Hardy Boys #155 Four Brothers, #156 Will to Survive, and #157 Italian Treasure

In Hardy Boys #155, The Hunt for the Four Brothers, Frank and Joe take jobs at the Konawa Lake Inn.  A series of robberies has plagued the inn, and the boys investigate.

As I began reading this book, I realized that I wasn't enjoying the book, but that at least it seemed better than the sports sabotage books.  I found it hard to keep the characters straight, so I plowed through the text without caring.  I couldn't connect with the story.

By halfway through the book, I found I didn't care at all and was not interested.  I skimmed to the end of the book.

I did not like this story.

In Hardy Boys #156, A Will to Survive, Frank and Joe investigate strange events at the Shorewood Nature Center.  The center will soon run out of money, since its benefactor never revealed what he did with his money before he died.  Meanwhile, the center is plagued by strange events that threaten to give the center bad publicity that it hardly needs.

This is another story with a group of teen characters who are staying together and are hard to tell apart.  I have mentioned before a group of stories that follow the same blueprint.  One plot device matches one used in most of the books from this group.

This book also has multiple culprits like every other book that fits this blueprint.  The overall tone is similar to those books.  It doesn't mean that the same author wrote all of the books, but they definitely follow the same blueprint.

On page 94, the reader learns that the boys know better than to take a car into the center of midtown Manhattan.  This lesson was apparently learned in #147 Trial and Error when the boys take their van into the city and get a parking ticket.

The treasure in this book, diamonds, is the same as a treasure found in The Castle Conundrum.

This is a very good book, even though I had trouble keeping the characters straight.

In Hardy Boys #157,  The Lure of the Italian Treasure, Frank and Joe join an archaeological dig in Italy.  A priceless artifact is uncovered—a box containing millions of dollars' worth of ancient jewels.  When the box is stolen, Frank and Joe seek the culprit.

The first part of the book is bland and not that interesting.  I feel that the first part of the story could have been written better.  The second half of the book is better, and I greatly enjoyed the last part of the book.