Hardy Boys #125 Makatunk Island, #126 Racing to Disaster, and #127 Reel Thrills

In Hardy Boys #125, Mystery on Makatunk Island, Frank, Joe, and Chet are staying on Makatunk Island.  The island is a tourist attraction and a haven for artists, but the island's economy is being threatened by a saboteur who is trying to drive people away.

This is yet another typical sabotage book, and I had trouble getting into it at first.  Once I finally did, I enjoyed it.

Page 132 states that Fenton Hardy is "a high-ranking police detective back in Bayport."  This makes it sound like Fenton is a Bayport police officer, and he is not.

The book has one huge flaw.  The main villain is too obvious.  I guessed the villain's identity on page 15.  The author probably wanted the incident to be a minor clue.  Rather, the way the character reacts to the Hardys is so obvious that I immediately knew that this person is the villain.

Despite that flaw, this is an excellent book.

In Hardy Boys #126, Racing to Disaster, Joe is participating in a mountain bike race.  Someone is sabotaging the race!  How shocking!

On page 23 we learn that the Hardys are from Bayport, New York.

The Hardys convince the woman in charge of the race that she should not notify the police because it would put the saboteur on guard.  On guard to what?  That they know there is a saboteur?  The saboteur had just sent them a warning note, so I think the saboteur already knows about the investigation.

Each time this book has a race, a bike malfunctions due to sabotage.  It is so predictable and boring.  The races are described in great detail with all of the moves and turns.  Whoever the Hardys want to have win is about to win, and then... sabotage.  Some part of the bicycle fails.  I was so bored.

The book lost me by page 50.  The book has too many characters, and I couldn't keep them straight.  I skimmed at least half of the book.  I did not enjoy this book

In Hardy Boys #127 Reel Thrills, film producer Mort Tannenberg has asked the Hardys for assistance.  Tannenberg is known for his surprise endings, but someone is staging crime scenes using the surprise endings to films that have not yet been released!  Tannenberg wants the culprit caught before his career is ruined.

This is the typical sabotage on a movie set plot that I have read several times before.  It does get old.  I overall enjoyed this book, but it could have been better.

Chet's line on the last page of the story made me laugh, but not in the way the author intended.  Chet has an idea for a movie.  He starts to explain, "It's all about three detectives who—"

Of course, Chet means Frank, Joe, and Chet.  The funny part is that I instead immediately thought of Jupiter, Pete, and Bob of the Three Investigators, since two films have been made based on the books.  Three detectives in a movie?  They must be the Three Investigators!