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31: THE SECRET OF WILDCAT SWAMP

31

 

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: William Halstead in 1952.  His one and only Hardy Boys book.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1969 by Pricilla Baker-Carr.

Cover: Rudy Nappi.    A bit of red and yellow, but mostly we are in the green period.  A little too much green for the subject, if you ask me (and if you are reading this site, you are asking me).  This is another literal episode cover, and it nicely confuses the reader into thinking this book will be about wildcats when it’s really about . . .

Setting: Bayport and the West.  This is another Hardy Boys Go West story, and this one not only has cowboys, it also has people running around on top of a moving train.  Just like Hollywood.  Hey, 1952 was Western central.   

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Back east until it’s time for his usual appearance, but it’s earlier than usual and he and the boys work together a lot more than is typical.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet.  Yee-haw!

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: None.  But, and this is really important, for the first time ever Chet remembers he had a hobby in the past.  He actually remembers his judo from 28: The Sign of the Crooked Arrow!  Well done, writers!

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: None.  I’m starving.

Plot: A teacher in Bayport asks Frank and Joe to come out west to help him with an archaeological dig in Wildcat Swamp.  Which when they get there nobody knows it by that name.  And a bunch of crooks are, naturally, after that very spot for . . . something.

Review:  Decent, not a big fan of the Hardy Boys Western series.  It’s just adventures out west, not so much of the detective stuff.

Score: 6

30: THE WAILING SIREN MYSTERY

 

30

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: Andrew E. Svenson in 1951.  The third of three-in-a-row that he did in the late 40s/early 50s.  And the last one he did until he writes what, for me, is one of the highlights of the entire series (you’ll see).

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1968 by Pricilla Baker-Carr, and it’s Ms. Baker-Carr the rest of the way until we hit 1960 and the original stories stand alone at last.

Cover: Rudy Nappi.  Not much red or yellow, it’s all shades of green and blue.  But what a great cover this is!  Unlike the recent abstract covers, this one is almost a photograph.  I think I like the night covers in the rain a lot (see my raving over What Happened at Midnight).  And unlike other covers that spoil the endings, this one is basically chapter one.  That’s the actual scene from the book, and it’s portrayed exactly as written.  If you don’t want to know why that helicopter is flying in the rain to meet that yacht, you don’t deserve to read Hardy Boys books.  I mean, Frank and Joe would see that scene and leap to figure it out…

Setting: Bayport and the woods north of there.   

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Back and forth to Washington, showing up at times to help, and then making one of the most dashing Chapter XX Deus Ex Helicopter entrances ever.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Biff, Tony, Callie, Iola.  It’s more or less a camping trip for the boys.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: None.  

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: None.  I’m hungry.

Plot: See the cover?  What’s that all about?  Well, that’s the plot, trying to figure out what’s going on.  Oh, OK, I’ll tell you it involves crooks doing some gunrunning, thefts, wolves in the woods ready to rip people’s throats out (what?  That’s what the book says, so don’t yell at me if your 10-year-old just complained I got too graphic).

Review:  This one is OK, not great.  You know, that cover is funny because of course Frank and Joe would just happen to be there while this event is going on.  If they don’t take the Sleuth out for a spin, they don’t see that scene.  If they don’t see that scene, they have no idea anything is happening.  Well, Fenton is working the D.C. angle, so he would eventually figure it out, but man, the crooks pick Bayport as their base of operations again?!  Have they not read books 1-29?

And Frank and Joe stumble into so many mysteries by being in the right place at the right time I’m surprised there isn’t a series of historical Hardy Boys books: The Mystery of Ford’s Theater, for instance, when Frank and Joe happen to have tickets to see a show in 1865 when … well, you know.

And what’s with the wailing siren of the title?  It keeps going off, and the only ones who seem to care are Frank and Joe.  Huh?  If you hear a massive siren going off from the woods, don’t you think someone would figure out what’s going on?  The police would, if no one else, simply to stop all the citizens calling in to complain about that noise going off again.  Seriously, if this is the method chosen by the crooks to signal their moves, they are genuine idiots.

Score: 7

29: THE SECRET OF THE LOST TUNNEL

29

 

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: Andrew E. Svenson in 1950.  The second of three-in-a-row that he did in the late 40s/early 50s.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1968 by David Grambs, the last of his four revisions after 6: The Shore Road Mystery, 12: Footprints Under the Window and very recently 27: The Secret of Skull Mountain.  That represents two 9 ratings and one 6.  Which will his fourth revision get, the 9 end or the 6 end?

