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The Hardy Boys #22
Hardy Boys 22: The Flickering Torch Mystery
Two unexplainable plane crashes near an airport on the East Coast plunge Frank and Joe Hardy into a bizarre case. From the moment Frank and Joe find a radioactive engine in an airplane junkyard, unexpected dangers strike like lightning. Despite the repeated attempts on their lives, the teenage detectives pursue their investigation, discovering two vital clues and others that provide the solution to one of the most baffling mysteries the boys and Mr. Hardy have ever encountered.
204 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1943
76 people are currently reading
794 people want to read
About the author
Franklin W. Dixon
751 books994 followersFranklin 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
November 7, 2025
The Flickering Torch Mystery was the 22nd entry in the Hardy Boys mystery series for younger readers. It was produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and was published in 1943 by Grosset & Dunlap. The house pseudonym of Franklin W. Dixon was on the book, of course, which was actually written by Leslie McFarlane from an outline by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, one of Edward's daughters. The majority and the best of the first two dozen books in the series were written by Leslie McFarlane, but I think that this one is not really one of his best. From 1959 - 1973, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams oversaw the revision of the first thirty-eight books in the series, to update and modernize the stories and to shorten and simplify them for younger and more modern readers. Some of the stories were just slightly altered and a few, including this one, were completely replaced by new novels. I have been reading the originals and newer versions of all the books in the original series back-to-back to compare them. The new version, written by Vincent Buranelli from an outline by Andrew E. Svenson, was released in 1971. The original was 212 pages long and had 25 chapters, and the replacement was 181 pages with 20 chapters. The newer novel is something of a silly story with the Hardys being portrayed as rock musicians. One coincidence is piled upon another; for example, the flickering torch is used to lure airplanes into crashing and Chet has just decided to build an airplane from junkyard parts. One of the pieces he picks out is from one of the crashed planes and it's been used to smuggle radioactive material, and the junkyard owner is obviously one of the crooked gang members. The Boys infiltrate a rock band, and poor Callie has to scream and faint to distract a crook by saying she saw a mouse so Frank can look for radioactive stuff hidden in a speaker amp. And there are diamonds and the bad guy's name is Mudd (literally) and the Hardys eventually muddle through, of course. The 1942 book doesn't rely on coincidences as much, but it does have a crazy lot of subplots going on. It's set close to home and there are truck thieves, and worm thieves, and experimental hydroponic farming, all manner of craziness. In the original the characters are much better developed and there's some good humor along the way. Mom and Dad go on vacation (actually Dad's investigating, too) and Frank and Joe go undercover to try to find out what's up with missing experimental silkworms. It was 1943, and silk was important for parachutes. The silkworm scientist is next door to a construction project where defense-related materials have been going missing, where an old pal of the Boys happens to be in charge of materials. I thought it was neat on page 24 when turning off the electricity to the house was considered a normal and necessary part of preparing to leave for a trip. On the other hand, on page 115, it's explained that they would not consider asking the police for help, which didn't make sense, especially when the first they do when the youngest crook cross-dresses in order to steal their car from a repair garage is to call and report the theft to the police. The Boys are staying with a widow who has sold her land to a guy who happens to be a crook who needs to hide the contraband. He just happens to find a rich vein of cobalastium, also vital to the war effort, in the basement on page 182. To add to the fun, since the Hardy parents are away, Aunt Gertrude goes with Frank and Joe since she doesn't want to be alone and thinks she needs to keep an eye on them. Back in Bayport their house catches on fire... it's a wild ride. Eventually, various bad guys are all caught, and we're ready for the next mystery. I'll give the 1943 original four slightly grudging stars and suggest the book for average 12-year-old readers, and the 1971 reboot two and think it appropriate for 8- to-10-year-olds. (And I think this is the only book ever written that cites cobalastium ore...)
