Height of Danger

The Hardy Boys Casefiles #56

by Franklin W. Dixon

While working security at the World Snowboarding Championships in Austria, Frank and Joe must protect top competitor Ken Gibson from underworld figures who are out to get him

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult

150 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1991

About the author

Franklin W. Dixon is the pen name used by a variety of different authors who were part of a team that wrote The Hardy Boys novels for the Stratemeyer Syndicate (now owned by Simon & Schuster). Dixon was also the writer attributed for the Ted Scott Flying Stories series, published by Grosset & Dunlap.
Canadian author Leslie McFarlane is believed to have written the first sixteen Hardy Boys books, but worked to a detailed plot and character outline for each story. The outlines are believed to have originated with Edward Stratemeyer, with later books outlined by his daughters Edna C. Squier and Harriet Stratemeyer Adams. Edward and Harriet also edited all books in the series through the mid-1960s. Other writers of the original books include MacFarlane's wife Amy, John Button, Andrew E. Svenson, and Adams herself; most of the outlines were done by Adams and Svenson. A number of other writers and editors were recruited to revise the outlines and update the texts in line with a more modern sensibility, starting in the late 1950s.
The principal author for the Ted Scott books was John W. Duffield.

Reviews

[K the Vampire Slayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly average mystery, not too shabby, but nothing special. Still, definitely better written than some others I've read given the fact with ghost writer series like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys you never know what kind of quality you're going to get. Fast paced, interesting enough, basic formula, but not too obvious, it's a solid "about what you'd expect" from one of these dime store cases... and a good and easy way to quickly wrap up my reading challenge for the year. (This has been on my shelf for like 10-11 years because I used to be a big fan of everything Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, so I honestly may've read it before, but I didn't record any of the Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books I read prior to making my goodreads account... which was a lot of books, so *shrugs* anyway)

[Bookish Indulgenges with b00k r3vi3ws · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first read Hardy Boys, I think I was in class 5, I had such a crush on Frank Hardy. I liked the brainy one over the brawny one and that sums up my first impression of Hardy Boys.
In their late teens, Frank and Joe Hardy take after their detective father Fenton Hardy. Frank is the older of the two and has more breakthroughs in the cases because he is the brainy one. Joe is the younger brother who more often than not is useful when things get hot and they need to fight their way out.
Like Nancy Drew, the books in the The Hardy Boys series re written by ghostwriters under the collective pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon. And yes, the earlier books were better than the latter ones.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 3 out of 5]

My love of reading started when i was young, and it gives me immense pleasure to provide books to Spread the Word Nevada, an organization that passes them on to children in the community. They are a terrific organization supporting an important cause. If your local I encourage you to check them out. For those living further a field, look in your own community, their may already be a similar program in place. And if not, you can always help start one.

http://spreadthewordnevada.org/

Myself, I go out on the weekends and
shop thrift store and bulk book lots to rescue books and donate them. Sometimes I'll find a book I remember reading when I was young and will read it again before passing it on.

I don't rate these books using my normal scale, instead I give most of them three stars. This isn't a Criticism of the book, simply my way of rating them as good for children.

[Dannuel Delizo · Rating 3 out of 5]

"On the slippery slopes of international intrigue the competition can be deadly!"