Cover: Rudy Nappi.  There’s yellow, there’s red, got some blue, and a lot of brown.  Instead of the boys peering at danger, they are investigating the secret of the lost tunnel.  Yes, a massive spoiler is placed right on the cover…

Setting: Bayport and then Virginia.  This is another Frank and Joe Down South story.  

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Testifying in Washington.  Until Chapter XX, of course.  Saves the boys’ life. Of course. 

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet.  Appearing to send them off down south are Callie, Iola and Helen Osborne (who?).

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Photography.  Yup, gets used.  But I have an official complaint: In 22: The Flickering Torch Mystery, Chet’s hobby is building airplanes from parts.  Yet in this story, Chet says at one point, “I’d sure like to learn to fly these things.”  Are you kidding me?  Seven books ago he’s building an airplane, yet he can’t even fly the things?!

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: Apple pie, the basic staple of pies.  Then it’s off down south for the rest of the tale.

Plot: Military general wants to hire Fenton to find some gold his ancestor was said to have buried, but reluctantly hires Frank and Joe when Fenton is called away to Washington.  Frank and Joe go down south, start sniffing around, and go figure, a gang of crooks is looking for the same gold.  Threats and knocks on the head ensue.

Review:  Not my favorite.  It’s almost a by the numbers attempt to get in the elements of a Hardy Boys book, but it doesn’t fly.  It’s a simple treasure hunt, if said hunt was accompanied by homicidal maniacs willing to kill you to get to the treasure first.  So actually, yeah, a simple treasure hunt.  It just doesn’t work as well as it should.  Goodbye Mr. Grambs, thank you for the two 9s you gave us, sorry about the two 6s.

Score: 6

28: THE SIGN OF THE CROOKED ARROW

 

28

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: Andrew E. Svenson in 1949.  His first since revising 23: The Melted Coins (which I gave an 8) and before that 7: The Secret of the Caves (which only got a 5).  Mr. Svenson will end up writing several of the later volumes.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1970 by Priscilla Baker-Carr, who will be revising most of the rest as we go along.

Cover: Rudy Nappi.  Yellow and red are back!  A bit abstract, not actually an event from the book, but thematically accurate.  Mid-level Nappi.

Setting: Bayport and then New Mexico.  Unlike Hunting for Hidden Gold, written originally in 1928, and very much reflecting the Old West in spirit, this one is very much a product of mid-century Americana.  In the late-40s and early-50s, the U.S. went Western mad, so this is very much a Frank-and-Joe-go-West story.  But unlike the Old West setting in Hidden Gold, this is more dude ranch western living.  

Where’s Fenton This Time?: He gets his sorry self shot by an arrow and spends lots of time in the hospital and then recuperating in bed.  In fact, this is why Frank and Joe have to fill in when his sister needs help on her New Mexico ranch.  Don’t worry, he wouldn’t miss his Chapter XX appearance, typically by air.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, of course.  Iola appears briefly.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Judo.  Yup, gets used.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: After three desserts in the last one, Gertrude had to rest a bit. Don’t worry, the boys get good western cooking.  Chet even eats too much to go riding.  What, like that surprises you?

Plot: Some crooks who knock people out and rob them decide to take their stuff made in New Mexico and travel to, oh, lemme think, what would be a good place to be swindlers?  How about Bayport, all the way across the country, and thick with crack detectives?  Yeah, that’s the idea.  And then they are forced to try to prevent Frank and Joe from going to New Mexico. Hint to crooks: If you hadn’t been stupid enough to set up shop in Bayport, Frank and Joe wouldn’t have a clue you exist!  Anyway, their aunt in New Mexico needs help because her ranch hands start going missing.  Yes, it’s all tightly connected.  And hint to readers: if you ever get invited to ride in a plane with the Hardy Boys, decline with extreme prejudice.  Guaranteed your plane will be tampered with and require an emergency landing.  The FAA should ban these books.