November 7, 2025
The Flickering Torch Mystery was the 22nd entry in the Hardy Boys mystery series for younger readers. It was produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate and was published in 1943 by Grosset & Dunlap. The house pseudonym of Franklin W. Dixon was on the book, of course, which was actually written by Leslie McFarlane from an outline by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, one of Edward's daughters. The majority and the best of the first two dozen books in the series were written by Leslie McFarlane, but I think that this one is not really one of his best. From 1959 - 1973, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams oversaw the revision of the first thirty-eight books in the series, to update and modernize the stories and to shorten and simplify them for younger and more modern readers. Some of the stories were just slightly altered and a few, including this one, were completely replaced by new novels. I have been reading the originals and newer versions of all the books in the original series back-to-back to compare them. The new version, written by Vincent Buranelli from an outline by Andrew E. Svenson, was released in 1971. The original was 212 pages long and had 25 chapters, and the replacement was 181 pages with 20 chapters. The newer novel is something of a silly story with the Hardys being portrayed as rock musicians. One coincidence is piled upon another; for example, the flickering torch is used to lure airplanes into crashing and Chet has just decided to build an airplane from junkyard parts. One of the pieces he picks out is from one of the crashed planes and it's been used to smuggle radioactive material, and the junkyard owner is obviously one of the crooked gang members. The Boys infiltrate a rock band, and poor Callie has to scream and faint to distract a crook by saying she saw a mouse so Frank can look for radioactive stuff hidden in a speaker amp. And there are diamonds and the bad guy's name is Mudd (literally) and the Hardys eventually muddle through, of course. The 1942 book doesn't rely on coincidences as much, but it does have a crazy lot of subplots going on. It's set close to home and there are truck thieves, and worm thieves, and experimental hydroponic farming, all manner of craziness. In the original the characters are much better developed and there's some good humor along the way. Mom and Dad go on vacation (actually Dad's investigating, too) and Frank and Joe go undercover to try to find out what's up with missing experimental silkworms. It was 1943, and silk was important for parachutes. The silkworm scientist is next door to a construction project where defense-related materials have been going missing, where an old pal of the Boys happens to be in charge of materials. I thought it was neat on page 24 when turning off the electricity to the house was considered a normal and necessary part of preparing to leave for a trip. On the other hand, on page 115, it's explained that they would not consider asking the police for help, which didn't make sense, especially when the first they do when the youngest crook cross-dresses in order to steal their car from a repair garage is to call and report the theft to the police. The Boys are staying with a widow who has sold her land to a guy who happens to be a crook who needs to hide the contraband. He just happens to find a rich vein of cobalastium, also vital to the war effort, in the basement on page 182. To add to the fun, since the Hardy parents are away, Aunt Gertrude goes with Frank and Joe since she doesn't want to be alone and thinks she needs to keep an eye on them. Back in Bayport their house catches on fire... it's a wild ride. Eventually, various bad guys are all caught, and we're ready for the next mystery. I'll give the 1943 original four slightly grudging stars and suggest the book for average 12-year-old readers, and the 1971 reboot two and think it appropriate for 8- to-10-year-olds. (And I think this is the only book ever written that cites cobalastium ore...)
November 11, 2022
Another fun mystery in this series.
November 1, 2025
Another case and another occasion when the brothers walk into an obvious trap and have to be rescued. Will they ever learn?
May 11, 2016
As usual the Hardy’s are in well over their heads with a case that they couldn’t possibly solve if it wasn’t for the fact that all their villains are so laughingly obvious and make themselves stand out a mile. Still, it was fun for an outdated kids book.
October 11, 2018
Super cool mystery, I really liked it. The Hardy’s are investigating cargo theft and 2 mysterious plane crashed. What caused them? What is going on? Read this amazing story to find out! 4.5 stars.
January 16, 2024
In bijrollen maar zeker niet onbelangrijk zijn mevrouw Hardy, de moeder van Frank en Joe, Chet Morgan, hun dikke vriend en tante Gertrude, de zuster van Fenton.
In het verhaal maken we kennis met de voor die tijd revolutionaire techniek van de teelt van gewassen in water.
Hoewel Franklin W. Dixon het pseudoniem is van een hele rist schrijvers herkennen we in dit boek toch weer de vlotte en karakteristieke stijl van de betere Hardy verhalen.
Veel aktie, op het land, op het water en onder de grond. Een flinke dosis humor; Veel spanning. Snelle dialogen en al even snelle opeenvolging van gebeurtenissen.
Op de cover een ietwat onderbelichte scène uit het verhaal wanneer een van de Hardy broers een geweer van een slapende bewaker probeert af te nemen.
Chet dient vooral om te tonen hoe bang hij wel is tegenover de onversaagdheid van de Hardy's, jammer. Maar toch is hij ook even de redder in nood die een complete ramp kan voorkomen.
Tante Gertrude is haar gewone botte zelf met een peperkoeken hartje en speelt met haar vrouwelijke intuïtie en good gehoor een cruciale rol in de oplossing van de zaken.
In het verhaal maken we kennis met de voor die tijd revolutionaire techniek van de teelt van gewassen in water.
