While the Clock Ticked

I read a lot of the Hardy Boys books as a kid--mostly around kindergarten through second grade--and with some of the classic hardbacks still in my possession, I thought it would be fun to dive back in and see how they held up to my adult eye. Honestly, it was a lot of fun in a nostalgic way, and I'll probably revisit the others on my shelves. I was surprised by how Scooby-Doo-ish the story felt and the number of coincidences in this one, so I'm curious if that will carry over to other books. I know I felt as a kid that the 'casefile' books were far more exciting than the originals too, so comparing at this much later date will be interesting.

All told, though, I can see why/how these books had (have?) such a following, and this one was show more certainly easy to devour! show less

When in doubt, grab the next Hardy Boys off the shelf!! Our 2 high school detective brothers (with the longest summer vacation in the world!), offer to help out a client in need when their famous father is unavailable on a much needed vacation in Maine with his wife. Waterfront burglary, a creepy abandoned home on an inland riverbank, a near drowning, a dangerous explosive device, a missing jade collection, mysterious cars and a case of mistaken identity all wrapped into one. The chums help out as always, and not to spoil it, but the fellows do live to solve another mystery. As silly as they are on one level, i almost cannot put these down. I am so glad there are actually 50+ of these!

Yet another wealthy eccentric Bayport resident, yet another barmy inventor, yet another mystery for the Hardys to solve. Raymond Dalrymple asks Frank and Joe to help explain the threatening messages which keep appearing in an impenetrable time-locked room deep in his newly-bought house. It's essentially a MacGuffin, however, the "why" of which is obvious relatively quickly and the "how" of which takes until the end of the book to explain and is almost anti-climactic in its resolution. In the meantime, however, there are a gang of harbour thieves to worry about, which means boat chases, car chases and punch-ups a-plenty.
Quite silly really in many parts, it's still a pacy adventure for the Hardys and not the worst by any means.

What happens when the Hardy parents are away and a mystery appears. Do the Hardy boys wait until their parents come home? Heck no!!
The same themes in the previous 11 books return. It has the recipie for being a yawner but it is suspensful instead. A very good read.

A banker who has been receiving threatening notes enlists the help of the Hardy boys. Before long, the young sleuths find themselves entangled in the investigation of a notorious band of thieves.

I enjoyed this book along with the others in the series. The ending was a nailbitter because they were almost blown up

This book is about two young kids get caught in a house that appears to be haunted. I highly recmmend this book to who likes mysterys