More international spy rings for the boys! (The Hardy Boys: Trapped at Sea - Franklin W. Dixon)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	The Hardy Boys: Trapped at Sea - Franklin W. Dixon
Date:	05/04/09 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some good action

Disadvantages: A bit unbelievable

This is one of many Hardy Boys books to have been released in 1982. The first ever Hardy Boys book was published in the 1920s, and in many respects, there are still elements reminiscent of this fact even in the books from the 80s. Trapped At Sea is the 75th to be released, and the 17th to be published by Simon & Schuster, who won the publishing rights from Grosset & Dunlap in 1979. You may see this book under either number as a result.

Trapped At Seas sees our heroes, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, as they embark on yet another adventure. Occasionally, their adventures will have them being sought out by someone to solve a crime. Other times, they will fall into adventure while away on holiday or something. This one is one of the former, where they head off to try and solve a string of heists from trucks.

There have been a number of varied and interesting plot lines that the creators of the Hardy Boys have come up with. This one differs in many ways, but is really nothing we haven't seen with them before, as the brothers attempt to break up a crime ring when faced with seemingly impossible odds. What often bugs me about the Hardy Boys books is the fact that they are teenage boys who are chosen for extremely dangerous missions that, in reality, would see adults or professionals taking the case, if not the authorities!

However, this is teen fiction, with the intended audience being teenage boys. As a result, reality is thrown out of the window as Frank and Joe head off to tropical islands to solve the crimes. They aren't really explored as characters. Few of the books focus on them a lot, preferring instead to let the development of the main characters to be done over the course of the books. However, those characters who are individual to this book are actually done very well. I wouldn't say it is as good as perhaps the Twilight series or even the Harry Potter books, which are aimed at younger readers as well, although very much suitable for adults, too, but it is still well done her by the ghost writer.

All Hardy Boys books are released under the pen name of Franklin W Dixon, although a number of different ghost writers are responsible for the words getting onto the pages. This particular ghost writer does an okay job, despite the unbelievability factor, and the story is an enjoyable one. As with most of the Simon & Schuster Hardy Boys books, it's quite hard to get hold of a copy of this in the UK, but the book is regularly available from various online retailers for a fair price, such as amazon.com. This is not necessarily one my favourite Hardy Boys books, although the steady pace of the book and the action means that there are worse books in the series.

Summary: Well written in many ways, but not the greatest