The Jungle Pyramid

The Hardy Boys #56

by Franklin W. Dixon

Gold bullion--a million dollars worth--has been stolen from the Wakefield Mint under strange circumstances. Mr. Hardy is asked to investigate but before long his life is threatened, and he asks Frank and Joe to help him.

The boys fly to Zurich, Switzerland, hoping to get information at the Swiss Gold Syndicate and to find the man who has stolen a valuable ancient gold figurine from a New York museum. Their search on both counts seems futile. They return to the United States, where they uncover new clues that take them to Mexico and a breathtaking adventure at an archaeological dig in the Yucatan jungle.

But the Hardys' travels lead to nothing but new doubts and nagging suspicions. And now their lives are in danger. Their adversaries are cunning, elusive, and determined to eliminate Mr. Hardy, and the boys too!

Events culminate in a surprising revelation when their enemies are finally outsmarted by the Hardys.


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For action, mystery and cliff-hanging suspense, read THE HARDY BOYS MYSTERY STORIES® - featuring the thrilling adventures of America's favorite detective duo, Frank and Joe Hardy. Millions of young readers have teamed up with the Hardy Boys, helping them in their quest to bring criminals to justice. Be a part of the fun! Start your collection of original hardcover Hardy Boys® Mysteries today!

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Adventure, Classics, Middle Grade

180 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1976

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

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Jungle Pyramid was the 56th novel in the original, blue-bound Hardy Boys series of books for young readers. Vincent Buranelli wrote it for the Stratemeyer Syndicate and Grosset & Dunlap published it in 1977 under the house pseudonym of Franklin W. Dixon. The Boys fly to Switzerland and then Mexico to help their famous investigator father investigate a gold theft. Chet, Tony, and Biff go along for some of the excitement, too, but Iola and Callie aren't mentioned. (I was surprised that Frank and Joe go on a ski trip with a new friend and some girls, and they all spend the night unchaperoned in a Swiss cabin; such potentially disastrous and immoral shenanigans never would have been countenanced back in the good old days!) The story has the typical weaknesses of the later books, notably a lack of character development because a frantic adventure pace was adopted in order to try to hold the interest of kids who were used to television, and the foreign settings seem poorly drawn. Mexico and Europe seem really small. (One little nit-picky detail that caught my eye was that a character who deals in rare old postage stamps mentions having some Ruritanian stamps that are two-hundred years old. The first postage stamps appeared in 1840, and the book was published in 1977, so you don't even have to stop to wonder where in the world of philately Ruritania lies...) On the other hand, it is a pretty well-written story, a fast-paced and action-packed mystery for youngsters, just what the editors requested, so we can overlook the poor-quality of the illustrations and Chet's tiresomely inevitable new hobby.

[David Allen Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm now 3 years into what I thought would be a quest of a few months to re-read the 190 Hardy Boys books of my youth! The Jungle Pyramid is one of the final of the classic hardcover adventures, and it was published in the late 1970s, so unlike many of the earlier titles, this story was not later re-written. The Hardy Boys assist their father in investigating gold bars stolen from a private mint. The mystery takes them to both Zurich in Switzerland, a major gold hub, and to the jungles of the Yucatan peninsula. Chet, Biff and Tony accompany them. They stumble across a smuggling ring involving the theft of ancient artifacts, and solve that crime while figuring out what happened to the gold bars, visiting an archaeological site and finding an old, jungle overgrown pyramid being used by the smuggler. Interesting, one aspect of this story has aged less well that many of the older books: at one point, the brothers are asked to solve the mystery of the apparent theft of a gold artifact owned by the Soviet Union! Modern children readers may not even know what the Soviet Union was! The cover art is nice; but like the other last few hardcovers, the interior sketches are not of as good quality as the older books. Overall though, this is a solid classic Hardys adventure any fan of the series will enjoy!

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual, this was a fun and exciting whodunit.

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was about a mysterious gold theft case that the brothers are taking over after their father is called away to a different case. I liked how the story kept going and the clues they would find gave multiple outcomes. So they had to narrow it down in order to reach a final conclusion.

[☮ morgan ☮ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I've ruined my beauty externally and it doesn't feel so hot internally either!"

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

First, I found the premise very unbelievable. Two brothers, ages 17 & 18 go everywhere like detectives and people tell them everything they need to know? They went to Switzerland and Mexico, the 17 year old gets punched by an adult, they are constantly referring to their friend's size ("rid of that spare tire around your middle"), 3 teenage boys and 3 teenage girls spend the night in a guest house (pg 56), and the mom and aunt are portrayed as women who sit at home worried for their safety and providing food.

I skim read after reaching page 79 where it talks of a fortune teller (illustrated on pg 81). "The speaker was an old woman with piercing black eyes and a black lace over her hair. Her shop had an astrological chart of the heavens on the open door...They went in and found her shelves covered with curios-herbs to be distilled for poisons, signs of the zodiac, and dolls with pins stuck in them."

[Stacey Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Hardy is hired to find the gold taken from the Wakefield Mint and he asks the boys to help. The guards don't remember anything, they say they were at their post the entire time....are they lying? The boys travel all over on a seemingly wild goose chase to find the gold from Switzerland to Mexico. Although they do solve an archeological mystery they aren't any closer to finding the stolen gold. This mystery is a tough one but they don't give up, slowly things come together but not without facing dangerous adversaries, getting shot at and chased through the jungle. The boys are surprised at the outcome of this mystery.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know this book isn't for me in either time period or my age when reading it, but even giving it allowances for that, it comes off feeling like a parody of an old Scooby Doo episode where young folk stumble into some insane scheme that would never have worked in reality but somehow the villain ends up cursing *those meddling kids* at the end when they are foiled.