Hoewel Franklin W. Dixon het pseudoniem is van een hele rist schrijvers herkennen we in dit boek toch weer de vlotte en karakteristieke stijl van de betere Hardy verhalen.
Veel aktie, op het land, op het water en onder de grond. Een flinke dosis humor; Veel spanning. Snelle dialogen en al even snelle opeenvolging van gebeurtenissen.
Op de cover een ietwat onderbelichte scène uit het verhaal wanneer een van de Hardy broers een geweer van een slapende bewaker probeert af te nemen.
Chet dient vooral om te tonen hoe bang hij wel is tegenover de onversaagdheid van de Hardy's, jammer. Maar toch is hij ook even de redder in nood die een complete ramp kan voorkomen.
Tante Gertrude is haar gewone botte zelf met een peperkoeken hartje en speelt met haar vrouwelijke intuïtie en good gehoor een cruciale rol in de oplossing van de zaken.
May 26, 2022
Original Version.
This is the return book for Leslie McFarlane and the first of ten that Harriet Adams would script after the departure of her sister Edna. I would love to say that it is a return to form for Leslie who authored those classic early works. Sadly it is fairly run of the mill though it does boast more mystery than adventure. The ending feels quite forced.
This is the return book for Leslie McFarlane and the first of ten that Harriet Adams would script after the departure of her sister Edna. I would love to say that it is a return to form for Leslie who authored those classic early works. Sadly it is fairly run of the mill though it does boast more mystery than adventure. The ending feels quite forced.
June 19, 2016
This is the updated version, with the Flickering Torch being the name of a night club. It was an actual torch in the original. Despite a few references to popular music in the 60s, the story read very well and wasn't otherwise dated. A solid entry in the Hardy Boys series.
February 16, 2018
Leslie McFarlane actually apologized for this story. It's... a little weird. Silk moths? Okay. Still better than the revision, which doesn't even have a real flickering torch. Also another great candidate for worst cover.
September 9, 2025
#Binge Reviewing My Past Reads:
Hardy Boys (Read between 1990 and 1996 in M.P. Birla School library and punctiliously collected and read thereafter.)
Few Hardy Boys titles had such immediate drama in them. A broken blade already suggests past violence, a fractured history, something once whole now rendered incomplete. For my boyhood self in the mid-’90s, this mystery was irresistible because it revolved around fencing—a sport I had only glimpsed in encyclopedias and comic panels. The very idea that a sword could hide secrets made the novel feel exotic, almost aristocratic.
The narrative is steeped in duels, rivalries, and a missing sword that becomes both a clue and a symbol. At surface level, it was another Franklin W. Dixon adventure, full of coded messages and chases. But in hindsight, The Clue of the Broken Blade feels almost Shakespearean—an object of inheritance, honor, and betrayal.
In India of the 1990s, where family heirlooms and property disputes often shadowed drawing-room conversations, this story quietly mirrored familiar anxieties: who owns the past, and what does its fracture mean for the present?
For me personally, it also became a metaphor for adolescence. Growing up felt like carrying a broken blade: the sharpness of ambition was there, but the completeness was not. School syllabi, peer pressure, unanswered questions about future careers—everything seemed like fragments of a weapon I hadn’t yet learnt to wield. Reading Frank and Joe deciphering the mystery, I felt reassured that brokenness itself could lead to clarity, that even a snapped sword could point the way.
Culturally, the story carried a faint echo of America’s obsession with duelling honour and old-world relics, transposed into pulp. It was adventure fiction’s way of playing with history—domesticating it into a teenage riddle. Yet for me, curled up in the library corner, it was simply proof that the Hardy Boys could turn even a broken object into a whole adventure.
In memory, the blade remains. Not as a weapon, but as a reminder: what is broken can still be meaningful, still sharp, still a clue to who we are becoming.
Hardy Boys (Read between 1990 and 1996 in M.P. Birla School library and punctiliously collected and read thereafter.)
Few Hardy Boys titles had such immediate drama in them. A broken blade already suggests past violence, a fractured history, something once whole now rendered incomplete. For my boyhood self in the mid-’90s, this mystery was irresistible because it revolved around fencing—a sport I had only glimpsed in encyclopedias and comic panels. The very idea that a sword could hide secrets made the novel feel exotic, almost aristocratic.
The narrative is steeped in duels, rivalries, and a missing sword that becomes both a clue and a symbol. At surface level, it was another Franklin W. Dixon adventure, full of coded messages and chases. But in hindsight, The Clue of the Broken Blade feels almost Shakespearean—an object of inheritance, honor, and betrayal.
