Showdown At The Giant (The Hardy Boys: Mystery of the Desert Giant - Franklin W. Dixon)

Member Name: keeperofthematri

Product:	The Hardy Boys: Mystery of the Desert Giant - Franklin W. Dixon
Date:	21/07/09 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A possible remedy for insomnia......

Disadvantages: Rather dull, boring & lifeless.

Frank & Joe Hardy are the teenage sons of famous private detective Fenton Hardy & his wife Laura. Together, (& sometimes from help with family & friends) they investigate all sorts of crimes & strange occurences....

The Mystery Of The Desert Giant was published in the US in 1961 & was the fortieth in the series. The book first appeared in the UK in 1971 & was numbered 6 when it was published by Armada.

This book opens with Frank, Joe & Chet lurking in the front garden of the Hardy home with Chet's infra-red camera. They've received a phonecall about a mysterious visitor & are determined to get a picture of him. One man turns up, but then walks away without attempting to knock on the door. A second "visitor" then arrives. He proves to be Philip Dodge, a lawyer that their father knows. He tells the Hardys that his client, a Mr. Brownlee, is searching for him nephew, Williard Grafton, who, along with a friend called Clifford Wetherby, has vanished. Fenton Hardy tells Dodge that he's occupied with another case but that Frank & Joe are more than capable of handling the case.

Meanwhile, Chet has been developing the infra-red photos in the Hardys lab but, on the way back to the house he's knocked out. It soon becomes apparent that a mysterious man has eavesdropped on the conversation between the Hardys & Dodge & has presumably heard all of their discussions relating to Grafton & Wetherby. The three boys are soon on their way to California to investigate the disappearance of Grafton & Wetherby and it soons become apparent that there's a gang determined to thwart their endeavours.

Their investigation leads them to Mexico & Colorado as well as California but the final showdown comes at the titular desert giant when Frank & Joe fall into the hands of the gang.....


The usual supporting characters who appear in this book are:-

+ Fenton Hardy
+ Laura Hardy
+ Aunt Gertrude
+ Chet Morton
+ Jack Wayne (mentioned but doesn't appear)
+ Chief Ezra Collig


There are a number of books in the Hardy Boys series that I clearly remember reading as a child. On the whole these tend the be the stories that I enjoyed reading a lot and therefore read more than once. No surprise then, that most of the weaker stories that I perhaps only read once have been mainly forgotten in the twenty something years since I first read them. This book is, however, an exception to that rule. I can clearly remember being bored rigid by it when I read it aged 9 & I can report that that childhood view hasn't particularly changed.

The book lacks any sort of pace or tension & just seems to consist of Frank & Joe (& occasionally Chet) plodding from place to place around California, Mexico & Denver with runs-in from the "gang" from time to time. This approach, which is similar to that used in "The Ghost Of Skeleton Rock", means that the reader is introduced to new characters at each new location that the boys visit, but that there isn't really the opportunity for the reader to get to know the, as they're only there to provide one particular function at that particular point in the storyline.

The book uses elements from the environment (a scorpion & a snake) to inject some drama into the storyline but this isn't enough to mask the fact that this is a rather below par tale that struggles to hold the interest & the attention of the reader. One to avoid unless you're a die-hard Hardy Boys fan determined to read all of the books.


At the time of new & used paperback copies are available from Amazon Prime for 1p upwards.

Summary: Fortieth Hardy Boys Book