Hardy Boys #65 Stone Idol, #66 Vanishing Thieves, and #67 Outlaw's Silver

In Hardy Boys #65, The Stone Idol, Frank and Joe are hired to find a stone idol from Easter Island that disappeared during its journey to New York.  Fenton has the boys take a break from their case to help him in Antarctica, and then the boys continue working on their case.

In the beginning of the story, we learn that the boys' previous case was a New York embezzlement case.  It was not!

This case is similar to The Mummy Case in which a valuable artifact goes missing during shipment.  How original to immediately reuse a plot idea!  I guess at least it isn't sabotage. 

The story about the missing idol in Chile is okay but not very compelling.  Partway through the book, Fenton pulls the boys away from their case to help him in Antarctica.  At first I was annoyed, since I do not like a story switching from one case to an unrelated one halfway through.  The mysteries really are unrelated, which is bizarre for a Hardy Boys book.  However, I found that I greatly enjoyed the interlude in Antarctica.  It was thrilling and quite interesting and the best part of the entire book.  Unfortunately, the boys go back to Chile to continue their boring original case.

At times, this book has too much travelogue or explanatory information.

Except for the part in Antarctica, this book is tedious, and I did not enjoy the main mystery very much.  The short part in Antarctica is very good.

In Hardy Boys #66, The Vanishing Thieves, Chert's cousin Vern asks Frank and Joe to help him find a priceless coin that was stolen in California.  Meanwhile, Fenton asks the boys to help him with an auto theft ring that is operating around Bayport.

And of course, the auto thieves in Bayport also stole the coin in California.  How else would it happen?

On page 50, Frank decides to behave recklessly, which is a flaw in the continuity.  Usually Joe is the reckless one.

When Frank and Joe fly to California with Chet and Vern, it's very strange for the blonde woman, who is involved in the case, and another man unknown to her, who is also involved in the case, to both be on the same row in the plane as the four boys.  It's just too convenient.

This book is full of crazy coincidences. 

On page 120, three boys go for help while only one stays behind to watch their prisoners.  I'm sure you can guess what happens!  The prisoners get away!

At one point I got tired of the boys getting captured and then escaping over and over again.  It reminded me of the original text of The Disappearing Floor when the boys keep going back to the cave and getting caught or nearly caught. 

The ending is funny.  I greatly enjoyed this book.

In Hardy Boys #67, The Outlaw's Silver, Frank, Joe, and their friends search for a missing treasure in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.

On page 44, a dealer in old maps displays maps from the 1700s in the front window of his store.  The boys reflect that the maps are probably moved frequently to prevent damage from the sun.  Any amount of time in the sun will damage the maps.  I just shake my head over this example of sheer idiocy.

I feel like the book has a few too many characters that are not memorable.  I found I had trouble remembering some of them from my previous reading whenever I resumed reading from where I left off.  Characters should be memorable enough not to be forgotten in just a few hours.

I enjoyed this book, but I would have enjoyed it more with fewer characters.