In India of the 1990s, where family heirlooms and property disputes often shadowed drawing-room conversations, this story quietly mirrored familiar anxieties: who owns the past, and what does its fracture mean for the present?
For me personally, it also became a metaphor for adolescence. Growing up felt like carrying a broken blade: the sharpness of ambition was there, but the completeness was not. School syllabi, peer pressure, unanswered questions about future careers—everything seemed like fragments of a weapon I hadn’t yet learnt to wield. Reading Frank and Joe deciphering the mystery, I felt reassured that brokenness itself could lead to clarity, that even a snapped sword could point the way.
Culturally, the story carried a faint echo of America’s obsession with duelling honour and old-world relics, transposed into pulp. It was adventure fiction’s way of playing with history—domesticating it into a teenage riddle. Yet for me, curled up in the library corner, it was simply proof that the Hardy Boys could turn even a broken object into a whole adventure.
In memory, the blade remains. Not as a weapon, but as a reminder: what is broken can still be meaningful, still sharp, still a clue to who we are becoming.
October 28, 2023
The Hardy Boys is a long-running series of mysteries aimed at boy readers, that feature action and amateur sleuthing. Beginning in 1927, they were ghost-written by several writers, under the pseudonym of Franklin W. Dixon. The Flickering Torch Mystery is #22, originally published in 1943. It was extensively rewritten in 1971, which accounts for Frank and Joe being in a rock band, in the version I read.
In it, Frank and Joe get involved in an international smuggling case, while their father is off investigating a freight theft insurance case in New York City. But a small flight service operating out of a nearby airport has had mysterious crashes, and when the boys start poking around, they get in deep trouble right away. Their band, referred to as a “combo,” is a sort of Scooby Doo meets The Hardy Boys idea, and fails badly to feel authentic. When the criminal scheme is fully revealed at the end, it is based on a scientific discovery that is simply a chemical impossibility. The original 1943 version involving rare silkworms had to have been more plausible.
I did not recognize this as one of the stories I read as a boy maybe 60 years ago, but I’m pretty sure the copies I found at my grandfather’s house in those days were the original storylines. I have to say that I felt the flicking torch in this one should have been an actual torch rather than a music club, and that the idea of silkworms seem vaguely familiar, so maybe the original version of this was one of them.
In it, Frank and Joe get involved in an international smuggling case, while their father is off investigating a freight theft insurance case in New York City. But a small flight service operating out of a nearby airport has had mysterious crashes, and when the boys start poking around, they get in deep trouble right away. Their band, referred to as a “combo,” is a sort of Scooby Doo meets The Hardy Boys idea, and fails badly to feel authentic. When the criminal scheme is fully revealed at the end, it is based on a scientific discovery that is simply a chemical impossibility. The original 1943 version involving rare silkworms had to have been more plausible.
I did not recognize this as one of the stories I read as a boy maybe 60 years ago, but I’m pretty sure the copies I found at my grandfather’s house in those days were the original storylines. I have to say that I felt the flicking torch in this one should have been an actual torch rather than a music club, and that the idea of silkworms seem vaguely familiar, so maybe the original version of this was one of them.
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March 4, 2018The Hardy Boys The Flickering Torch is all about mystery. The Hardy Boys The Flickering Torch's main characters are Frank and Joe Hardy which are walking in his father's footsteps as detectives. They take part in one of there dad's hard and dangerous mysteries and end up being a really big help to their dad, the police, and the a large shipping company. The Hardy boys end up finding and taking the thieves payment and they find out that the thieves get paid in diamonds. Throughout the story they do a ton of stuff and the Hardy's and their friends end up playing in a band at the restaurant called the Flickering Torch.
I really like The Hardy Boys The flickering Torch Mystery. I really like it because it was super thrilling and super suspenseful at the same time. I also really liked the backstory of the criminals and why they were doing their crimes cause I thought that was really cool. I also really like how the when the author made it so Joe had to hang onto the back of the van cause I thought that was a good idea. I also liked how Frank got kidnapped and got wrapped like a money to act like it was a dead body. I also really liked how the author made the ending when Frank get saved before the criminals could take off in their plane.
I would recommend The Hardy Boys The Flickering Torch to anyone but I would really recommend this book to people that love a really good mystery. I would also recommend this book who love books with a lot of suspense.
