Hardy Boys #52 Shattered Helmet and #53 Hissing Serpent

In Hardy Boys #52, The Shattered Helmet, the Hardys help their friend, Evan Pandropolos, search for a missing artifact, an ancient Greek helmet.  The case takes the boys on a search for an old film star.  All the while, they boys are pursued by ruthless men who want the helmet.

This book has too many villains, and I was getting confused towards the end of the story.  A flaw in many of the higher-numbered books is that the authors chose to make the stories too complicated with too many characters.  They forgot that "less is more."  A less confusing story is always more enjoyable.

Despite my confusion, I overall greatly enjoyed this book. 

Hardy Boys #53, The Clue of the Hissing Serpent, is one big mess.  A man tries to hire Sam Radley to bug the home of a chess champion.  Fenton determines that the man may be associated with Eco Incorporated or Associated Jewelers, whatever they are.  And why do we care?

Furthermore, Chet has taken up hot air ballooning, and his instructor is weird.  Later, we learn that the instructor has the Ruby King in his possession, whatever that is.  Someone is trying to steal it!  Meanwhile, Mr. Hardy works to track down swindlers operating as a firm selling suits from Hong Kong.  What the heck?!

As the book opens, one piece of random information after another is thrown at the reader.  It's confusing and reminds me strongly of the Nancy Drew Wanderer books.  I can't stand most of the Nancy Drew Wanderer books due to the convoluted and highly confusing plots.  Argh!

I did gradually find this book interesting once the author quit throwing out random information.  However, this is not a very good book.