There was a tone or atmosphere in the book where things just are as they appear and the author is just telling you plainly everything. It reminds me of other old books of my parents generation that I read growing up, and while it is dated I guess it holds some nostalgia points for me.

[Brentman99 · Rating 3 out of 5]

#56 in the series sees the Hardy Boys once again travel out of country to Switzerland and Mexico, where they are looking for a stolen gold statue and bars of gold from a mint.

This is another story where money is no object and the boys escape a sure death fairly easily.

The illustrator's drawings are becoming more annoying as they are quite bad in my opinion.

I'll comment on the fact that on page 170 the boys are tied up and looking at a bad end, then by page 180 they are suddenly rescued just in time and foil the bad guys.

Overall, the story line may interest a young adult reader.

[Saffron Mavros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing mystery and very beautifully written book. The adventure through the jungle actually successfully created an imaginary reel akin to the "Jungle cruise" or one of Harrison Ford movies. Real and gripping.

The mystery was fascinating with Armstrong's role coming as a surprise! All leads are false, and yet lead to interesting characters! It was a very interesting book!

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew's favorite!

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved all of the detail put into this book.I really enjoyed reading this book in my spare time

[Ethan Hulbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Switzerland! The Yucatan! Stolen gold! This was a good one. God, I miss when the Hardy Boys did this kind of thing, instead of just finding someone's stolen bike or whatever. Very good.

[Jaden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book. Can't wait to read the next one.

[Edward Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another lazy story, that goes straight into connecting Chet's latest hobby with the mystery at hand.

[Zachary Rightler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystery lovers will like this book.

[Mozart Benedict · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good short intermediate comfort read. Nothing special, just plain old Hardys' doing their job.

[Richard Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Hardy Boys! Kept me guessing! They first lead you to Switzerland, then to Mexico, and then back to the States! A very mysterious Hardy Boy!

[Mikayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book felt like it had a lot of filler, and I didn't like the hypnotism in it. I did like the twist at the end, but overall, this was one of the more boring of the books.

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a bit of an outlier in these types of mysteries as the multiple mysteries aren't connected to each other.

[Jody Meyering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

I loved it amazing chases and thrilling adventures
Franklin w Dixon is very talented as you see in this story

[Elijah Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good Hardy Boys. A little less of the title than imagined.

[Sue Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

great mystery

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It was really exciting!” - H, age 7

[Britney Dillon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted MORE of the actual pyramid, though...

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Jonathon Dabell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read nearly all The Hardy Boys books when I was a kid, and recently I stumbled upon this title in a second hand bookstore. It was one of the few books from the series that had eluded me back in the day, so I bought it and read it. What you might call a nostalgic return to my youth.
The Jungle Pyramid is OK and I dare say that if I'd read it as a child, alongside all the other Hardy Boys titles, I'd have probably liked it more. As an adult, I find the plot coincidences and the lame dialogue much more noticeable and annoying. The story follows the boys on a hunt for stolen gold, following clues to Switzerland and then Mexico. Everything is resolved at a lost pyramid in the jungle. The book is at its best when the action is "on location" - the Swiss scenes and the Mexican scenes are good fun, but the "home" segments of the book (e.g. when the boys are at their house, or when they are assisting their father in his interrogations in the US) are rather tedious.
I guess what I've really learned from this book is that The Hrady Boys are a fond memento of my past. The books no longer have the depth of character, the surprise element in their plotting, nor the emotional gravity that I look for as an adult reader.
I'd recommend this one to kids still. I'm sure they'll have a great time reading it and sharing in Frank and Joe's far-fetched adventures.

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of the later Hardy Boys stories that I had never read. I believe the last book I read as a kid was #43 "The Aztec Warrior" published in 1964 when I was 14. The subsequent books I purchased as an adult up to #58 but I hadn't read most of them.

Well, I thought the story was just okay. The pace was very frenetic with the boys traveling to Zurich and then to Mexico on some false leads while they were trying to solve the mystery of who stole some gold bars from the Wakefield mint (could this actually be Philadelphia since it was 100 miles from Bayport on the way to NYC?) As stated in a previous review, the storylines about the theft of the gold in Wakefield and the gold artifacts in Mexico don't really fit together very well. The story could have been better if it focused only on the Mexico adventure. Actually, the Jungle Pyramid and the adventure in the Yucatan was kind of a side trip to the main storyline of the gold theft from the mint so the title is kind of misleading.

All in all, I would rate this one about a 5 out of 10. I think I prefer the Hardy mysteries where the boys stick around Bayport rather than travel from country to country at the drop of a hat!

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[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.

[5pfeiffer_andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a mystery book about a stealing of a lot of gold so the Hardy Boy have to find the robber. The two boys travel all around to find him they went to Europe and Mexico City In mexico they find a huge pyramid and find someone there they follow him around it and then he was gone... Read the rest to find out. I recommend tis book to people who like mystery books because there is great excitement but I don't like mystery books to much so go read The Jungle Pyramid.