Hardy Boys Revised Text #21 Broken Blade and #22 Flickering Torch Mystery

In the revised text of Hardy Boys #21, The Clue of the Broken Blade, Frank and Joe's fencing instructor, Ettore Russo, tells them about a broken sword blade that is missing.  Etched on the sword blade is a will that leaves a fortune in part to Russo.  A cousin claims the fortune, so Russo needs to find the broken blade.

The boys end up traveling across the country to follow a slim clue that somehow leads them to the location where the sword can be found.  Along the way, the boys end up on a movie set, where they find their parents working, when their parents are supposed to be on vacation in another state.  It's also a bit hard to believe that the boys are able to step in for a fencing master in a scene in the movie.

This book bored me from the first page.  Gradually, I began to find the book somewhat more interesting and was overall interested once I reached halfway through the book.  Overall, I did not enjoy the book very much.  I like the original text better.

In the revised text of Hardy Boys #22, The Flickering Torch Mystery, Frank and Joe investigate two mysterious plane crashes in which the pilots were killed.  The boys soon believe that the pilots may have unwittingly smuggled diamonds or radioactive isotopes into the area.  The case leads the boys to the Flickering Torch club, where they play in a combo.

Groovy, man.  This book brings the boys into the hip 1960s.  They play guitar in a combo at a club, and in one scene, they have groupies fawning over them.  That is, the text doesn't use the word "fawning," but I figure that's what was going on.

I was skeptical at the beginning of the book, but I ended up greatly enjoying the story.  I do like the original text better, but this is also a very good book.