The Mystery of the Ghost Train: A Three Investigators Novel

by Hector Sebastian, Thomas Hudson, Alfred Hitchcock

In this Fan Fiction homage to the series of The Three Investigators, the final title, never published and the original manuscript never located, has been written based on the title only along with a specially-commissioned front cover. This may be entirely different from the direction the original author had in mind, but is a complete mystery story written in the same tone as the rest of the series and the multiple authors responsible for having done that.In it, Jupiter Jones, Bob Andrews and Pete Crenshaw win a radio contest for tickets on The Ghost Train, a passenger train traveling from Los Angeles to New Orleans over a 6 day period with a promise that passengers will "see the ghosts of the dead men found in the locomotive!". As it is summer, they get permission to travel unaccompanied just as long as they agree to obey the train personnel.The trip begins inauspiciously with a badly-performed disappearance of the rear locomotive, and seems to go downhill for the boys after that.They had planned to just enjoy themselves and see a bit of the lower states in the nation but become embroiled in a mystery that includes a mystery man dressed in black who walks on the top of the train, a Conductor who by coincidence stops them from chasing the man whenever he comes inside by happening to be right in their path and having seen nothing, a dead body with a bundle of drugs and money that needs the FBI to investigate, and other dangers and mysteries.This is an action-packed story that should please any Three Investigators fans, and especially those who have wondered where that last—announced—story ever went.

148 pages, Paperback

Published February 23, 2020

Reviews

[Shalini M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt like a betrayal of my fond memories of the three investigators series. Which I have read many times in childhood, and still read once in a while.

The kid detectives, are suddenly 15 year olds. And joking about girlfriends and dates. Which never happened with the slightly younger boys in the original series. It may be natural for 15 year old boys, but it is not what I expected. Yet this is only a minor grouse.

Further, in the original series, Pete and Bob did not ditch their leader even when they disagreed with the risky action he planned to take. In here, there were at least a couple of occasions where they did so. There wasn't much of logical reasoning either, which was a significant feature of Jupe's character.

The biggest problem was the behavior of the boys. They are rude and disrespectful, particularly Jupiter. And he displays a terribly sexist attitude towards women. This really killed the book for me.

[Jeanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this more than I did. One last Three Investigators mystery sounded wonderful. I loved the original ones growing up. This book was not written by any of the original authors. Instead it sounds like it was written by someone who was a fan, but is not a professional writer. And it shows. The author did not manage to capture the characters of Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews. They didn't speak or act in ways that seemed correct for those characters. Add to that a not very interesting plot, and a serious lack of proofreading and you end up with a disappointing mess.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this purely for nostalgia (and chose this story because it was available through Kindle Unlimited). I remember reading these because my brother read them, and I was curious if they stood the test of time. The mysteries and the little bits of side information were still the type I remembered. The other details? Aged really poorly. I felt so bad for Jupiter, because every description of the boys included digs at Jupiter's weight/size. Still, a little trip down memory lane is not a bad thing.

[Vincent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nowhere close to the magical original. Bob is wrongly referred to as second investigator. The actions of the boys are naive and utterly unlike them...specially Jupiter. Only nostalgia's sake got it 2 stars.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't going to be a long review. I picked this up out of idle curiosity as I was talking to someone about The Three Investigators, which I had fond memories of as a child. But it has been...well...forty years since I last read one.

This though, by Hector Sebastian, is a fan fiction novel. Or an unofficial novel. Doing a bit of research the whole copyright situation with The Three Investigation seemed to get quite messy at one point so I'm not sure where this stands, but there is a statement at the end calling it 'fan fiction.'

The Three Investigators, led by Jupiter Jones, are older in this than I remember them being. Plus the references to home computers etc seems to drag it nearer to the present day. The writing is serviceable. It isn't great, but it isn't bad enough to throw it all away. The characters seem a little ruder and harder than I remember them. It does have that feeling of 'one damned thing after another' so that whilst a lot of things happen, it all feels like the mystery is solved through the dumb stupidity of the criminal rather than The Three Investigator's brilliance. They serve more as catalysts/victims.

So, whilst it was a nice brain dead read for a Sunday afternoon it didn't feel quite right. I think, partly, you felt the author didn't have much fondness for the characters. But, as I said, it is 40+ years ago since I last read an original one. I'll have to dig one out, read it and then come back and add some notes to this one.

[Angus · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an... interesting book to read, but mostly it highlights the difference between professional writers and fan writers. The story was haphazardly told and not particularly logical; the boys were quite out of character a lot of the time; and there were a lot of textual errors.

That said, it was nice to see one more adventure for the Three Investigators. I just wish it had come from a better writer.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay. Read it to my son. I thought this was a lost 3 Investigators book that recently got published. I think it was written originally by series author MV Carey, but it was unfinished when the series was canceled. I’m not sure who finished the manuscript and published it.

It’s okay. The overall plot is pretty good, but the actual details were kind of confusing and not as fun as some of my fav books in the series.

[James Atkison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not what I expected

This was definitely not the story I wanted to end my favorite childhood series on. I am very disappointed in the portrayal of the three investigators. They were never ride or impolite. It hurt to see them done this way.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with my 9 year old Grandson, who is an above average reader. It lacked something, I cannot quite put my finger on what the issue was, but after the Famous Five this seemed bland by comparison

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this. Some things were well done but the dialogue, and especially some very un-Jupiter-like rudeness and frequent typos, disappointed.

[Lucinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember these books very vaguely but this was nothing like my memory - maybe I should have started with an earlier book in the series