Comments: This isn't a bad story but, for a number of reasons, it's never been a favorite of mine. For one thing, Leslie McFarlane seems to be pandering to his audience here. The "innocent horseplay" that is so glibly dismissed as youthful hijinks in the first two chapters is only slightly short of criminal behavior and certainly is not what we expect of our heroes or their chums. And how about that party at Chet's for 15 to 17 year olds that goes on until 2 AM, complete with orchestra and in the middle of the greatest economic depression in the country's history? For another thing, Aunt Gertrude is at her obnoxious, overbearing worst in this story. For whatever other faults the villian Chris may have had, one can only admire his audacity for standing up to the old hag. Just once I'd like to see perennial jellyfish Laura Hardy get enough gumption to stand up to Gertie and say something along the lines of "Gertrude, you old battle axe, this is my house and these are my boys, so kindly shut up and mind your own business if you wish to continue sponging off us!" but, alas, Laura has never said a word. Another odd thing is the complete absence of Fenton, who is out west on a case. Not a word from him or to him, even when Joe is kidnapped! I kept expecting him to show up and somehow tie his current case into the plot but he never did. Instead, those two dopey government agents show up for the climax. It would have been just as easy to tie Fenton into the plot, so why use those two dopes at all?.... We also discover another Hardy relative, a "Cousin Hattie" of Gresham. Just who she is related to is open for speculation but it is Gertie who refers to her as cousin. We also learn the Gertie is 65 years of age, which has to make her Fenton's elder, if not eldest, sister. The one part of the story I particularly enjoyed was the Boys' trip to the city. Their adventures there are plausible and well written. The recounting of their trek back to Bayport (sleeping in Central Park, taking trollies etc.) lends an air of authenticity to the story.

Rating: B-

Originally reviewed by me in my Bayport Times Issue #23


An Awesome Book   September 24, 1999
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This is the best Hardy Boys book. The excitement never ends. If I could only own one this would be it. They get to do all kinds of cool stuff, meet neat people and even jump out of a crashing plane. And the end eludes to technology available today.


Midnight Madness   January 7, 2002
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

The odd thing about this book is that all the action occurs at the stroke of twelve midnight. The book starts with the Hardys breaking into a house, with Mr. Hardy's permission! They take a top-secret invention to hide for the owner. This is when the action begins. Then while at a party, Iola spots someone snopping around the brothers' car. When Joe goes after him, he ends up being kidnapped. Follow the adventure as Frank tries to find his brother and crack the case! This is one of my personal favorites!


Return to the Caves!   April 14, 2005
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

The Hardy Boys find themselves in an unusual situation. Their father asked them to break into someone's home to retrieve a mysterious package. The boys find a way into the house, but almost as quickly as they have entered the house they see car headlights. Soon another set of thieves enter the house. After a tussle with the thieves the Hardy Boys are able to locate the mysterious package in a secret hiding place.

Soon the Hardy Boys are in the midst of one of their most dangerous cases. One of the boys is kidnapped. The boys tail a criminal to New York City and are nearly run down in a subway. Later the boys are in a plane that develops serious engine trouble, threatening the boys with death! Even with all the danger the boys face, there is yet more to come when the boys learn what is in the mysterious package and why the crooks want the package.

The author seems to be hooked on caves. The caves that appeared in "The Shore Road Mystery" appear prominently in this book. I think that once crooks find a good set of caves they must pass the location on to their friends.

I noticed a couple of rough spots where it appeared the more recent authors who revised the story may have eliminated some prose and struggled to smooth out transitions. I also thought the description of the electronics was a bit weak. Why were the electronics so valuable? Of course, today we expect electronics to be inexpensive. In another update perhaps the author will describe the electronics as the only prototype of a new video game in existence, or something similar.

This story moved along briskly, with a lot of action. This story is reasonably well written and held my attention from beginning to end. I think this story is one of the better stories in the series.

Though the Hardy Boys series is written in a relatively archaic fashion, as reading material for an increasingly younger audience they are excellent. The stories were once recommended for children ages 10 to 14. As children are exposed to more violence and seem to require greater levels of stimulation, the recommended age range has move to 9 to 12. I think any child capable of reading some of the challenging words in these books will enjoy them, regardless of how tame most of the action may be. Once a child has reached age 12 or so the stories may be of less interest, but given the combination of mystery and action, these books remain good safe choices for parents who want to know what their children are reading.



Better Than The Original Edition   August 6, 2002
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

This review concerns the revised 1967 edition. Mr. Hardy asks Frank and Joe to "break into" the house of a neighbour and retrieve a secret invention to prevent it from being stolen by a gang of thieves he is currently investigating. Later, at a party at Chet's home, Joe is kidnapped at the stroke of midnight. Frank, along with some friends, must find Joe and learn why he was kidnapped; as well, the Hardy's have to keep the gang from stealing the invention. Personally, I preferred this edition to the original. The original edition was better written; although, that is true in most cases. However, I found that revised edition had a more interesting mystery and it had a lot more action. I don't consider this book to be one of the best of the series, but it is far from being one of the worst.