Hardy Boys #74 Tic-Tac-Terror, #75 Trapped at Sea, and #76 Game Plan for Disaster

In Hardy Boys #74, Tic-Tac-Terror, Frank and Joe search for a missing man who disappeared on the way back from South America.  Soon, the boys learn that the man's disappearance is tied to a missing emerald and a dangerous spy organization that threatens national security.

I find it doubtful that the government would trust teen boys to help them crack a spy ring.  That's one of the reasons why I never enjoy stories dealing with the government and spies as much as I do others.  In every series, this kind of story always involves top government agents sharing classified information with teenage sleuths.  It's always hard to believe.

I did end up enjoying this book even though the subject is not the kind of book that I prefer.

In Hardy Boys #75, Trapped at Sea, Frank and Joe work undercover with Chet to discover who is stealing shipments of uranium.

The Hardys and Chet suffer from "Nancy Drew Syndrome" in this book.  "Nancy Drew Syndrome" is when a teenage sleuth already is an expert at whatever obscure activity is required of them in the current story.

In this case, all three boys are experts at driving large cargo trucks.  They need to get jobs as truck drivers for a company in order to further their investigation.  Naturally, they already know how to drive trucks even though they don't have licenses.  The boys go in the next day, take the written and driving tests, pass, and are shortly behind the wheels of the trucks.  How amazing!

I enjoyed this story.

In Hardy Boys #76, Game Plan for Disaster, Ace Harrington is set to play for the college football championship.  Frank and Joe are hired to protect Ace, who has suddenly become accident-prone.  It appears that someone is trying to injure him so that he cannot play in the upcoming game.

On page 17, Frank and Joe get settled in their dorm room.

It was comfortable, with two beds, a large window overlooking the campus, and walls lined with books.

"The fellow who lives here must be some reader," Joe said.  "Or do you think he's just showing off?" 

It's odd that Joe would think that the resident is just showing off.  How about the more obvious answer, which is that the resident reads and studies a lot?  While some people might try to impress others with how smart they are by possessing lots of books, I doubt a college student would fill a cramped dorm room with books just to impress others.

The boys see Ace Harrington get out of a vehicle that has gamblers in it.  It's rather obvious what the gamblers want, since I have read this same plot in multiple other series books.  The gamblers want Ace to lose the championship game.

This plot is another type story that is not the kind that I greatly enjoy.  I overall enjoyed this story, but I was glad to get it finished and hope to get to another story that will be more to my liking.