travelogue of the middle 1960s, and most of those books are not very good.  The travelogue aspect is excessive and is way too much for me.

This is a strange book.  Two men are following the boys, and they don't know why.  The book is full of coincidences, which makes it a weak story.  The further I read, the more I skimmed.  I became a bit bored. 

I skimmed the last few chapters.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Where can I buy a copy of this?

Jennifer White said...

The books can be found on sites that have old books for sale, such as eBay.com, AbeBooks.com, Amazon.com, and Biblio.com.