I really like The Hardy Boys The flickering Torch Mystery. I really like it because it was super thrilling and super suspenseful at the same time. I also really liked the backstory of the criminals and why they were doing their crimes cause I thought that was really cool. I also really like how the when the author made it so Joe had to hang onto the back of the van cause I thought that was a good idea. I also liked how Frank got kidnapped and got wrapped like a money to act like it was a dead body. I also really liked how the author made the ending when Frank get saved before the criminals could take off in their plane.
I would recommend The Hardy Boys The Flickering Torch to anyone but I would really recommend this book to people that love a really good mystery. I would also recommend this book who love books with a lot of suspense.
April 4, 2020
Part of my on-going quest to re-read the 190 Hardy Boys books of my youth! This interesting classic adventure has the Hardys investigating two fatal small plane crashes at a nearby airport. They find a hostile plane junkyard owner and signs of radioactivity in one of the remains of the crashed planes. At the same time, their friend Chet tries to assemble a plane from parts, and the mystery leads them to a local dance club called the Flickering Torch, evidently after a nearby gas burn off tower from a refinery, with a tie in to their musical group. It's a fast-paced adventure that has aged well except in one regard: this book was re-written in the early 1970s and some of the comments by the boys and the music and clothing in the illustrations now seems very dated, probably more dated than the original tale! The mystery comes together well, and it turns on an interesting and weird twist that includes payments with raw diamonds and two scientists who are mis-using radioactive substances. The only loose end in this book is Chet's interest in building an airplane kind of just is left hanging, I wonder if the original book which was longer, brought that to a conclusion. A decent classic Hardy tale any fan of the original series will enjoy!
December 16, 2020
When two airplanes crash into the cliffs near the airport the Hardy Boys want to know why. Mr. Hardy is busy in NYC working on a case of thefts at Kennedy Int'l. Airport. The two cases are probably related. Chet's newest hobby is to build an airplane so he joins the Hardy boys when they go to a plane junkyard looking for clues to the crashes. When plane parts keep disappearing it only fuel the boys' fire to solve the mystery. Every time they are searching the junkyard bad things happen. When interviewing one of the pilots wives they discover he mentioned "flickering light" but they don't have a clue what that means. They find out that a local bar near the airport is a gathering place for pilots so they investigate hoping to get more clues. A band that plays at the bar gets involved in helping the boys.
The boys' poor convertible gets in crashes over and over. The boys almost drown. They are never at home, they're constantly driving around or on the water in their boat searching for clues. But surprisingly they do get a gig for their newly formed band.
The boys' poor convertible gets in crashes over and over. The boys almost drown. They are never at home, they're constantly driving around or on the water in their boat searching for clues. But surprisingly they do get a gig for their newly formed band.
February 15, 2022
Having re-read several Hardy Boys mysteries lately, I found this title to be a cut above most. The boys still benefit from way too many coincidences, but the dialog is much better than usual--still mid-20th century wholesome, but very natural, nevertheless. The writer didn't quite follow all the conventions: Chet Morton helps out the boys, but for once, he's not involved in some hobby that just happens to coincide with the Hardys' case. And Aunt Gertrude is used more and better-drawn than usual, though interestingly, for the only time that I can remember, she's not described as "tall and angular." No internal illustrations in the edition that I read (apart from the frontispiece), and the text ran to 212 pages (not the usual app. 176 pages of other titles), which may have given the writer a little more leeway to develop things. A better effort than average!
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November 1, 2022Ok - this is a mystery written for kids in the early 1940s. Yes, it's a different world, different values, etc. There's not much need to rehash the obvious.
What unique observations might I make? What's with the characterization of their aunt? She's kind of a surrogate mother, but a domineering figure. The reader is regularly reminded that she's a softy but we never actually read her being a softy.
I was a bit disappointed to read some of the 'made up' science (the stuff the criminals are mining, for instance). I always expected that these books would be simple, rather straight-forward mysteries. Once 'alternate world' type scenarios begin to get thrown in the mix, it makes it a little more difficult to believe you can solve the mystery before/alongside the boys.
What unique observations might I make? What's with the characterization of their aunt? She's kind of a surrogate mother, but a domineering figure. The reader is regularly reminded that she's a softy but we never actually read her being a softy.
I was a bit disappointed to read some of the 'made up' science (the stuff the criminals are mining, for instance). I always expected that these books would be simple, rather straight-forward mysteries. Once 'alternate world' type scenarios begin to get thrown in the mix, it makes it a little more difficult to believe you can solve the mystery before/alongside the boys.
July 12, 2020
The brothers go to work on an experimental farm and find out who it is who is stealing road construction supplies AND silkworms.
