Thursday, July 28, 2016

Hardy Boys #182 Soldier's Gold, #183 Warehouse Rumble, and #184 Dangerous Transmission

In Hardy Boys #182, The Secret of the Soldier's Gold, Mrs. Rilke, a friend's grandmother, has asked Frank and Joe to find a buried suitcase full of gold bars during their trip to Portugal.  They are to dig up the suitcase of gold and bring it back to Bayport. What could possibly go wrong?

Frank and Joe's task is laughable.  There is no way they could dig up buried gold in Portugal and smuggle it back to the United States without getting into trouble.  Of course it turns out that getting the gold is much more difficult than the boys expect, and others are after the gold as well.  As the plot develops, the story becomes more logical and easier for the reader to accept.

This is a very good story.

In Hardy Boys #183, Warehouse Rumble, Frank and Joe are participating in a reality show competition that is being filmed in a group of abandoned warehouses near Barmet Bay.  Someone is sabotaging the competition!

The story is not that interesting.  It reads like a sports sabotage book.  They have a competition, and something goes wrong.  They have another competition, and something else goes wrong.  It's not apparent why this is happening for most of the story.

The story is not compelling, and I was more bored the further I read.  I skimmed the last part of the book.

I did not enjoy this book.

In Hardy Boys #184, The Dangerous Transmission, Frank and Joe are in London staying with their friend, Jax Brighton.  Jax has invented a transmitter that can be implanted inside a tooth.  When the transmitter is stolen, Frank and Joe take the case.

I was turned off as soon as I began the book.  I was reminded of Biff Brewster, British Spy Ring Mystery, and Brad Forrest, London Adventure.  I do not like either of those books, so I was not inclined to like this one. 

The author wrote a spooky scene in the fog of London, and that is my favorite part of the story.

I did not like this book.

5 comments:

CvilleTed said...

Is then when the Nancy Drew Girl Detective series was being planned or published? I think the quality of both Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys digest series declined as attention was focused on developing the new Girl Detective and Undercover Brother series of titles. To bad that the last books are so awful and full of errors! I'll never forgive Ned having blond hair in the last Nancy Drew!

Jennifer White said...

When these Hardy Boys Digest books were published, the first eight to ten Nancy Drew Girl Detective books had already been published. I don't know why they didn't end and relaunch both series simultaneously. But regardless, they were developing and preparing the HB Undercover Brothers series at this time.

I agree that the two series declined towards the end of the Digests. In my opinion, the very last Nancy Drew Digest books are overall worse than the last Hardy Boys Digest books. Three of the last six HB Digest books are not good. Five of the last six ND Digest books are not good. Neither series is very good at the end, but ND is worse.

Blond Ned is appalling, and Nancy's age switches around in the final Digests. I did not notice as many inconsistencies in the last HB Digests.

Unknown said...

This is about the Penny Parker series. I've been collecting them for a couple of years and suddenly found a "Witch Tree" with a dust jacket with reverse ads! The book is published by Cupples & Leon although I believe it was really put out by Grosset & Dunlap. I believe 'Vanishing Housebook' (v.2) may have also been printed with reverse ads, but haven't been able to find it. More confusing is the copyright date on my v.1 says 1939, but I had assumed that the reverse ads books were only done in 1934. Has anyone else ever found these elusive books? Thanks!

Jennifer White said...

The reverse ads by Grosset and Dunlap ended in 1934. The Penny Parker books were published by Cupples and Leon. Cupples and Leon was not connected to Grosset and Dunlap in any fashion, and Cupples and Leon had its own practices. Cupples and Leon did reverse ads up until 1939.

I do have Witch Doll with the reverse ads. I do not have Vanishing Houseboat with the reverse ads, and I do not know whether it exists.

Unknown said...

Thanks for straightening that out for me!