House Arrest

Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers #23

by Franklin W. Dixon

ATAC Briefing for Agents Frank and Joe Hardy

MISSION: To stay undercover on the Deprivation House reality show and discover who's behind the continued "accidents" before someone else turns up dead.

LOCATION: A huge villa in Beverly Hills, CA.

POTENTIAL VICTIMS: All the remaining contestants and crew of the show.

SUSPECTS: The list has been narrowed now that the culprit behind the initial crimes was caught, but someone living in that house still has murder on the mind.

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Detective, Middle Grade, Adventure, Mystery Thriller

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

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

[Shubh]

i do not know who it is.😔

[Leigh]

The covers change but the writing never does: it's as awful as ever. This book is in the new Murder House Trilogy. The cover is hilarious, Joe and Frank are dressed like preppy gangstas. The books are so awful they are hysterical. Example: "what's your damage, dudes...you could sum up the dude in two words Ob Noxious."

And they belong to this neat organization called ATAC American Teens Against Crime, and their life has been a "total rush" ever since.

Honestly, I feel sorry for the poor SOB who has to write this stuff. I guess it pays the bills and hey, dude, there IS a recession.

These books can be summed up in two words: Ob Noxious.

[The Curious Reader]

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.

[Sarah]

As a homeschooler, I never appreciated how Mary is portrayed. Not the ending, per se, but overall. It’s fairly negative and generally untrue.

The plot twists in these books are a regular roller coaster.

[sanchit varma]

Should be retitled Frank and Joe - Who gets Brynn (poor Brynn).
Also there's a snake, and some barrels and a pool full of goo.

I guess I'll go ahead and finish the trilogy - Wouldn't want to DEPRIVE myself of the ending.

[Abhi Gorfdon]

good book

[Rob]

Didn't add a lot to the first book in the trilogy.

[Keren Taj]

Short , fast paced book. Perfect for thriller enthusiasts

[Amy]

Wow. I never would have guessed that person was behind some of the incidents. Talk about surprising. I'm still a little suspicious of one individual in particular, but I'll have to wait and see if I'm right.

Huh, it figures that when Frank starts falling for a girl, Joe would get all jealous about it. The resulting tension really entertained me for much of the book. Even though it seems like a weird thing to be entertained by, like they said at one point in the book: Frank and Joe almost never argue. I thought it was interesting to see how they act when they're genuinely angry at each other, as opposed to faking it for the sake of their cover story.

Anyway, one more book to go in this trilogy! :)

[David]

In 'House Arrest', book two in the murder house trilogy, Frank and Joe remain undercover at the luxury Beverly Hills mansion with a bunch of teens who are all competing in a reality tv show. Once again the Hardy Boys have to face down a rattle snake! I don't know what it is about Frank and Joe, but they sure encounter the slithery reptile quite often in their mysteries. The perp deserved to get caught this time. But, all still doesn't seem well on the reality tv show, so there has to be a book 3. Good story.

[Joshua Parry]

This review is for pages. (162 pages) The Hardy Boys find themselves on a Reality Show called Deprivation House. The show will aire as soon as someone wins the grand prize. It is up to the Hardy Boys to ensure the safety of the contestants. After catching the first of the antagonists, Mitch the camera guy, the Hardy Boys are ready to go home. But the threats and sabotage continues. Will they be able to catch the mastermind? Read House Arrest to find out.

[Maryam]

The hardy boy are on a mission because of deadly attacks on people that sign up for a reality show the competition are hard but the last person that stays at Deprivation House will win a million dollars .So with that much money on the line many people are desperate enough to kill.

[BigBrother]

House Arrest was very good. The main characters were Frank and Joe. The problem is that Joe is bitten by a snake. They fix it by finding the person who put it there. I learned that there are competitions in TV shows.

[Katherine]

House Arrest is the 2nd book in the Murder House trilogy. The story is told from the points of view of Joe and Frank Hardy. Like the other Hardy Boys mysteries ,this one was thrilling and shocking. It contains an unexpected plot twist that left me shocked.

[Shireen Zehra]

is even more surprising prepare for the unexpected....

[Akshay]

MY NAME IS AKSHAY THATS WHAT I HEARD

[Seema M. Fazil]

that book was nice... but it was more about the relationship and less about the mystery

[Shumail]

thrilling book...people will get frustated after reading the last chapter

[Aarshi Ray]

good book, but there cud hv been more to it...

[Arthur Munyeza]

best hardy boys i've read so far