The authors commit a MAJOR plot error in this book. The brothers take a swim in what they think is pond. It is actually the pit for old iron mine. This tips of Frank and Joe that the bad guys are using the tunnels to hide out and get around to do their dirty work. But if the shaft is filled to the top with water, all of the tunnels should be flooded too.
This is the second book in a row where neither Frank nor Joe get concussed. So the bonk-a-rama still stands at 27 total KOs.
Book: 0
Series: 27
The authors commit a MAJOR plot error in this book. The brothers take a swim in what they think is pond. It is actually the pit for old iron mine. This tips of Frank and Joe that the bad guys are using the tunnels to hide out and get around to do their dirty work. But if the shaft is filled to the top with water, all of the tunnels should be flooded too.
This is the second book in a row where neither Frank nor Joe get concussed. So the bonk-a-rama still stands at 27 total KOs.
Book: 0
Series: 27
March 1, 2023
The 22nd volume in the series starts with the Boys being asked to look into the theft of valuable moths that can make a much stronger type of silk. However, things get complicated and the sleuths also get wrapped up in tracking down a theft ring.
This is another version where the language is very dated and not always appropriate for young children.
Something I've noticed recently that highlights the fact that there was no Franklin W Dixon and lots of ghostwriters, are that the descriptions of Aunt Gertrude and Chet keep changing, and not for the better. All these years and I never noticed that before.
Not a bad story, but I would read through it before letting a child read it.
This is another version where the language is very dated and not always appropriate for young children.
Something I've noticed recently that highlights the fact that there was no Franklin W Dixon and lots of ghostwriters, are that the descriptions of Aunt Gertrude and Chet keep changing, and not for the better. All these years and I never noticed that before.
Not a bad story, but I would read through it before letting a child read it.
March 13, 2020
Love the Hardy boy's collection, very enticing plots and not that hard to read, so it's a good book to take a break from complex books, or just enjoy if you're bored. Love the duo and their bumbling friend Chet, with the occasional Biff and their girlfriends, who appear in this book. I really liked this one because it used nearly all the characters, and it was a very well constructed mystery. Such a nice nail biter if you feel in the mood for a light mystery.
February 12, 2024
So, it seems as the mystery demands, Hardy boys and their pals are experts at nearly everything including flying planes at the age of 17! 😅😅
That being said, the mystery was interesting. From the first moment it builds on, mixing up mystery and thrill with a touch of science fiction. The characters could have been better, but were not developed very well.
That being said, the mystery was interesting. From the first moment it builds on, mixing up mystery and thrill with a touch of science fiction. The characters could have been better, but were not developed very well.
June 5, 2018
Ate these up as a kid and usually got them as gifts for birthdays, Christmas and other events. This edition would be quite dated now and I believe they have updated the books. The author was a pseudonym for a plethora of writers who contributed to this series.
July 7, 2018
This review is for the 1971 revised version!
Best parts were the climax of the book and the Hardy Boys’ jam sessions. Also the joke about Chet needing a jumbo jet to lift him off the ground.
I won’t list the worst parts cause you should just read it and find out. I mean it takes what? A day?
Best parts were the climax of the book and the Hardy Boys’ jam sessions. Also the joke about Chet needing a jumbo jet to lift him off the ground.
I won’t list the worst parts cause you should just read it and find out. I mean it takes what? A day?
December 28, 2020
A wild ride in the air and on the ground meets the Hardy Boys in this romp. Mysterious plan crashes, missing plan parts, an amp and a suspicious junk yard all conspire to trip up Frank and Joe and their bestie Chet.
June 5, 2021
Good story
This story has the combination of the charm of the original Hardy Boys stories seamlessly updated to include more modern technology. Even though there are jet planes, there are no credit cards or cell phones. This was a satisfying story.
This story has the combination of the charm of the original Hardy Boys stories seamlessly updated to include more modern technology. Even though there are jet planes, there are no credit cards or cell phones. This was a satisfying story.
April 1, 2024
I've been rereading classics and this one isn't my favorite but definitely still entertaining although its amusing how many coincidental occurrences there are that aid frank and Joe in solving the case. it was fun following their adventures with their friends
July 14, 2019
All I've got to say is: The Hardy Boys get themselves into lots of strange situations and amazingly enough get themselves back out of them.
Entertaining, even if not realistic.
Entertaining, even if not realistic.
October 30, 2019
Great
October 11, 2021
No review (typical junior mysteries)
July 18, 2022
A great Hardy boy mystery as usual! Was a quiet a surprise in the end! At times was a bit boring, but overall a great book, and would recommend!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews