Review: "Open Season" (Casefiles #59)

So, I’ve spent the last three weeks reading through the 3^rd Casefiles Collector’s Edition. Which is why the last two books I reviewed were “Beyond the Law” and “Spiked!”. I wasn’t too excited to read the last book in the collector’s edition, “Open Season”, because it’s by Rick Oliver.

Every single Casefile by Rick Oliver that I’ve read has been either mediocre or terrible. The only book by him that I really liked was “Murder By Magic”, and he wrote that one with someone else.

“Open Season” is one of Rick Oliver’s better books. Unfortunately, that’s not saying much. The book has some major problems, problems that made reading this book take me longer then I thought. (Hence the posting delay) 

In this book, Frank and Joe go on a skiing trip and end up investigating the shooting of a conservationist. Or be more precise, Frank ends up investigating the shooting of a conservationist while Joe tags along.

Frank does most of the detective work in this book, while Joe is pretty much his Watson, someone who’s basically there for Frank to explain everything to. Frank pretty solves the entire case on his own, with Joe finding a clue maybe once or twice.

It’s not unusual for a Hardy Boys book to focus on one Hardy over the other, the problem is that while Frank Hardy solves the case pretty much single-handedly, Joe Hardy spends most of the book acting like a dumb jock. 

He rushes into situations without thinking, and can't seem to figure anything out without Frank's help. At one point, Frank admits to question a suspect, only for Joe to act like a hothead and get them kicked off the suspect’s property. 

Frank and Joe spend most of the first five chapters of the book clashing with the county Sheriff. I’m surprised they didn’t try mentioning to him that they were Fenton Hardy’s sons, as that worked last book. Their constant arguments with the sheriff got rather boring. At one point Frank calls the Sheriff out for eavesdropping on a conversation, which to me seemed extremely hypocritical. 

There are some good things about the book. There were quite a few memorable quotes from Frank and Joe. There was some good action scenes, even if a few of them felt drawn out. Frank and Joe's run in with the mountain lion hunters could have probably have been a bit shorter. The action scenes were pretty the only scenes in the book where Joe got to do anything useful. 

The mystery was rather interesting. I wasn’t able to instantly guess the culprit behind the shooting, and the clues made sense. The trap that Frank and Joe set to catch the villain was rather clever, and it was a nice change from the last two books where Frank and Joe got ambushed and had a Q and A session with the villain at gunpoint.

I originally planned to give this book a higher rating, but I decided against it because Joe Hardy's characterization in this book annoyed me so much. I have no issue with books that focus on one brother over the other, my issue is that this book turned Joe into an idiot so that Frank could solve everything. 

Rating

4 out of 10

Review: "Spiked!" (Casefiles #58)

This book took a bit longer to finish then I had planned, so that's there was no post Thursday. I had actually taken a break midway through the second chapter, and said break took longer then I had planned.

I'm not really that into to sports, and I don't know much about Volleyball. So, when the ten page first chapter consisted of a recap of a volleyball game, and Frank and Joe talking about how awesome 2 vs 2 volleyball is, I wasn't very interested in the book.

The first chapter does end with quite a disturbing death scene, as one of the players dies in the middle of a game. It's something that probably would freaked me out as a kid. Of course, the death turns out to be murder, and the way the killer does it is quite clever.

Joe has a one-book girlfriend named Chris, who is basically there so that Joe can have a feud with a volleyball player named George Ritt Jr. George Ritt Jr. is probably one of the most entertaining parts of the book. He's so cartoonish it's hilarious.

For most of the book, he's basically Bluto from Popeye. His father is just as cartoonish, and two spent most of the time yelling at people and starting fights.  However, it does strain suspension of disbelief that George Ritt Jr. is not kicked out of  the volleyball tournament for unsportsmanlike behavior.

The culprits of "Spiked!" were quite obvious, as they spent a lot of time twirling their mustaches and doing evil things in front of Frank and Joe. There was a surprise or two near the end, but for the most part I was able to guess the who and why of the mystery pretty early on.

Despite this, the action was rather good. The villains were quite dangerous, and Frank and Joe had a lot of close calls in this book. The volleyball aspect of the book takes the backstage for the second half of the book. While there are some sabotage attempts during games, most of the action happens away from the court.

Frank and Joe also have some good banter in the this book, and I found myself laughing quite a lot. This plus the cartoonish behavior of some of the suspects makes the book rather fun, although things do get more serious near the end. 

There's one cringe-worthy scene where one of the suspects falsely believes that Frank and Joe are detectives for INS, and attacks Frank with a knife to try to scare him. INS would later become ICE, which you've probably heard about. This scene dates the book by quite a bit, and had this book come out today, would have likely been seen as problematic.

"Spiked!" is an average but fun book, with the mystery element being a bit lacking. If you prefer books where it's a challenge to guess the culprit before Frank and Joe do, this isn't the book for you. If you are just looking for a fun Hardy Boys book, give this one a read.

Rating
6 out of 10

Review: "Beyond the Law" (Casefiles #55)

The first time I read “Beyond the Law”, I thought it was ok, but too slow paced. Recently, I decided to read through “Casefiles Collector’s Edition #3”. That meant rereading this book. During my second readthrough, I discovered that the book was a whole lot then I remembered and is now one of my favorite in the Casefiles series.

Beyond the Law is considered by some fans to be book three in the “Bayport Corruption Storyline”. This unofficial trilogy consists of “See No Evil”, “Line of Fire”, and “Beyond the Law”.  All three books have Frank and Joe facing off against corrupt Bayport City Officials.

“Beyond the Law” does reference the events of “See No Evil” quite a bit at the start of the book. At one-point Frank mentions “The See No Evil” case, and the villain mentions it as well. However, you don’t have to read “See No Evil” to understand what happens in “Beyond the Law”.

As I said at the start of my review, I originally thought the book was too slow paced. And admittedly, it’s a lot slower then the earlier books in the Casefiles series. However, the writer still managed to make the book an entertaining read. It’s also 100 times better then the last two Casefiles I’ve read, “Poisoned Paradise” and “No Way Out”.

The start of the story is quite relevant with all the talk of fake news going around today. News reporter Rod Vernon reports that Chief Collig was fired from an earlier police job for collecting bribes. Despite him not citing a source, the people of Bayport (besides the Hardys and their friends) immediately believe the report.

Mark DeCampo, the new commissioner, uses this as an excuse to  get rid of Collig, and suspends him. Frank and Joe start an investigation, but Mark and Vernon end up being injured in a bomb blast, and soon Chief Collig is wanted for attempted murder.  

The book heavily focuses on Chief Collig, (who in the Adventures books has been replaced with the rather boring Chief Olaf.) a character who rarely gets the spotlight. Normally in the Casefiles, he’s just there to be an obstacle to Frank and Joe’s investigation.  Here, we get to learn a lot about his backstory as he, Frank, and Joe head Millerton in an attempt to clear Collig’s name. We also learn a bit about how police work has changed over the years, and how the police used to get away with a lot more then they do now. 

The book has most of the Hardy’s friends make appearances during the first half of the book, which is good to see. The scenes in Mr. Pizza where the customers discuss Collig’s suspension were my favorite parts of the book. Unfortunately, we don't get to see their reactions to Collig being accused of attempted murder, and after the second scene at Mr. Pizza's, the book doesn't go back there. 

Fenton Hardy also makes an appearance, but conveniently has to leave on a case a few chapters in. Well this is disappointing, he turns out to be a important part of the story, as Frank and Joe are trying to get to get some papers signed by the Chief so his license can be renewed.  The acting chief, Parker Lawrence, attempts to blackmail Frank and Joe by threatening not to sign the papers if they continue investigating the case. This creates a lot of suspense, as not only is Collig's career at stake, but so is Fenton's.

The action picks up quite a bit in the second half of the book, and the villain is probably one of my favorite Casefile villains. While I won't spoil anything, the final showdown is really exciting. My only issue is that the villain had a question and answer session with Frank and Joe that took a little longer then necessary, but that's a minor issue.  

To my knowledge, the events of this book are never referenced again, and  Chief Collig continued to be an obstacle. The book even lampshades this at the end, which I found rather hilarious. I really like Chief Collig as a character.

Unfortunately, a lot of the Casefiles after this book take place outside Bayport, so Collig didn’t appear that much. In fact, after this book, it would be 8 books until Frank and Joe solved another mystery in Bayport. 

I highly recommend this book.

Rating

8 out of 10

My Reading List

Sorry about the short post, but I figured I’d post my current reading list, as I’ll be reviewing these books on my blog once I’m finished with them. I’ll be going through this list in order, although the list might change at some point. I’m also currently playing the Nancy Drew game, “The Captive Curse”, and that will be reviewed on my blog as well.

My Current Reading List:

-Beyond the Law (Casefiles #55)

-Spiked (Casefiles #58)

-Open Season (Casefiles #59)

-Danger for Hire (Files #52)

-Make No Mistake (Files #56)

-Poison Pen (Files #60)

-The Children of the Lost (UB #34)

-Lost Brother (UB #35)

-Forever Lost (UB #36)

-Danger Overseas (Super Mystery 07 #2)

-Gold Medal Murder (Super Mystery 07 #4)

-Bonfire Masquerade (Super Mystery 07 #5)

-The Betrayal (Fear Street Sega #1)

-The Secret (Fear Street Sega #2)

-The Burning (Fear Street Sega #3)

-The Shadow Killers (Hardy Boys Digests #92)

-The Serpent's Tooth Mystery (Hardy Boys Digests #93)

-Danger on the Air (Hardy Boys Digests #94)

There will two posts this weekend to make up for the shortness of this one.

Review: "No Way Out" (Hardy Boys Casefiles #75)

Casefile #75, “No Way Out” could have easily have been a Hardy Boys Digest. It doesn’t have much action, and much like most of the Digests published around the time this book was, the plot involves sabotage.

This time around, the target of the sabotage is Rob Niles, a champion orienteer. Much of the book focuses on his rivalry with his teammate Takashi Okira, and both characters acted like jerks to each other for most of the book. This got so annoying, I stopped caring about both characters, and started skimming through the parts where they got into arguments.

To make matters worse, something about Takashi brings out the worst in Joe, and for a few chapters, he starts acting like a jerk too. Early in the book, Rob breaks into Takashi’s hotel room to play a prank, and Frank and Joe follow him inside. When Takashi catches them, Joe gets angry at him for not listening to them, despite the fact he really has no reason to. After Takashi kicks them out, Joe says “I can’t believe we let that guy talk to us that way.”  

Later, Joe breaks into Takashi’s hotel room again, gets into a fistfight with him, and acts like it’s Takashi’s fault. I understand that Joe is more hotheaded in the Casefiles then he is in the other series, but the ghostwriter took it too far.  To be fair though, Joe does apologize for his behaviour at the end of the book.

We are eventually introduced to a rival team, as a chapter ends with Rob noticing Takashi eating lunch with that team. This of course leads to another argument. It turns out that the rival team’s coach, Malika Morris, is pretty much a female version of Takashi, and I ended up doing even more skimming through pages. I actually considered not finishing the book, that’s how annoying the constant arguments got.

It really didn’t help that the plot is pretty dull.  There’s not much variety in the sabotage, and most of it is stuff I’ve seen countless times in other Hardy Boys books.

Frank and Joe don't do very much investigating, and most of the time they either watch Rob argue with Takashi or Malika, or rescue Rob from sabotage attempts. They barely try to question suspects, and when they do try to, the suspect just walks off in anger.

The cliff-hangers are rather dull as well. Four cliff-hangers involve Rob, Frank, or Joe falling down something. One of the chapters near the end of the book ends with Rob accusing Malika of giving people Australian compasses. I think the ghostwriter was having trouble with the “every chapter must end in a cliff-hanger” rule. *

Spoilers are below:

I instantly guessed that Jeremy Foote was the person trying to kill Rob because he was one of the only minor characters to act nice to Rob. Takashi and Malika were obvious red herrings, and the book tried way too hard to make them look suspicious.

I was surprised when it turned out that Takashi admitted to sending Rob threatening notes and leaving a Rattlesnake in Rob’s bed. I was even more surprised when he got away with this, with everyone treating it as a mean prank. Also, nobody points out to Takasahi that the snake would have killed Rob had Joe not noticed it.

On a positive note, it was nice that Liz Webling made an appearance. She and Callie join the Hardys on their trip, and actually help with the investigation a tiny bit. I'm always happy to see recurring characters, and Liz was one of the best parts of the book. 

The final three chapters were rather exciting, and the showdown with the villain was good, if a bit short. The villain's motivation made sense, unlike in the last Casefile I read. (Poisoned Paradise **)  I also learned some stuff about orienteering, a sport that I knew nothing about. So the book has some educational value, I guess.

There are much worse Hardy Boys books out there, and I debated on giving this one a slightly higher rating. But in the end, the book had too many problems. I would not recommend this book to anyone, unless you have an interest in orienteering. Even then, there has to be something better you could read.

Rating

3 out of 10

*  "I was told the emphasis was on high action and suspense and there had to be a cliff-hanger ending to every chapter." -  Barbara Steiner, a Casefiles ghostwriter. 

** You can see my review of Poisoned Paradise here. 

A Nancy Drew Files Mystery Solved?

Recently, I've been looking through LinkedIn to see if I find any info on Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew ghostwriters. I actually found quite a bit:
-Ami Boghani wrote The Nancy Drew Diaries #10
-Ellen Keller wrote The Hardy Boys Casefiles #91
-Deborah Gaine wrote The Nancy Drew Files #40 and #44

However, one LinkedIn page not only revealed the name of a ghostwriter, but might have solved a mystery as well. But first, some background info.

The final book in the Nancy Drew Files series, "Crime at the Chat Cafe" was published on December 1st, 1997. However, that may have not been the last book written for the series. The Book Depository had a listing and an ISBN number for Nancy Drew Files #128, before the listing was removed.* They also had listings for other unpublished Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books, like Casefiles #129, 131-134 and Super Mystery #38.

What the Book Depository didn't have were ISBN numbers for Nancy Drew Files #125-127. Now, you'll notice that I didn't list Casefiles #130 as one of the unpublished books. That's because it actually got published as Digest #150, "The Crisscross Crime". If you were to search the Book  Depository for "Casefiles #130", back when the site still listed unpublished books, you'd find nothing.

So where were the ISBN numbers for Nancy Drew Files #125-127? I have long suspected that those three Nancy Drew Files books got published as Nancy Drew Digests. However, I've never been able to figure out exactly Digests started out as Files books.

Now back to LinkedIn. While searching, I found this profile. (You need a LinkedIn account to access it)

In the experience section, she lists some of the books she's written. Now this is where it gets interesting. One of the entries on her list is, "The E-Mail Mystery, Nancy Drew Files (Megabooks; Simon & Schuster)". 

This is strange, because "The E-Mail Mystery" is actually Digest #144. However, Denise Hidalgo referred to it as a Nancy Drew Files book. Considering that she wrote the book, I don't think this was an error. 

Now I haven't read "The E-Mail Mystery", but the summery on the back cover makes it sound a lot like a Nancy Drew Files book. I'm pretty sure that the "The E-Mail Mystery" is one of the three missing Files books (#125-127). 

*For those wondering, the ISBN number for Nancy Drew Files #128 is 9780671007553.