Review:  Not bad, not great.  Amazing coincidence as usual, a bit tiring with all the cliched western speech, amazing how Frank and Joe are expert at everything that the ranch hands spend their living at, but the mystery is interesting, and it keeps you guessing.  And hey, if a kid learns a bit about modern cowboy life, why not?  But remember how I keep drawing parallels with Scooby Doo?  Check out this line from the book: “I would’ve gotten the car, too, if it hadn’t been for you Hardys.”  I’m telling you, the Hardy Boys got there first…

Score: 7

24: THE SHORT-WAVE MYSTERY

 

24

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: Leslie McFarlane in 1945.  And yes, as World War II comes to an end, so does the great Mr. McFarlane’s participation in this series comes to a close.  This is the last Hardy Boys book he wrote, so let me take a moment and thank him for wonderful childhood memories.  Yes, I know, his originals were 25 chapters and written in a more complex manner than the revisions, and what I’m reviewing are the revisions.  But he gave us the Hardy Boys, and for that I am thankful.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1966 by Priscilla Baker-Carr.  Just as we say goodbye to Leslie McFarlane, we now say hello to Ms. Carr for she will be revising most of the next dozen or so books.  Ms. Carr, you are now in the spotlight.  Welcome.

Cover: Rudy Nappi.  The red and yellow habit is being carried on by Joe.  This steps back from the recent abstract covers and returns to the classic look: Frank and Joe staring at danger.  This one is a night scene with blowing snow, Frank using his short-wave radio, Joe peering in at some nefarious doings.  Great cover.

Setting: Bayport, and briefly Canada.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: He’s got his routine down pat: be part of some related part of the case that keeps him out of his kid’s hair until he’s needed in chapter XX on Deus Ex Machina airlines.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, with Biff, Tony, Phil, Callie and Iola showing up a bit.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Taxidermy.  No, he won’t use it after this book.  His closet must be stuffed with old hobby tools…

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: Made some nice meals, but no pie.  I’m getting impatient.  And hungry.

Plot: Some strange short-wave transmissions get picked up by Frank and Joe, and some business espionage, and missing jewels, and stuffed animal heads that carry a secret, and juvenile delinquents that Frank and Joe take care of (hi, 1966).  Yes, it all ties together.

Review:  Classic Hardy Boys.  A good mystery involving code words, Chet’s hobby is the center of the Bayport universe, the stuffed animal plot is fun and clever.  It moves.  It works.

Score: 7

22: THE FLICKERING TORCH MYSTERY

22

 

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: Leslie McFarlane in 1943. After five in a row of John Button, and five I was not especially fond of, the master is back with only two more to his name yet to come.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1971 by Vincent Buranelli, the second revision he did along with his later originals. I didn’t care for his other revision, The Mystery of the Flying Express, giving that one a very low 4 score. Will Mr. Buranelli do better with a McFarlane?

Cover: Rudy Nappi. Is there red and yellow? A little, but this is green on purple and oh, so 70s I could just ease on down the road with a funky song in my heart. This is like a James Bond poster if they wanted to imply Sean Connery was really hitting the good stuff this time. Very dated, but the use of color is striking, and it certainly symbolizes the plot.

Setting: Bayport, and nearby.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Working another angle on the case with Sam Radley, but he shows up and helps out here and there. Mostly in the series recently he’s been there to say, no, he can’t do that dangerous step, but sure, the boys can, just be careful, OK? What does he think an 18- and 17-year-old will say to that question?

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Callie and Iola, Biff and Tony, Phil, the whole band, and yes, I mean band. Just like in 1971 Josie and the Pussycats were a band, and the Archies were a band, now the Hardy Boys are a band. This is not as egregious as it could be because there are other books where the boys are into playing music, but man, this Bayport band formed quickly. I’m just sayin’.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Building airplanes. Say what?! I mean, c’mon, play fair with the reader, willya? We get it. This is a plot about airplane parts, so you needed Chet to build an airplane. But he never showed interest in flying before, and he doesn’t remain interested afterward. I call shenanigans.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: No dessert for you!

Plot: A plane crashes upon approach to an airport, there is a plant with a tower that flickers flames, there is a nightclub called The Flickering Torch, basically this plot is whatever they needed it to be. This book is  known for its radical change from original version to this revised version. Mr. Buranelli wanted to show the boys being cool, so it’s folk rock to the rescue. Uh huh…

Review:  Has its moments, but this one is dated from its too-70s cover to the type of music they play to the way the audience reacts to the music to the ridiculous lengths the bad guys go to foil the Hardy Boys. And where was Jack Wayne in a story all about flying? But I give it an extra point for the end fate of Frank who is drugged and planned to be pushed out a plane into the ocean. Way to show hostility toward the characters, Mr. Author!

