Brad Forrest #2 Los Angeles Adventure

In Brad Forrest #2, Los Angeles Adventure, Brad has important papers to deliver to his father in Los Angeles.  Brad receives a threatening phone call as he prepares to fly to Los Angeles, and another plane passenger seems a little too interested in Brad's plans.  In Los Angeles, Brad discovers that actor Dick Devore is his double, and multiple attempts are made to abduct both Brad and Dick at different times.  It's all a bit convoluted, just like in the first Brad Forrest book.

I was not at all surprised that Brad has a double, since the same happens to Biff Brewster in Mystery of the Caribbean Pearls.  The first Brad Forrest book seems to have been partially modeled after that book, and this one was as well. 

Brad is told to trust no one.  So when a man meets him at the airport, planning to take Brad to his father, Brad goes with him, trusting that he is telling the truth.  Needless to say, the man is up to no good.

Brad is accidentally abducted instead of Dick.  Now why wasn't I surprised?  Because that's exactly what happens in Caribbean Pearls with Biff and his double!

Brad is caught in a fire with his hands and feet bound.  He sticks his hands into the fire, enduring the searing heat, to burn through the rope.  Ouch!  Believable, nope.

On page 120, Brad swims under Dick's boat and notices a bomb stuck to the underside.  He removes the bomb, gets back on the boat, hands the bomb to Dick, and asks, "What'll we do with it?"  Um...  Dick then notices the timer, which moves the boys into action.  They throw the bomb overboard and get the boat started as fast as they can.  Whew!  I thought maybe they were going to keep the bomb as a souvenir. 

Brad, while in disguise (dyed hair and glasses will do the trick every time), strikes up a conversation with one of the suspects.  Brad admires the suspect's Aston Martin, while the suspect prepares to leave in another vehicle.  Now why does the suspect have two vehicles in the parking lot where he works?  The suspect gives Brad the keys to the Aston Martin and tells him to try out the car.  The suspect leaves in the other vehicle, and Brad decides to follow him... in the Aston Martin!  Like, are you kidding me?!  Nothing about this makes any sense at all!

A short while later, Brad and Dick leave the Aston Martin at Dick's house.  We're talking about a borrowed and rather expensive car, which has now been left in a random location.  Anyway, the two boys blunder onto another suspect's property.  They notice on page 137 that no one is in the backyard.  "Even though it was a hot day, [name withheld] and his pals seemed to prefer the air-conditioned house to the shade of the palm trees and the umbrellas around the swimming pool."  Well, duh!  If I have air conditioning, why would I hang around outside in the heat to discuss my schemes?  Besides, someone might overhear!

This book is as big of a mess as the first book.  I did overall enjoy it, however.  It's weak, but decent.  I did skim the last couple of chapters, since I became bored and didn't really care any longer at that point.