Hardy Boys #161 Training for Trouble, #162 End of the Trail, and #163 Spy That Never Lies

In Hardy Boys #161, Training for Trouble, a new combat sports facility featuring judo, fencing, archery, and biathlon has opened in Bayport.  The Hardys and their friends are eager to participate.  Iola gets an electrical shock while fencing, and someone shoots arrows at Frank after dark.  Frank and Joe must find the culprit before somebody is severely injured.

I didn't like the beginning of the story very much, since this book is centered again around sports and sabotage.  The more I read, the more interesting the book became.

This book has more than one villain, and the final villain to be unmasked is surprising.  I enjoyed the suspense.

This is a very good book.

In Hardy Boys # 162, The End of the Trail, Frank, Joe, Chet, Biff, and Phil hike the Appalachian Trail.  When Biff falls out of a tree and breaks his leg, the boys seek help in the town of Morgan's Quarry.  The boys quickly learn that the townspeople of Morgan's Quarry are hiding something and that the boys' presence is not welcome!

This book is interesting from the very first page.  The book was written as a throwback to the original 58 books.  All of Frank and Joe's friends are present.  Food is described and mentioned often.  The tone is similar to the old books.  Chet even helps save the day—more than once!

The book has great humor, like at the top of page 23.

"Ewwww," Biff said.  "It feels like something's about to come bursting out of my leg like in an Alien movie."

"Probably something green and hungry," Joe said.  "Like Chet."

The book has few surprises.  One surprise is startling.

This book is good all the way through.

I find it strange how often my opinion of Hardy Boys books is completely different from everyone else.  In this case, I think this is one of the best stories I have read in many books.  It's really excellent.  So I go to Amazon, where the book has bad reviews.  The reviewers complain that the Appalachian Trail isn't featured enough or that the story doesn't fit the region.  In fact, the bad reviews are from people who live in Appalachia and have nothing to do with the quality of the story.  My conclusion is that you shouldn't read this book if you live in Appalachia, since it will apparently upset you.

This is an outstanding book.

In Hardy Boys #163, The Spy That Never Lies, cameras are going up all over Bayport as part of Councilwoman Hamilton's quest to get rid of troublesome teens.  As Frank and Joe try to help college student Jake Martins, who is accused of wrongdoing, they find a deadly enemy in Hamilton's daughter, who knows how to manipulate her mother's crusade to her own advantage.  

I wasn't that interested in the story at the beginning, mainly because I enjoyed the previous book so much.  After I got into the story, I was quite interested, since the Hardys end up in a lot of trouble and must prove their innocence.

This is a very good book.