Score: 6

21: THE CLUE OF THE BROKEN BLADE

 

21

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: John Button in 1942, the fifth of his five books in a row.  Mr. Button is now done with the Hardy Boys.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1969 by Richard Deming, the only one he did.  Mr. Deming, this is your book.

Cover: Rudy Nappi.  Is there red and yellow?  Not really.  We seem to be going into the abstract period now, and this one is blue, blue, blue.  Frank and Joe fence, someone stares at them behind a mask, and a broken blade reminds us of the title.  It’s OK, well made.  I’m not as big a fan of the abstract ones.

Setting: Bayport, and California, this is Frank and Joe go to Hollywood, sorta, which is nothing like Frankie Goes to Hollywood.  Just sayin’.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Oh, he goes on vacation with the missus until they both show up in the most unlikeliest of places.  Fans of Laura Hardy — this is your book.  She actually gets to help.  Briefly.  Then the Hardy Boys syndicate shuts her down real quick and we get back to normal.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet (honorary Hardy Boy at this stage), Callie and Iola, Biff and Tony.  Only Chet gets the big part, and no, I’m not making fun of his weight, which is more than I can say for Frank and Joe for whom no occasion is so solemn as to prevent them from making fun of Chet’s weight.  Way to show empathy, boys…

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Fencing, as is also the hobby of Frank and Joe and Biff and Tony, not one of whom ever fences again, but they are expert enough in this book to get hired on the spot as fencers and trusted enough to run a fencing school by themselves.  Mr. Deming, we figured out your interest in life, and you crammed it into the plot.  Still, if you have a kid who likes the idea of fencing, this is his book!  But don’t turn your back on that kid…

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: “Pieces” of rhubarb pie, three of them for Chet.  Aunt Gertrude never made fun of Chet…

Plot: An inheritance inscribed on a blade, but the blade has been missing for decades.  Wanna bet the boys find it by chapter XX?  Hey, Frank and Joe, we never found Jimmy Hoffa, wanna take a crack at it?  Anyway, the clues lead to Hollywood, an odd screenwriter, a movie being made, and enough crooks running around to baffle anyone trying to make sense why this case is that important.  Mostly everyone fences.  Yeah, we get it, Mr. Deming, fencing is cool, or something.

Review:  Eh.  I’m a little tired of the boys getting on a case involving, say, broccoli, and then suddenly every crook in town is suddenly into broccoli, and willing to kill to keep you from discovering they like broccoli.  Hey, I think I smell a new Hardy Boy mystery: The Clue of the Overcooked Broccoli.

Score: 5

20: MYSTERY OF THE FLYING EXPRESS

20

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: John Button in 1941, the fourth of his five books in a row.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1970 by Vincent Buranelli, one of two he would revise, though he also wrote five of the later books entirely on his own..   

Cover: Back to Rudy Nappi.  Is there red and yellow?  Well, lots of red all right, but the only yellow is Joe’s hair.  This is the first of the abstract covers.  We have Frank and Joe in the foreground, the Flying Express in the background, a zodiac chart over the boat, and abstract red everywhere.

Setting: Bayport, and Providence, a long ferry ride away to the south.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Up to his usual business, elsewhere most of the time, calling on Sam Radley to go back and forth as needed.  He shows up now and then.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Callie and Iola.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Horoscopes, as if the cover didn’t give it away.  Sorry, this hobby annoyed me.  We have no indication he has this interest before this book, and it’s completely dropped after this book.  This isn’t like picking up archaeology or oil painting.  You can believe someone might dabble with that for a while and then quit.  But astrology is a mindset.  Chet is so incredibly into this mindset in this book, it’s jarring that it gets dropped.  This is bad writing.  Forcing a character to take on something that makes no sense for him to take on.  Oh well, as Frank says in the book, “The solar system isn’t all that concerned about our doings here at Cape Cutlass.  Saturn is millions of miles away.  I doubt that it’s going to interfere with our little airplane.”  Amen, Frank.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: “Big slices of rhubarb-and-strawberry pie.”  Yum!

Plot: Makes no sense.  The owner of the hydrofoil Flying Express wants to set up a ferry service between Bayport and Providence.  Competing businesses don’t want him to.  Attempted murder attempts follow repeatedly.  Wait, what?!  They can’t just offer a better ferry service, they have to try to KILL PEOPLE?  What nonsense.

Review:  Horoscopes everywhere, a plot that makes no sense, Joe says “groovy” at one point (holy ’60s, Batman!), I’m sorry this one is not for me.  At one point Chet takes an old dress (long story) and simply tosses it into the ocean!  I’m sorry, but in 1970 there was enough of an environmental awareness that this strikes me as a clunker of a move.  Hey, Chet, why are you polluting the ocean when there are garbage cans right over there?  Meh, this is my least favorite Hardy Boys book.

Score: 4

19 THE DISAPPEARING FLOOR

19

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: John Button in 1940, the third of his five books in a row.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1966 by James D. Lawrence, the last of his three revisions.   

Cover: John Leone, his third and last cover with Rudy Nappi taking over again for the rest of the series.  As usual, Frank and Joe are wearing red and yellow (in fact, Joe is himself wearing red and yellow — way to take one for the team, Joe!).  Night scene, old house, ghostly figure approaching — yup, still in Scooby Doo territory here.  I’m telling you, Scooby Doo owes a debt to the Hardy Boys.  Let’s see, if Chet is Shaggy, and Frank is Fred, and Callie and Iola are . . . naaah, it’s not THAT much of a pattern.

Setting: Bayport, nothing but Bayport and its surroundings.  Why go anywhere else when major international criminal enterprises decide Bayport is a happening place?

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Chicago mostly, waiting for a break in the case that never comes.  Even when he makes his usual Chapter XX appearance, this time he doesn’t save the day.  Frank and Joe have it all wrapped up by then.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Callie and Iola, Tony.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Nuttin’.  Well, being scared, but willing to help.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: Lemon pie.  But Gerty is described as making other pies that the boys are too busy to eat, so who knows, maybe the author would have described more pies if they had stuck around.

Plot: Jewel thieves in Bayport.  I know!  As if there could be any jewels left in town by this point!  Plus an old house in the middle of nowhere that has a floor that disappears.  Plus blood-curdling (I believe that would be the appropriate cliche) screams in the night, a dog that growls, someone whose dying words talk about “…the floor,” yes, it’s a humdinger of a Scooby Doo mystery here.

Review:  I like this one.  Good mysteries involving a laughably elaborate plan to fool someone into going to the 6th floor of a building instead of the 5th floor (think Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol – see folks, all of modern fiction derives from the Hardy Boys), a floor that appears and then disappears, suitably tough jewel thieves, high stakes action, a mysterious message from Jack Wayne as he seems to be flying for the bad guys, and it’s all in Bayport with Chet around to get spooked by the ghost.  Oh, right, that ghost.  You don’t really think it’s a ghost, do you?  Remember, Scooby Doo territory here!

Score: 8

18: THE TWISTED CLAW

18

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: John Button in 1939, the second of his five books in a row.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1969 by Tom Mulvey, the last of his five revisions.  I like each of his previous four quite a bit.  

Cover: Rudy Nappi, red and yellow (if you look for it), but mostly red, red, red.  And the usual spoiler being revealed.  Frankly, this is a Scooby Doo cover.  You can just picture Shaggy and Scooby wandering the museum at night while a sinister pair of eyes peer at them from the suit of armor.  As usual, the Hardy Boys anticipated and set the pattern for Scooby Doo.

Setting: Bayport, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware, Miami, and a Caribbean island.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Right there working with the boys.  And yes, saves the day in chapter XX as is typical.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, and Iola briefly.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Archaeology, but only briefly mentioned in order to get two jokes at Chet’s expense in the middle of the book, and then repeat the joke as the book’s final line.  And it ain’t that funny.  No, this looks like the author knows McFarlane typically gave Chet a hobby, so he would too, but he doesn’t know how to embed it into the story.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: Oh, she’s too busy clucking that no good will come from [whatever the Hardys are doing, that always leads to good coming from it].

Plot: A pirate king with his own island, two freighters being used for no good, a series of museum robberies.

Review:  Again this doesn’t read like a McFarlane.  Lots of stuff happening, but it’s more of a procedural about working on ships, on how to rob a museum, etc.  Not that interesting or typically Hardy Boy-ian.

Score: 6